Enemy at the Door

This is not a new production, with all the bells and whistles we expect of modern productions, but it is a very fine British drama, well written scripts and the best of performances (with episode actors who went on to be substantial TV and Stage personalities). The stories it tells are well researched chronicling a period of history not widely told, and therefore a valuable record of WW II war time struggles. For those who have enjoyed the 2018 movie THE GUERNSEY POTATO PEEL PIE LITERARY SOCIETY, this tells more of those stories (within the TV production capabilities of 1978). I give this series an 8 (very fine) out of 10. {Occupation Drama}

I bought the dvd 10 years ago but watched it only a few weeks ago,and i am glad i did,anyone expecting an action packed ww2 series like 'x company' or even 'bomb girls' look elsewhere,this series is about the daily life of guernsey islanders under the german occupation dealing with food shortages,fuel shortages,medicine shortages,black market,relationships between guernsey girls and german soldiers and more. most of the actors and actresses manage to convey an air of quiet desperation throughout the entire series barring season 2 episode 7 which is completely different in tone and mood,i was highly impressed with 3 standout performers, alfred burke(colonel richter),bernard horsfall(dr. martel) and helen shingler as helen porteous,there's also the awful emily richard(clare martel),she's an absolute stinker here. on a scale from 1-10 i rate this series a very strong 8.highly recommended.

Guernsey under occupation in WW2. One thing that struck me were casting similarities to Colditz (1972), played out on a larger stage. Alfred Burke plays Bernard Hepton's role as the firm but fair German in charge. Simon Cadell has Anthony Valentine's part as fanatical Nazi breathing down his boss's neck. Bernard Horsfall has a similar responsibility to Jack Hedley as hard pressed interlocutor between the Germans and the captives. There is even Colditz actor Richard Heffer, playing a similarly dashing daredevil. The big difference is the presence of women, and some of the most memorable episodes concern them.

After the Ball. At a dance instigated by Reinicke (Cadell), a young Austrian soldier picks up an attractive Guernsey girl. But subsequent event prove disastrous for both of them.

The Jerrybag. The sad story of Betty, not bad looking but somewhat dowdy and lacking self esteem. She has an affair with, and gets pregnant by a German soldier, is ostracised by her fellow islanders, and her lover later comes to grief on the Eastern front. Betty reappears three years later in The Right Blood, where her luck fails to improve.

My one grumble is that the conclusion of the final episode Escape is unnecessarily grim, and one felt short changed that Reinicke failed to get his deserved comeuppance.

I remember this series from when it was first transmitted, and I have been to both Jersey and Guernsey numerous times. It is well written and acted. Probably the stand out actor is Simon Cabell who is suitably evil and malevolent as the SS officer. The second series ended at April 1943. It is a great shame that there wasn't a third series to take it up to the liberation.

From a time when British television period and costume drama was of a consistently high standard, Enemy at the Door, by London Weekend Television, is a real standout.

The casting is as perfect as could be. It's also very cleverly written, and acted, in that the German occupiers often seem more likeable than many of the islanders, particularly the Commandant, Richter, played superbly by Alfred Burke. The relationship between Richter and the local doctor, Martel (Bernard Horsfall) is exquisitely crafted, demonstrating the tensions arising from being enemies by circumstance, harbouring a mutual liking and respect without showing it too much, and having to oversee a functioning community in impossible circumstances.

Simon Cadell plays the obligatory SS fanatic, Reinicke with sinister understatement, and jolts us out of any complacent sympathy for the German perspective by demonstrating just what they were capable of.

It's such a brilliant and thought-provoking story, and such a shame that it did not extend beyond the two series.