9.1/1054 votesLoading...#1 - Special Relationship
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 10/30/1978
Laura Dickens is the most qualified agent for a risky mission in East Berlin and Burnside has to double-deal to make sure her presence there won't pose other security risks as well.
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: N/A
8.9/1050 votesLoading...#2 - At All Costs
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 1/28/1980
The head of the Bulgarian Secret Service asks to meet with Sandbagger Tom Elliott in Sofia, but Burnside doesn't like it and intends to give Elliott backup whether his bosses approve or not.
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: N/A
8.9/1044 votesLoading...#3 - Operation Kingmaker
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 3/3/1980
When there's talk of getting a new 'C', Burnside decides to back Peele for the job, believing him more malleable than the other most likely candidate, whom Burnside once clashed with.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.8/1049 votesLoading...#4 - Decision by Committee
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 2/11/1980
On an airline flight back from Sri Lanka, Caine and CIA covert-action agent Karen Milner run into trouble during their stop in Turkey, and Burnside runs into bureaucratic opposition when trying to help them.
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: N/A
8.8/1044 votesLoading...#5 - To Hell with Justice
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 6/16/1980
SIS Director of Intelligence Edward Tyler meets a suspicious woman while on holiday in Malta, so Burnside secretly sends the Sandbaggers to keep an eye on him.
Director: Peter Cregeen
Writer: N/A
8.7/1050 votesLoading...#6 - Enough of Ghosts
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 2/4/1980
Permanent Under-Secretary of State Sir Geoffrey Wellingham goes missing in Brussels and the Sandbaggers are dispatched to find him, for Burnside's sake as well as Wellingham's.
Director: Peter Cregeen
Writer: N/A
8.7/1039 votesLoading...#7 - Who Needs Enemies
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 7/14/1980
When a rival for Burnside's job gets hold of a CIA document that describes Burnside as a divisive influence, SIS upper management contrives to promote Burnside ``sideways'' to Madrid.
Director: Peter Cregeen
Writer: N/A
8.6/1066 votesLoading...#8 - A Proper Function of Government
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/25/1978
The Sandbaggers may be sent to Vienna to keep tabs on a possible defector, while Burnside tries to get official approval to assassinate an African dictator.
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: N/A
8.6/1047 votesLoading...#9 - A Question of Loyalty
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 2/18/1980
Sandbagger Mike Wallace runs afoul of the local SIS station while on a risky mission in Warsaw, and Burnside risks his own career to show him support by sending him on a subsequent mission to Stockholm.
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: N/A
8.5/1052 votesLoading...#10 - A Feasible Solution
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/23/1978
Caine and an agent fresh out of field school go to Cyprus on the trail of some missing rocket scientists while Neil lets his romantic guard down at home.
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: N/A
8.5/1045 votesLoading...#11 - It Couldn't Happen Here
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 2/25/1980
In the wake of the assassination of one U.S. senator, the Sandbaggers are assigned to bodyguard another, while Burnside gets wind of a traitor in the British cabinet.
Director: Peter Cregeen
Writer: N/A
8.4/1058 votesLoading...#12 - The Most Suitable Person
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/9/1978
Sandbagger One Willie Caine goes to Gibraltar to investigate the murder of an SIS agent, and potential new Sandbagger Laura Dickens goes to Morocco to get more clues in the case.
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: N/A
8.4/1046 votesLoading...#13 - All in a Good Cause
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 6/9/1980
CIA Head of London Station Jeff Ross asks for Burnside's help when Ross' marriage is in trouble, but then Burnside starts to suspect that the KGB and MI5 have an interest in that marriage as well.
Director: Peter Cregeen
Writer: N/A
8.4/1047 votesLoading...#14 - Unusual Approach
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 6/23/1980
'C' orders Burnside to go on a working holiday in Rhodes, and while he's gone, Ross asks Caine for some risky backup in the USSR, but as Acting D.Ops., Caine would have to send Wallace.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.3/1053 votesLoading...#15 - Always Glad to Help
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/16/1978
Dickens is assigned to find out where an Arab sheik's sympathies lie while Burnside clashes with Deputy Chief Matthew Peele and the Ministry of Defence over a covert scuba-diving operation.
Director: David Reynolds
Writer: N/A
8.3/1041 votesLoading...#16 - Opposite Numbers
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 7/28/1980
Burnside is opposed to an East-West arms treaty being negotiated in Malta, so he and the Sandbaggers conspire to scuttle the talks by encouraging a Soviet double agent to defect.
Director: Peter Cregeen
Writer: N/A
8.1/1065 votesLoading...#17 - Is Your Journey Really Necessary?
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/2/1978
Alan Denson threatens to quit the Sandbaggers after a rough, unauthorized mission near the Soviet border, so Burnside applies pressure to Denson's fiancee
Director: Derek Bennett
Writer: N/A
8.1/1044 votesLoading...#18 - My Name Is Anna Wiseman
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 6/30/1980
Burnside tries to get approval to plant a woman in the Soviet Union as a long-term double agent, but he neglects to mention that her real mission is short-term human rights propaganda.
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: N/A
7.8/1085 votesLoading...#19 - First Principles
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/18/1978
Neil Burnside, the Director of Operations for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, objects to sending his best agents, the Sandbaggers, on a mission into Russia for Norway's Secret Service.
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: N/A
7.7/1040 votesLoading...#20 - Sometimes We Play Dirty Too
Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 7/7/1980
When a British intelligence source is killed in an accident in Prague, Caine is sent in to find out what really happened while Wallace and Burnside look for clues at home.
Director: Peter Cregeen
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of The Sandbaggers
Every episode of The Sandbaggers ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Sandbaggers!
The Sandbaggers is a British television drama series about men and women on the front lines of the Cold War. Set contemporaneously with its original...
Genre:Drama
Network:ITV1
Best Episodes Summary
"Special Relationship" is the best rated episode of "The Sandbaggers". It scored 9.1/10 based on 54 votes. Directed by Michael Ferguson and written by N/A, it aired on 10/30/1978. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "At All Costs".