There has been a movement back towards slower pace in a few TV series. One of the reasons cited for the huge success of Breaking Bad a few years ago was the drawn out pace of a script centred plot and lingering visuals. Others have started to follow

The weak link was David McCallum overacting all the way through both series.

He was great in Glaister's later series, Secret Army too.

@@stevenbrown9495 Considering McCallum was by and large the top billed actor through out the series his part certainly wasnt that of being top billed, not from the episodes ive watched anyway

@@berlinmitte10117 And not the only actor in both.

I went to the same school he went to and have only just remembered that fact. When I was going to school the program the secret army was on the BBC.

well he was talking to a yank

He seems really out of place here, to my eye (and ear).

@@BumMcFluff Yeah, he doesn’t seem like officer material more like a private from Brooklyn.

At the time you wrote this, he was still alive; but he died in April of this year, aged 94: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Meyer_(actor)

Ow, my ears.

Back then microphones were big enough to be spotted, and they had to be wired. Of course some of them were small, but had lousy performance.... (Which is why Major Mohn had issues making out what was being said) So, if the Special Intelligence people had something small but with good sound quality, while others were even smaller but, once again, had bad sound quality.... Both would be kept secret, except for special occasions were they would have been issued to other people (like in this episode). Also, they still would have to be hard wired to a speaker, something hard to do from the inside of the British quarters to the German security areas! So after they checked it when they first got to Colditz, they probably thought their quarters weren't "bugged".

good shooting son.....whats your name

Is Dan O'Herlihy

Robert Wagner. I knew he’d be back.

Robert Wagner was only included in the first series due to the fact it was a co-production between the BBC and Universal TV. Universal TV had planned to air the series in the states, and Robert was cast to bring an American attraction to the show. Sadly the Universal TV executives could not find a television deal and the series never fully aired in the states as planned.

And now McCallum and Wagner both play in NCIS, cute.

Honestly who cares about the accents - enjoy the show for what it is - brilliant writing and acting.. Shame they cant make shows like this anymore.

@@truespyfan True. They will never make them like this anymore. Although I can't tell a fake American accent from a real one. I'm British so I guess it would pass right over my head. I recognise faces though. And I know Dan O'Herlihy was Irish. He'd been in America for many years. He's the Senior American Officer in this, but I remember him more from his role as General Black in 'Fail Safe'. That's a brilliant film.

The guy playing the Captain's from Ohio--Al Mancini.

Very nice comment on a swift detail, actually there are small details here and there which prove that the producers and writers of the series must have worked diligently to create atmosphere, e.g William Shirer is mentioned (in another episode) and the fact that Americans could slip through regulations before Dec 1941. Chris Swenson

You're in the Army now, You're not behind a plow; You'll never get rich, You son of a bitch, You're in the Army now. You're in the Army now, You're in the Army now, You'll never get rich, On the salary which You get in the Army now

Mixed or unofficial uniforms might make it difficult for the audience to determine the nationalities of the characters and would spoil visual appeal which is important in TV and film. Also I doubt anyone would expect actors to half starve just to play in a TV show

Colditz prisoners were all officers. Officer POWs were treated better than enlisted soldiers. The British had a prison for high ranking German officers. The prison was known as Trent Park. It was much more swank than Colditz and would pass for a luxury resort. Of course, all the rooms and grounds were bugged.

To be fair - the British were listening to German pilots *in the air* by the summer of 1940! The "X Stations" eventually made part of Bletchley Park, were listening to realtime radio telephony on Luftwaffe channels...just as the Germans were listening to RAF fighter pilots' radio chatter :)

Thanks for the info. I was thinking of downed Luftwaffe pilots who were house under guard in some stately homes in the South of England. They were unaware that they were being listened to and their discussions on the merits and weakneses of the British planes to the German ones were invaluable.. this particular episode was the weakest so far and i was intrigued about what Carrington said about what happened after leaving Switzerland? Surely he had to go incognito again if he passed through France?

99xstallerthanmost Yes, they bugged their quarters...but when they were in transit through the "London Cage" interrogation centre after capture, as opposed to in their final camps ;) The British were able to do it to German senior officers however, by a wrinkle in the Conventions, and also the German Atomic scientists held after the war for a few months at Farm Hall. RE: Phil Carrington's fictional escape through the SOUTH of France....I'd need to check the dates, but I think...as it's supposed to be Pat Reid's historical escape - was in 1942 BEFORE the Germans Occupied Vichy France. Prior to that, quite a few Allied POWs and stragglers from Dunkirk made their way south into Vichy, and as long as they evaded the authorities, and avoided "internment" rather than actual "capture", they were free to move around. Unlike British evadfers and escapers, however, Robert Wagner's character would have been issued with *American* papers on his arrival in Switzerland...and would have been able to travel openly without fear of arrest; Vichy still had diplomatic relations with the U.S. until November 1942; not FULL relations, there wasn't an exchange of full ambassadors but the Americans did have a permanent "representative" in Vichy

phyloroadking German tunnels in succesful breakout of POW camp in Derbyshire! www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386788/World-War-Two-Tunnel-used-German-PoWs-escape-British-prison-camp-intact--conference-centre.html

4tube

That was only in the trenches.

Well spotted! The Secret Army was another great drama series from the days when UK TV was limited to three channels but produced excellent "content". It was complusive viewing in our house. One correction though, The Secret Army was set in a Belgian cafe... not a French one as depicted in the parody series "Allo, Allo".

Not quite right. He played a Belgian cafe owner from Brussels.

Any food the prisoners did not eat was taken by the German guards and kept in the camp kitchens where it was reused at the next main meal. Nothing was wasted.

I was expecting Carrington to grab it from the plate. He looked at it, so maybe he was thinking of doing so?

That's what i was expecting.

It was against the Geneva Convention which the Wehrmacht abided by in the majority of PoW camps.

then it would have only been a 2 hour movie.

Easy to bug wooden huts in the stalags. Harder to do in Colditz as it left evidence in the stone. ( Pat Reids words in his book )

Actually, it was the Germans who introduced "bugging" or listening devices in officers quarters during WWI, the experience of this led to similar practice on the English side during WWII//Chris Swenson

Fallsschrimjager

In this story, he has close acquaintance with A.H. Would that make a difference?

Knights Cross with Oakleaves and Swords isn't that farfetched if he was German warhero. And for the close combat clasp and wound badge gold, all he had to do was be at the wrong place at worst possible time (Stalingrad). He wasn't a pilot, he was a German paratrooper.

My question about Mohne's character was more basic. Why would a Luftwaffe officer (Fallschirmjaeger, "ae" deliberately used for a-umlaut, were part of the Luftwaffe) join a Wehrmacht garrison?

@@douglasherron7534 Connections. It's explained in his intro episode. His wounds prevented him from a combat post, and also from a training post. Yes, an air force prison camp might seem more logical, but Colditz was not a specific service camp, it was a Sonderlager, housing civilians and military of all branches. A four-man escape from Colditz happened as Mohn was on staff at FHQ, and so I presume someone there had an idea to send him down to Colditz to beef up security. This is all hinted at in dialogue. For what it is worth, the swords are a costumer's error - dialogue confirms he was awarded the Oak Leaves, but not the Swords. Worth noting also his close combat bar is worn in the wrong position, it should be above the ribbon bar. Wound Badge in gold was for at least 5 wounds, or fewer wounds of greater severity. If he was left impotent, for example, but only wounded once, it was still an automatic gold award. There is no dialogue to confirm, or not confirm, his sexual function. So.....

It is Al Mancini. Same guy! Nice catch.

+Gerry Higgins I'm going to start throwing things if episodes 10, 11, 12 don't show up.

Episode 10 is available as an upload of Randell Luster. Not very good as full screen, but better than nothing...

Also episode 11

it's available on DVD from amazon

You're not wrong. Daniel O'Herlihy. He was also Marshal Ney in the film "Waterloo".

Robert Wagner and Dan O'Herlihy???

@@phyloroadking I know!!

Garrick Hagon played him. He was born in London but raised in Canada in Toronto. So his accent is naturally a Canadian one. Back then, as long as they sounded American, they thought the viewers in the UK wouldn't know any difference between Canadian and American accents. Garrick Hagon is still alive, aged 84.

@@johnking5174 Interesting facts thanks.

Yes it is. Dan O'Herlihy. Also in Waterloo as Marshal Ney.

I think the problem with people here is they think all of the BBC Colditz series is based on actual events - that is not the case. Always remember this is a drama production first and not a history lesson. Events and characters are based on reality along with some events, but a large majority is produced for dramatic effect.

this is definitely the worst episode, in part because the UK were trying to pitch the show to America, and the BBC thought it good to have some American emphasis.

Garrick Hagon - Lt. Jim Phipps (British actor) Robert Wagner - Major Phil Carrington (American actor) Dan O'Herlihy - Lt. Col. Max Dodd (Southern Irish actor) Al Mancini -Capt. Harry Nugent (American actor)

Garrick Hagon was born in London but raised in Canada. Dan O'Herlihy was born in Ireland but later moved to California to begin his film career.

Dan O'Herlihy moved to the States after the war. He started appearing in Universal and Twentieth Century Fox productions. So I take it he knows how to sound American. He played an American General in "Failsafe (1964)" released by Columbia Pictures.

It is not a factual documentary. Dramatic licence had to be taken for the story.

The German could have installed the bug when all the prisoners were in formation in the courtyard

The part with the glider is based on fact. The Brits in Colditz did build one, but the place was liberated by the time it was ready.

They did a reconstruction of that on the original location a few years ago. The original glider would never have gotten enough speed so they had to implement some modern day workarounds to get it to fly for the reconstruction.

It was to negotiate a peace treaty between Hungary and the USA. Hungary was a loose ally of Germany but was left to its own devices, however when it became clear that the Hungarians were at risk of changing sides (like Italy) the Germans occupied the country.