8.9/1071 votesLoading...#1 - Be The First Kid On Your Block To Rule The World.
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 12/29/1977
Curtis’ cover has been blown and Kessler knows that he is part of the resistance. To avoid endangering the others, Curtis goes to ground in Brussels. Knowing that Lifeline is at last in his sights, Kessler orders that all routes out of the city are blocked and co-ordinates a house-to-house search throughout the city. In desperation, Curtis goes to the Candide to ask for help, and Monique comes up with a highly audacious escape plan.
Director: Viktors Ritelis
Writer: John Brason
8.9/1068 votesLoading...#2 - Trapped
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/18/1978
Whilst dining at the Candide, Kessler becomes intrigued by Madeleine Duclos, an elegant but remote socialite. Meanwhile, Monique takes some airmen down the line and is shot and wounded when she becomes unintentionally involved in a smuggler’s attempt to evade a railway checkpoint. Recovering in a convent hospital, she is cleared of smuggling, but finds herself in more danger when the French police discover the train tickets she was carrying for the airmen and that her papers are false. Kessler sets out from Brussels to interrogate her, prompting Natalie, Alain and Max to stage a daring rescue mission.
Director: Terence Dudley
Writer: N.J. Crisp
8.8/1054 votesLoading...#3 - Day of Wrath
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 12/20/1978
Andre De Beers, a Belgian fighter pilot, is taken prisoner by the Gestapo and forced to watch his brother being tortured to death. De Beers overpowers his guard and escapes from Gestapo headquarters, seeking refuge with his old friend Alain. Determined to exact vengeance, he begins a campaign of killing German soldiers. After Kessler orders the capture and shooting of twenty innocent people in retaliation, Albert orders Alain to kill De Beers to stop any more bloodshed, however Monique and Natalie come up with an alternative solution. Albert is forced to stamp his authority on the others to preserve Lifeline’s safety when he learns that they have taken matters into their own hands. Meanwhile, as Kessler begins to launch an innovative new scheme to police Brussels, a communiqué from Berlin has shocking news for Brandt while sudden German radio silence indicates that a significant turn in the war is about to occur. The date is 6 June 1944.
Director: Gerard Glaister
Writer: John Brason
8.7/1050 votesLoading...#4 - Prisoner of War
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 12/13/1978
Kessler tries to help Brandt as he tries to cope by heavy drinking and flirting with Monique at the Candide. Alain is forced to hide two evaders on his farm when a neighbour finds a wounded German fighter pilot on his property. It transpires that the pilot is a decorated flying ace and his plane is on the German secret list, and London asks for Lifeline’s assistance in getting him to England as a prisoner of war. Meanwhile, as Max prepares to bring his plans for Lifeline into fruition, Natalie demands that Albert take action.
Director: Michael E. Briant
Writer: Gerard Glaister
8.7/1049 votesLoading...#5 - Collaborator
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 11/24/1979
Albert is finally released from prison and reunited with Monique. The Lifeline personnel continue to be in danger of reprisals from their own people and the Communists for alleged collaboration with the Germans, but Albert refuses to leave the Candide. The Allies are still making their way towards Brussels, and Natalie and Alain join the offensive. As Kessler and his men leave the city, Reinhardt stays behind to complete his investigation into Lifeline and pays one last visit to the Candide, just as Paul Vercors emerges to take ultimate revenge on Albert.
Director: Michael E. Briant
Writer: Gerard Glaister
8.6/1065 votesLoading...#6 - A Question Of Loyalty
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 11/23/1977
A British bomber crash lands somewhere outside Brussels, its entire crew is apparently dead. Kessler takes this as an opportunity to infiltrate Lifeline and assigns Ernst Stoller, an officer who was born and brought up in England, to substitute for one of the dead men. Meanwhile, Monique is becoming increasingly disillusioned with her life at the Candide and relationship with Albert, and finds herself letting her guard down when she becomes involved with Stoller as part of her Lifeline work.
Director: Kenneth Ives
Writer: Willis Hall
- 8.6/1051 votesLoading...
#7 - Sound of Thunder
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 11/17/1979
The Allied advance continues as they at last enter Belgium, and the Germans begin to plan a strategic withdrawal from Brussels. Albert is petitioning for his release from prison, while Bradley endeavours to forge links with other resistance groups. The people of Brussels are now left to their own devices, and recriminations are brewing for collaborators and black marketeers. Kessler comes to help Madeleine, while Alain offers Monique and Natalie a place to hide. Meanwhile, Reinhardt at last obtains proof that the Candide is Lifeline’s base of operations, and prepares to strike.
Director: Tristan de Vere Cole
Writer: Eric Paice
8.5/1075 votesLoading...#8 - Growing Up
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/12/1977
Lifeline’s latest intake of evaders have been forced to leave a wounded colleague behind, hidden in a barn, but Lisa and Albert are unable to make a move due to heavy German activity in that area. The wounded evader, Sergeant Howson, is befriended and helped by a young boy, Jean-Paul Dornes, but Howson needs medical attention and Jean-Paul has to contact the resistance. Unfortunately, Jean-Paul’s mother Anna, who has raised him alone since her husband died in the fighting and is now involved with Emil Schnorr, a corporal from the local barracks, is sympathetic to the Germans.
Director: Kenneth Ives
Writer: James Andrew Hall
8.5/1067 votesLoading...#9 - Guilt
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 10/26/1977
In the aftermath of the Romsey business, a German newspaper publishes British military secrets. Curtis decides that the traitor must be found and dealt with. He travels to France and retraces Romsey’s steps. Meanwhile, Albert is still suspicious of Curtis and decides that once he is away from Brussels he will reveal his true colours. Monique follows Curtis to France to watch him and finally prove whether he is trustworthy or not, while Curtis’ investigations lead him to the Neville residence.
Director: Paul Annett
Writer: N.J. Crisp
8.5/1068 votesLoading...#10 - Too Near Home
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/2/1977
When Lisa Colbert is arrested whilst meeting a contact near Paris, the whole future of Lifeline is put at risk. This also leads to her uncle being arrested and interrogated by Kessler. Whilst in prison, Lisa must decide whether she can trust her fellow inmates who claim to know who she is and how they can help her escape. These events will lead to tragedy, both personal and for Lifeline.
Director: Viktors Ritelis
Writer: Robert Barr
8.5/1065 votesLoading...#11 - Bait
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 12/7/1977
The citizens of Brussels are ordered to celebrate the Fuhrer’s impending birthday, and Albert and the others are suspected of being collaborators when they must hang a Nazi flag outside the Candide. Meanwhile, a man claiming to be an RAF evader approaches Catherine Bidout, an elderly English woman who has not yet been interned by the Germans. Rumours of a British woman in Brussels hiding an evader reaches the Candide and Albert decides to investigate. Madame Bidout is uneasy about the risks she is taking and contacts an old friend – Brandt – for help. However, the evader is a plant placed by Kessler to entrap Lifeline and now Brandt is also in danger.
Director: Viktors Ritelis
Writer: James Andrew Hall
8.5/1059 votesLoading...#12 - Suspicions
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 12/21/1977
Following up a lead in their continuing investigations to crack the evasion lines, Kessler and Brandt examine the details of a recent murder case in France with Curtis, in his cover as a travelling salesman, as their prime suspect. Believing Curtis to be part of the resistance, Brandt and Kessler visit the Candide and take him away for questioning. With their efforts to help evaders becoming more and more dangerous and difficult, Albert and Lisa fear the worst, as the Germans strike right at the heart of Lifeline.
Director: Kenneth Ives
Writer: N.J. Crisp
- 8.5/1048 votesLoading...
#13 - A Safe Place
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 10/13/1979
Albert is imprisoned on trumped-up charges as part of a Communist revenge plot, and Monique is left to take charge of both Lifeline and the Candide. Alain discovers the existence of a false escape line set up by Reinhardt to flush them out and that one of their evaders, “Mad” Mike Miller, had previously been shot down and helped by Lifeline. Monique must make a difficult decision if she is to maintain Lifeline’s safety.
Director: Tristan de Vere Cole
Writer: Allan Prior
8.4/1067 votesLoading...#14 - The Hostage
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/27/1978
Some months have passed, and Albert and Monique are preparing for the grand opening of the Restaurant Candide on Brussels’ Grand Place, financed by London to allow Lifeline to continue its activities. Lifeline also recruits a new forger, Max Brocard. Alain brings a British agent to the Candide with an urgent request from London: a Brigadier General with information on a major Allied offensive in North Africa (named in the programme as Operation Torch) has been shot down on his way to a top secret meeting and must be rescued at all odds. Natalie has already discovered the Brigadier and prepares to take him down the line. However, disaster strikes when a German soldier is murdered, and in retaliation, Kessler orders that twenty people are to be held hostage and shot if the killer doesn’t give himself up. The Brigadier is one of the hostages.
Director: Terence Dudley
Writer: N.J. Crisp
8.4/1051 votesLoading...#15 - A Matter of Life and Death
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 12/6/1978
The Germans are out to capture a group of evaders, believing them to be responsible for the murder of an officer. One pair of evaders manages to contact Lifeline, while the other two throw their lot in with the Communists. Francois is determined to prove his worth as a Lifeline guide to Albert and Natalie, and decides to co-ordinate the journey down the line for all the evaders, approaching the Communists to take responsibility for the airmen against Albert’s advice. Whilst visiting the Communists’ hideout, Francois meets Max, whose true loyalties have begun to emerge in force.
Director: Roger Jenkins
Writer: Robert Barr
- 8.4/1050 votesLoading...
#16 - Revenge
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 10/6/1979
An assassination attempt has been made on Hitler, and Kessler believes that Reinhardt is involved in the conspiracy. He begins to gather information that he hopes will provide his colleague’s guilt. Meanwhile, Albert becomes aware that the Communists are once more out to get Lifeline, and that he is their target.
Director: Roger Cheveley
Writer: N.J. Crisp
- 8.4/1049 votesLoading...
#17 - Days of Judgement
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 12/1/1979
Vercors has taken Albert, Monique and Reinhardt prisoner, and plans to hang Albert as a collaborator and a murderer. Only the Allies, helped by Natalie, can save him but they have only just entered Brussels. Meanwhile, Kessler and Madeleine are trekking on foot towards Germany through the Belgian countryside. To evade capture by the Allies, Kessler decides to take on a new identity.
Director: Viktors Ritelis
Writer: Eric Paice
- 8.4/1063 votesLoading...
#18 - The Execution
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 12/15/1979
Kessler, still posing under an alias, and Reinhardt find themselves interned in the same prison camp for German officers. Kessler learns that Reinhardt surrendered himself to Albert at the Candide and is determined to dispose of him with a trumped-up court martial. Madeleine is forced to make a decision that will change her life forever. In Brussels, Albert and the others learn they are to be decorated for their selfless contribution to the war effort and Albert is given full ownership of the Candide as a reward for his bravery. However, it is a bittersweet victory for Albert as he has lost Monique, who is about to marry Captain Durnford and leave for a new life in England. The Second World War is over.
Director: Roger Cheveley
Writer: John Brason
8.3/1078 votesLoading...#19 - Radishes With Butter
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 9/21/1977
The Jewish population of Brussels is being systemically deported according to colour-coded identification papers developed by the Germans. Curtis becomes involved with a Jewish family hiding out in the city and asks Lisa if Lifeline can help, but Lisa is unwilling to put the line, which is supposed to help RAF evaders not Jews, at risk. Curtis himself is still under suspicion by Albert, when Lisa’s uncle, bank manager Gaston Colbert, identifies Belgian banknotes he brought over from London as forgeries. Kessler obtains some of the notes, and realises that they are too accurate to be real and have been made by the Belgian treasury plates, which were evacuated to London before the German invasion. He believes that the notes will bring him closer to Lifeline.
Director: Paul Annett
Writer: John Brason
8.3/1073 votesLoading...#20 - Lost Sheep
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 10/19/1977
Flight Lieutenant Peter Romsey, a RAF navigator, is one of Lifeline’s latest customers and London are anxious for his swift return – his technical knowledge of the Oboe navigation system is vitally important. Natalie takes Romsey and other evaders down the line, but Romsey is separated from the others and takes the wrong train, finding himself lost in the French countryside. As Lifeline tries to track him down, Romsey finds unexpected assistance from Hugh and Dorothy Neville, an expatriate English couple. A celebrated author utterly disillusioned with the war, Neville must decide where his true loyalties lie when Romsey turns up on his doorstep.
Director: Paul Annett
Writer: N.J. Crisp
8.3/1057 votesLoading...#21 - Lucky Piece
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 10/11/1978
Lifeline must work overtime when a heavy storm downs several British planes on their way back from a bombing raid on Berlin. Natalie comes into contact with Major Nicholas Bradley, a British officer on a special assignment, who is uncooperative and highly critical of Lifeline’s security when he follows her all the way back to the Candide. It seems that Bradley’s concern is well founded, as an undercover Gestapo man is also tailing Natalie.
Director: Viktors Ritelis
Writer: Robert Barr
- 8.3/1058 votesLoading...
#22 - The Last Run
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/22/1979
At Gestapo headquarters, Kessler takes an instant dislike to the newly arrived Luftwaffe Major Hans Dietrich Reinhardt, who has joined him in a final concerted attempt to crush the evasion lines. As the Allies continue to advance from the invasion beaches, Lifeline must continue their efforts in getting airmen back to Britain, but when Natalie attempts to guide two evaders down to Spain, it becomes clear that their work may at last be over.
Director: Michael E. Briant
Writer: N.J. Crisp
- 8.3/1052 votesLoading...
#23 - Prisoner
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 10/27/1979
Major Nick Bradley returns to Brussels to co-ordinate resistance activities whilst waiting for the Allies’ final push, and clashes with Monique over leadership of Lifeline. A tense time is in store for Lifeline when Alain is arrested, and Bradley decides to make a deal with a German officer to try to get him out of Gestapo headquarters. However, the officer demands one million francs in exchange for Alain’s freedom.
Director: Tristan de Vere Cole
Writer: Robert Barr
- 8.3/1052 votesLoading...
#24 - Just Light the Blue Touch-Paper
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/10/1979
As Bradley’s army remains in hiding along the Dutch border, he and Natalie become closer as they work together planning the raid on the V2 site. To increase his chances of success, Bradley must try to obtain the rocket delivery schedule and plans to get the information by dining with Kessler at the Candide…. Meanwhile, Reinhardt is rapidly closing in on Lifeline, with Natalie as his chief suspect.
Director: Michael E. Briant
Writer: John Brason
8.2/1069 votesLoading...#25 - Second Chance
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/5/1977
The safety of Lifeline is at risk when Albert deduces that the Candide is being watched by a Gestapo spy, while Lisa continues to resent Curtis’ presence and his domineering take-charge manner. A wounded RAF evader, Finch, finds sanctuary with Hans Van Broecken, a Dutchman who lives on a barge with his wife Lena. Finch plans to desert the army and escape to Switzerland and finds a kindred spirit in Hans, who is in fact German and deserted during the First World War. Hans plans to take Finch to Switzerland himself on the barge, but Lifeline becomes involved when Lena receives a visit from her niece – Natalie. However, helping evaders escape to comfortable Swiss internment is not Lifeline’s purpose, and how can Finch be involved with Lifeline with the Candide under German surveillance?
Director: Paul Annett
Writer: James Andrew Hall
The Best Episodes of Secret Army
Every episode of Secret Army ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Secret Army!
World War II drama about covert organisation Lifeline helping allied airmen escape after being shot down in occupied Europe, working with the Resistance and hiding...
Genres:DramaWar & Politics
Network:BBC One
Best Episodes Summary
"Be The First Kid On Your Block To Rule The World." is the best rated episode of "Secret Army". It scored 8.9/10 based on 71 votes. Directed by Viktors Ritelis and written by John Brason, it aired on 12/29/1977. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Trapped".