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Post by richardwoods on Aug 9, 2021 9:04:57 GMT
Brilliant news. TPTV are starting to show archive BBC programs! Great choice to start with, IMHO Secret Army is a classic drama. Fingers crossed that they show Kessler too!
From the latest TPTV newsletter
We have some great news for you. Noel has secured our first licensing agreement with the BBC! Many of you have asked for classic series, SECRET ARMY, and we are pleased to say it will be coming your way soon. This story of the Belgian Resistance was must-watch TV in the 1970s. It’s brilliantly written and stars, among others, Bernard Hepton and Jan Francis. Stay subscribed to this newsletter for more details on broadcast dates.
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RWels
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Posts: 2,894
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Post by RWels on Aug 9, 2021 9:38:39 GMT
Will they show the last episode too?? That would be for the first time, I think (although, why lie about it, it is "around").
Watching Secret Army also explained to me what the hell Crabtree was all about. Of all the silly plots in Allo Allo, it made the least sense. Once he was there, they never did any exposition recap.
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 9, 2021 9:46:48 GMT
Just to clarify, is there another episode after the one where war ends in bizarre & harrowing circumstances for a key cast member & another 2 key cast members walk off into the future. I’ve tried to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t seen it. The episode described above was shown in the 1999 UK Drama repeats.
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RWels
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Posts: 2,894
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Post by RWels on Aug 9, 2021 10:12:18 GMT
Just to clarify, is there another episode after the one where war ends in bizarre & harrowing circumstances for a key cast member & another 2 key cast members walk off into the future. I’ve tried to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t seen it. The episode described above was shown in the 1999 UK Drama repeats. Oh yes, there is an extra episode, an epilogue set in the then-present. Not broadcasting it caused no problems, because the story had ended. (Funnily enough, Allo Allo ended with the same idea - "many years later".)
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 9, 2021 10:40:46 GMT
& The Flashing Blade with the illusive English Version of the final episode set some years on.
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 9, 2021 10:42:49 GMT
Just to clarify, is there another episode after the one where war ends in bizarre & harrowing circumstances for a key cast member & another 2 key cast members walk off into the future. I’ve tried to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t seen it. The episode described above was shown in the 1999 UK Drama repeats. Oh yes, there is an extra episode, an epilogue set in the then-present. Not broadcasting it caused no problems, because the story had ended. (Funnily enough, Allo Allo ended with the same idea - "many years later".) Now you say that I’ve got vague recollections that it might have been withheld because it caused continuity issues with Kessler, is this right do you know?
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RWels
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Post by RWels on Aug 9, 2021 12:06:07 GMT
Oh yes, there is an extra episode, an epilogue set in the then-present. Not broadcasting it caused no problems, because the story had ended. (Funnily enough, Allo Allo ended with the same idea - "many years later".) Now you say that I’ve got vague recollections that it might have been withheld because it caused continuity issues with Kessler, is this right do you know? I don't know anything that you can't google! Sometimes this kind of explanation is really just a guess anyway.
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 9, 2021 12:56:11 GMT
Now you say that I’ve got vague recollections that it might have been withheld because it caused continuity issues with Kessler, is this right do you know? I don't know anything that you can't google! Sometimes this kind of explanation is really just a guess anyway. Now that’s a shame, I had you down as a font of all knowledge on Secret Army. Googled as suggested & Wiki says the following. Unbroadcast episode The final episode in the series, "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?", was set in 1969 and was never broadcast. It looked at how the characters had fared after the war. The reasons for its non-broadcast are unknown. It is possible it was because of the episode's anti-Communist message. BBC historian, Professor Jean Seaton, was interviewed on the subject in 2009 and expressed the belief the tone would have offended BBC executives who had served in the war. Shaun Ley, the presenter of a BBC Radio 4 radio programme Shelved, discussing this and other suppressed drama programmes from the period, wrote in an article for the Corporation's website: "It questioned the whole point of the resistance and went so far as to suggest that fighting the Nazis had led the allies to miss the main threat - communism." The main themes of the episode were subsequently incorporated into a sequel, Kessler, a series which was transmitted in 1981 and explored Kessler's fate
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RWels
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Post by RWels on Aug 9, 2021 13:33:51 GMT
I read that too, but this is what I meant earlier with guesswork. The rivalry with the communist resistance, in my eyes (I only watched it once), remained relatively underdevelopped. Could have been more, but didn't really play out that way, except in the penultimate episode. One early episode showed at a double crossing profiteer within the ranks, but this never really got proper follow up either.
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 9, 2021 14:17:30 GMT
No, I agree 100%. Top series though all said. I’ve still not seen Kessler, it’s high up on my “want to see” list.
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RWels
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Posts: 2,894
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Post by RWels on Aug 9, 2021 14:42:54 GMT
No, I agree 100%. Top series though all said. I’ve still not seen Kessler, it’s high up on my “want to see” list. Reading the outline, I concluded that it was rather a different "kessle" of fish. I'm not sure, but didn't Secret Army have one German uniform in a slightly different colour? (It's mentioned in the Smith & Jones "nazi generals" sketch.)
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 9, 2021 15:47:11 GMT
No, I agree 100%. Top series though all said. I’ve still not seen Kessler, it’s high up on my “want to see” list. Reading the outline, I concluded that it was rather a different "kessle" of fish. I'm not sure, but didn't Secret Army have one German uniform in a slightly different colour? (It's mentioned in the Smith & Jones "nazi generals" sketch.) Very good! 🤣🤣. Not sure about the uniforms, will have to check out the Smith & Jones sketch.
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Post by John Green on Aug 9, 2021 16:44:35 GMT
Will they show the last episode too?? That would be for the first time, I think (although, why lie about it, it is "around"). Watching Secret Army also explained to me what the hell Crabtree was all about. Of all the silly plots in Allo Allo, it made the least sense. Once he was there, they never did any exposition recap. I've read quite a few Resistance narratives, and in one of them there's a reference to two English sisters who were immediately rounded up, having been identified by their fractured French. I didn't see Secret Army until years after I'd watched 'Allo 'Allo. Couldn't quite believe it a first. The comedy was spot on. Did Crabtree ever talk to the British pilots? If so, in what language? Off-topic, I know. Didn't like Kessler.
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 9, 2021 18:48:10 GMT
I’ve asked TPTV if they have the rights to, and if so do they intend to show the so far unshown final episode “What did your Daddy do in the war”? We shall see!
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RWels
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Posts: 2,894
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Post by RWels on Aug 9, 2021 19:30:01 GMT
Did Crabtree ever talk to the British pilots? If so, in what language? Off-topic, I know. Yes, as it happens I found the DVD set of series 7 for a quid two weeks ago. He speaks to them in the same way that they speak (exagerated English). But unlike Secret Army, Michelle didn't die in an air raid, so she is still in command. Therefore Crabtree always stayed a kind of isolated figure on the outskirts of the story, never really involved in the plot. Or maybe I watched it too often and am overanalysing a silly old program.
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