Les éclaireurs du ciel

Pathdinders is a very good TV series from the 1970s which I found in my local library as a 12 part DVD. I'd never heard of the series before (I was only 5 years of age in 1972) yet it is surprising that this has never been re-shown on TV down the years. Incredible.

Sadly, the producers only seem to have had use of one Lancaster during filming as that's all you ever see. But the reconstuction of the pathfinding raids over Germany is first class. Of course, some episodes are totally unrealistic, like the one where three of the crew go on the run in Germany - it turns a little bit into a sort of Keystone Cops episode, with the Germans made out to be utterly stupid and naive.

Very good, however.

I used to watch this as a wee boy in Glasgow when it was first aired. I would come running in from playing to see it.

I was delighted to find it on dvd recently and my wife loves it too. We've watched the whole series twice.

Some great actors and dodgy special effects but good to see especially when they blend in real film from ww2.

Sometimes one wonders how the very best drama series' manage to disappear into utter obscurity. Unavailable in the UK for decades the copyright owners of this cracking historical drama really do need their knuckles wrapped for allowing such a gripping and faithful historically based record gather dust in an obscure film library somewhere.

Characterisations are sharp as a needle and the witty wartime banter alternates well with the seriousness of losing ones colleagues to tragic accidents, mistakes and enemy fire. Original wartime footage, much of it colour, is inter-cut bringing a genuine wartime tension to the small screen.

War, ironically, can bring out the best in people. As vanity, ego and other trifling worries are left behind, self-sacrifice, wit, and devotion to duty are the only parts of one's character worth a bean.

All in all a forgotten gem of a series which, considering original Pathfinder war heroes contributed throughout the script development process, should have been repeated many times on TV.

The trueness to history certainly comes across as the squadron battle episode after episode with new developments on the Nazi side and sometimes struggle with their own side to get the support they need to ensure bombing raids on the Nazi industrial targets are as effective as possible.

I'm off home now to watch the final two episodes - happy as Larry that someone has seen fit to dig this good old-style drama series out. Time to disconnect the TV aerial maybe as this kind of show could never be made today. Writers and commissioning editors are not made of such steely stuff and probably never will be again. Watch it and learn what our forefathers (and some WAAF's too!) did to protect our and our children's freedoms back in the 1940's.

Tony Gosling