P.O.W.

While "P.O.W." won't be ranked in the alltime great TV series it is a well done and accurate piece of British quality drama.

"P.O.W." does honour to the real prisoners of war by telling their story in all it's heroism but also not forgetting the sides of their captivity which are taboo..

Supporting actors Patrick Baladi and Ewan Stewart stand out especially well in their roles, Baladi as the calm CO. and Stewart as the Scottish NCO who heads of the escape commitee. Both deliver their roles without falling into any clichés.

Also the shooting location in Lithuania passes well of as the WW2 German rural country.

I've just discovered these series which of course were not shown on the french television, we do prefer the stupid ones like The bold and the beautiful which runs and re-runs year after year!

Here at last the cast is great Darcy is the perfect for this role pilot with his "beau ténébreux" looks. I really enjoyed it and I think the directors or ITV were quite right to stop it after six episodes otherwise the story would have repeated itself. Here we just have to imagine what were the secrets to carry to London and may be others would have escaped from the camp.

Someone wrote "There are of course some moments of unimaginable cruelty". The poor guy is really naive. Do you think that the Nazis were following the Geneva bylaws concerning the POW? They were as ruthless in POW camps than in the other sinister camps discovered in 1944 and 1945. I'm not sure that there even has been a Captain of a camp ever so easy going as the one shown on the movie.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

A drama concerning the exploits of a group of men trapped in a German P.O.W. camp in World War 2.

This is another inspired concept for ITV to make a series out of,but the soap opera style execution the stories and sub plots end up being carried out with and limp dialogue make something that could have been brilliant into something that is merely okay and nothing special.***

Some of the posters on this have it right: this is for the most part a pretty routine dealing with the ordeals of a group of British POW's in a German POW camp. Truth be told, the movie wouldn't have much credibility if it broke new ground on this point because, truth be known, the ordeals of POW's is a matter for history, and only can be reflected in more or less accurate ways in film.

For my part however, I really did enjoy the film. There are of course some moments of unimaginable cruelty, as there always seems to be in times of war- however by and large, the performances were sharp, and the movie while its not exactly light material, was done in earnest and with good intent.

Oh, and I have to say, James D'Arcy is one fine looking lad, and seeing him in a sheepskin flight jacket will always be welcome with me!

I thought that some of the story lines were quite good, although familiar to anyone who has seen The Great Escape – and who has not? – but I cannot say anything else good about this poorly-directed series.

Why do not directors seek advice from those in the know, i.e. actual serving or former servicemen? If the director of this series did in fact consult, then he was poorly served! The lack of attention to detail is so bad that the series could have been made by the BBC; the lead character, Flight Sergeant Caddon, is supposed to be a RAF aircrewman but there is no flying brevet above the left breast-pocket of his tunic, and the badges of rank are wrong: a flight sergeant wears a crown above a sergeant's stripes.

British military tradition would never allow a mere corporal to hold the apparent position of second-in-command under the Senior British Officer when personnel of higher rank are available: reference was made in one episode to the Regimental Sergeant Major so, if there were no other commissioned officers, he would be 2i/c: and if there were no RSM, Caddon would be 2i/c - a flight sergeant is two ranks above a corporal.

I assume that the series was made with the US market in mind as the US influence is all too apparent. The corporal is seen in one episode to carry out an about-turn in the US Army's amateurish fashion, rather than in the military manner of the British soldier. And there are no circumstances – NONE WHATSOEVER – under which a British serviceman salutes when he is not wearing a hat!

This series may afford a little light entertainment to an audience who knows nothing about the British forces, but anyone who has served the Crown will be sorely disappointed by it.

CJ Allen (RAF 1963-1987)