The Sandbaggers — Season 1
The best spy series in television history.
About this season
The Sandbaggers is a British television drama series about men and women on the front lines of the Cold War. Set contemporaneously with its original broadcast on ITV in 1978 and 1980, The Sandbaggers examines the effect of the espionage game on the personal and professional lives of British and American intelligence specialists.
Episodes (7)
1. First Principles
Aired 18 September 1978 • 60 min
Neil Burnside, the Director of Operations for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, objects to sending his best agents, the Sandbaggers, on a mission into Russia for Norway's Secret Service.
2. A Proper Function of Government
Aired 25 September 1978 • 60 min
The Sandbaggers may be sent to Vienna to keep tabs on a possible defector, while Burnside tries to get official approval to assassinate an African dictator.
3. Is Your Journey Really Necessary?
Aired 2 October 1978 • 60 min
Alan Denson threatens to quit the Sandbaggers after a rough, unauthorized mission near the Soviet border, so Burnside applies pressure to Denson's fiancee
4. The Most Suitable Person
Aired 9 October 1978 • 60 min
Sandbagger One Willie Caine goes to Gibraltar to investigate the murder of an SIS agent, and potential new Sandbagger Laura Dickens goes to Morocco to get more clues in the case.
5. Always Glad to Help
Aired 16 October 1978 • 60 min
Dickens is assigned to find out where an Arab sheik's sympathies lie while Burnside clashes with Deputy Chief Matthew Peele and the Ministry of Defence over a covert scuba-diving operation.
6. A Feasible Solution
Aired 23 October 1978 • 60 min
Caine and an agent fresh out of field school go to Cyprus on the trail of some missing rocket scientists while Neil lets his romantic guard down at home.
7. Special Relationship
Aired 30 October 1978 • 60 min
Laura Dickens is the most qualified agent for a risky mission in East Berlin and Burnside has to double-deal to make sure her presence there won't pose other security risks as well.