Colonel Trumper's Private War

Colonel Trumper's Private War

1961 - United Kingdom

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.

Read Next...

Bless Me Father

Arthur Lowe swapped his Home Guard uniform for Sacred Vestments to play a mischievous and cheerful eccentric in this gem of a comedy.

Also tagged Dads Army

Harpers West One

Life in a fictional West End department store employing around 4,000 staff.

Also released in 1961

A for Andromeda

Now recognised as a classic science fiction series, A for Andromeda was developed for television by writer and BBC producer John Elliot from an original storyline by Cambridge astronomer and novelist Fred Hoyle.

Also released in 1961

Cribbins TV Series

Sketch show featuring the incomparable Bernard Cribbins in which he portrays a variety of characters including a burglar, tramp, cowboy and more...

Also starring Dennis Price

Billy Liar

Adapted from the highly successful novel/play/film by successful writing team Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, this version of Billy Liar was updated by them to make it more relevant to the early 1970s.

Also tagged Sitcom

A J Wentworth

The final starring vehicle for the masterful comedic talents of the incomparable, Arthur Lowe.

Also tagged Sitcom

Barney is My Darling

A married couple's uneasy attempt to adjust to married life after years apart.

Also tagged Sitcom

Hogan's Heroes

The prisoners at a camp in Germany run rings around their captors

Also tagged Wartime Comedy

Next of Kin

A self-absorbed middle-class couple are preparing to take early retirement in the south of France. But when their estranged son and his wife are killed, they are forced to return to Britain to become guardians to their three troublesome grandchildren

Also starring William Gaunt