Moonstrike

Distant childhood memories of a B.B.C series about special operational executive operatives being landed via Westland Lysanders,commonly known as 'lizzies',which were ,by far, much larger than the average WW11 fighter,the aircraft had an amazing STOL(short take off/landing) & very rough terrain landing capability.Originally designed and produced pre war as a two seat army co-operation aircraft & not as a transport ,it was sent to France with the doomed R.A.F advanced air striking force and suffered heavily to light flak and the unwelcome attentions of the Luftwaffe.It was however, later in the war, found to be admirably suited to S.O.E operations,fitted with a large ladder attached to the fusalage and a long range belly fuel tank,it landing and picked up both S.O.E.agents and downed R.A.F & allied aircrew via the French resistance in occupied France,always landing on moonlit nights(hence the series name,moonstrike),in pre designated fields illuminated with hand torches by the French resistance.It was not uncommon for the Germans to be waiting in ambush for the aircraft to land,the landing site and time sometimes betrayed by captured resistance fighters under gestapo torture, the aircraft being captured & the aircrew shot or captured, the agents and resistance invairably tortured for information and either shot or sent to concentration camp for eventual execution.Very much the unsung hero's of WW11.

One of the most memorable drama series of my childhood (not even a teenager then!)

Like the two other reviewers I was very young at the time but it was one of the programs the family always made a point of watching. (VCRs weren't needed then as we did much less than we do now.)

Don't remember any of the details but remember how I felt about it - totally gripped, always on the edge of the seat at some stage of each believable episode.

Probably long since wiped, if it was even recorded, but would like to see it again - for a variety of different reasons: nostalgia, to see if it's as good as I remember, check out the "primitiveness" (or otherwise) of sets, production etc etc

Watched the series for the Lysander Not very old when it was on and it was on my aunties tv

After a gap of 50 years, (I was 12 years of age in 1963 when "Moonstrike" started) my memories of "Moonstrike" are somewhat hazy, but I seem to recall that the first episode featured a fighter pilot who had been badly injured during the Battle of Britain, and who was told that he would never fly again. He persisted in his attempts to return to flying duty, and was told something along the lines of "You may wish to speak to these people, they may be able to offer you employment". Which led him to fly a Lysander for SOE. I remember the series always had one on the edge of one's seat, and it was gritty in the extreme. The theme music was written by the Australian composer Dudley Simpson, (who went on to write the "Dr. Who" music), and it's haunting, edgy theme perfectly matches the subject material. You can hear this music on Youtube as "Moonstrike".Alan Knight

I was quite young when Moonstrike was brosdcast. I recall the prominence of the Lysander aircraft and the dramatic theme music (which I think was original). The scene that sticks in my mind involved a group of people hidden in a ceiling space by the French resistance. The Nazis conducted a search which looked like it was unsuccessful until a noise led them to machine-gun the ceiling. Thr episode ended with blood dripping down. Horrific. A tragedy that this example of TV at its best has been lost forever.