Close to the Enemy BBC2
 

I wonder if anyone else has any thoughts on this BBC2 drama Series on Thursday evenings ?

The hero ( if you can call him that ) is a member of T Force who at the end of WW2 is trying to get a captured German Scientist to work for the British Government and design a new aircraft engine that will break the sound barrier.

I had rather hoped that after a ( what I thought was ) poor beginning the series might improve, but in my opinion the whole story just gets more and more bizarre and unbelievable.

The best thing so far is that some scenes have been shot at the old airfield at Hooton on the Wirral and presumably a fee has been paid for the use of the old hangers for which there is a fund for their restoration and any fee will hopefully be added to that fund.

You do wonder if some of the stuff on TV would ever have made it there if the writer had been an unknown.

P.B.

The only thing that caught my eye was a scene which was shot in Sefton Park, Liverpool. Other than that it was not grabbing my attention as much as I hoped
Paul

Peter,
I agree absolutely. Having studied T Force in detail and having spent 25 years in the Intelligence Corps, I am finding it implausible. Like you I watched Episode 2 in the hope it would be an improvement on Episode 1 - but I was disappointed. I do find the dangerously fast Jeep driving amusing - and the fact that vehicles are all badged either Airborne Forces or 49 Inf Div. I haven't spotted a Routemaster bus yet, but it will be along shortly! Attached a sample of the actuality of T Force with 5 King's to the fore. Mike
Attachment 160271Attachment 160272

Yes, I've been following this. I'm not 'aux fait' with the validity of all the uniform, badges and historical unit correctness (is some dramatic licence permitted?), but it is becoming a 'plot within a plot' saga. Episode one set the scene, but thereafter it drifts, setting up numerous possibilities and outcomes. I'll stick with it, and it's nice to see Alfred Molina back on British TV after years in the US. Is he a Soviet spy? Only my guess!

Close to the Enemy BBC2
 

I to have watched all episodes so far, at least I have not spotted any insignia howlers, maybe they will come later . . !

Rob

We haven't got it here in Canada yet. But Mike, don't those Routemasters usually come in threes?:D

David

Still didn't get any better last night, in my opinion.

P.B.

Knights in armour traipsing through the woods of Buckinghamshire at night...??? I'm unclear as to what this contributed to the plot. Mike

Mike,

I am beginning to wonder if there is a plot.

Yet more scenes of Jeeps being driven quickly and even in the world of fiction is it believable that in the immediate post war period we would have been so desperate to find the formula for a German eau de cologne ?


Peter

Sorry to be a little contentious - but if my recollections are correct Team 4 of RM Wing 30 Cdo/Assault Unit were assigned to work with 'T Force'. They got so frustrated at the lack of speed demonstrated by 'T Force' (in the shared objective of securing intelligence) that they requested to work independently, as they had done previously - this was agreed. It was important to be at the forefront of attacks to save intelligence being lost/destroyed - 'T Force' is portrayed as 'hanging back'.

In no way do I wish to be judgemental BUT ...

Is this an indication that 'T Force' was actually as slow-paced / lackadaisical as the drama appears to suggest from the comments posted.

Mike,

The only member of T Force who features in the series is a Captain, he is based in an hotel surrounded by bomb damaged buildings in London ( I understand the Hotel scenes are actually filmed in a vacant office building in Liverpool ) and before the last episode he was trying to get a German Scientist ( who was brought to this country with his 8 or 9 year old daughter ) to help design a jet engine that would enable a British plane to break the sound barrier.

From the last episode, he now has another task and that is obtain from an elderly German lady the formula for the eau de cologne that her familys firm made in Germany and which amongst other things was used by German U boat crew`s to disguise the smell of their sweat. Of course she is the only living person who knows the formula.

To this you have officers from M.I.19 who are also operating in the Hotel and a young lady who is trying to track down German War criminals and who is not only not receiving any co operation from the British Authorities but is actually having obstacles put in her way.

I nearly forget there is an American Jazz singer and her band who practice in the Hotel basement, a brother of the Captain who has obviously got some problems caused by his experiences in the war and a friend of the Captain who seems intent in pushing his wife into the arms of the Captain ( which happened in the last episode ). And that is about it ( forgot about the knights in the Forest mentioned by Mike Jackson )

So the fact that the Captain is a member of T Force is probably just to have a reason for his being at the Hotel with the Scientist and the German cologne lady and if you haven't seen any of the episodes, on reflection, you haven't missed much.

Peter

Peter
Your description of the plot made me smile - 'Close to the enemy' - and eau de cologne ... mmm - the mind boggles. We can only guess at where all this is heading.
All the best - awaiting updates
Mike

I am sorry to say that it requires far more intelligence than I possess to full understand what the series was all about, if indeed there was a deeper meaning behind the story and the characters.

P.B.

I agree - those who dreamed up this extraordinary series, acted in it and directed it are the true "pansies resting on their laurels"! King's Regiment (and other) veterans of the actual Second Army T Force must have been appalled. Mike