Colonel Trumper's Private War

It is June 1940 - and Britain stands alone. The choice of Colonel Trumper (Dennis Price) to rescue a Polish professor proves that our backs are indeed against the wall. Following his rescue the professor, (played by Warren Mitchell), joins Trumper's unit which also included Pvt. Hicks (George Tovey). Each week Trumper and his unit are sent on a different undercover mission in Europe, but not before they complete preperations at a highly secret School of Espionage where they manage to pass their final test-with some degree of success. Trumper, of British Counter-Intelligence, was described in a TV Times article as the man "with the mind of a criminal and the morals of a Borgia." Somehow, though-he managed to muddle through each assignment. He took his orders from a Lt. Hasting (William Gaunt). 

This was television's first attempt at making a sitcom set during the War years. The series, made by Granada Television, first aired at 8.55pm on Friday 15 September 1961. By October the cast had been demobbed.

Published on December 5th, 2018. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.