Secret War

This series contains inherently interesting material about the Special Operations Executive which operated in occupied territory during the second world war. To the credit of the producers, there is a minimum of the "talking head" shots so often seen in programs of this type. The problem is that there are not, of course, a lot of archival footage of spies at work. Much of the film is taken from "Now It Can Be Told" and "School for Danger." (I've seen the former and recommend it.) But you will see the same shots repeatedly in various episodes. I noticed Jacqueline Nearne jump out of the same plane three times in one episode. Also, some episodes are repetitive which I imagine was necessary to fill the hour. All in all, it would have been better as 40 minute radio programs.

This TV show is a documentary series about World War Two clandestine missions. So far, most of the episodes are about the combat activities of the British SOE (Special Operations Executive) in Europe. The SOE's primary objective was to oversee and participate in espionage and sabotage operations behind enemy lines.

Each episode stands alone and tells about either an individual agent or specific mission. Photos and actual World War Two film clips are shown; along with simulations of events using actors.

As a bonus, M.R.D. FOOT (a former SOE agent, and author of numerous World War Two books) comments occasionally during this show. Sadly, FOOT passed away less than two months after "Secret War" premiered.

If any reader is interested in these types of documentaries, I highly recommend watching this series.

Hello IMdb review readers. I really enjoyed the episodes I've watched of this series so far online. I confused this with two other military history series that go by similar names. The earliest is from around 1977, it's called The Secret War, that series is very technical orientated and as a military veteran electronics technician personally, I loved it. Plus it actually will tell you stuff you never knew of even after all these years since it was made. The other of the three is from the late 90s or early 2000s called Secrets Of War, this is possibly (or not) a higher budget product. Charlton Heston narrates and it is dozens of episodes instead of the other two's, which are only about a dozen each. It is always entertaining. Now to Secret War, I was surprised that I found it thinking I was watching The Secret War, but was so happy that I watched another episode after it! The reenactment footage is a plus. A great series, I highly recommend it if you come across it like I did online.