Wish Me Luck - Series 1

Starring:Jeremy Northam, Suzanna Hamilton, Shelagh McLeod, Terrence Hardiman, Felicity Montagu, Jane Asher, Kate Buffery, Trevor Peacock, Stuart McGugan, Frank Ellis (II), Julian Glover, Bryan Pringle, Sebastian Abineri, Abigail McKern, Chris Sullivan, Michael J. Jackson, Jane Snowden, Jeremy Nicholas, Warren Clarke, Damien Thomas
Director: Bill Hays, Gordon Flemyng
Studio: Goldhil Home Media
Product Type: DVD

Description

A wonderful British Drama about Liz Grainger, a young middle-class English woman, who undergoes brutal interrogations as part of her training for World War II intelligence work in occupied France. Liz wants to work directly against the German enemy because of her anger at the recent death in action of her brother. She meets another woman recruit, Matty, who is also in training as a resistance agent. The organization that recruits for the United Kingdom intelligence work is lead by the flamboyant and cosmopolitan Colonel James Cadogan, "Cad." The primary aim of his organization is sabotage and subversion, leading ultimately to France's liberation from Germany. The first wave of agents sent into occupied France are volunteers from the Armed Forces; however, since their numbers have been reduced by German counter-intelligence, replacements now are being recruited from among civilians.

Customer Reviews:

Rich view of another side of the war.......2006-06-04

Finally, an exploration of WW II that demonstrates that women can be brave, loyal, daring and patriotic. For all the compelling war movies out there, its very rare that women are allowed those noble qualities as they are usually subjugated to the role of lover, femme fatal, wife, mother or child. "Wish Me Luck" features women, in all their various personal roles, but also engaged in the war to save their nation. Refreshing! For the insecure among you who need bang-bangs to reassure you there's a war going on, yes, look elsewhere for your pyrotechnics. "Wish Me Luck" tells the story of three "Baker Street Irregulars" -- or members of the British Special Operations Executive - spies sent to France to assist the resistance movement. Although the British series ran for 23 episodes, only the first 8 have made it to DVD (we can all hope for more) and follow two women and a man from training through their perilous missions in France. Subtle, thoughtful and filled with great period detail, this is great entertainment with a slightly different view of the war. If the topic interests you, do try the films "Carve Her Name With Pride" and "Odette," both based on the real experiences of well known women in the SOE.

Brilliant!.......2005-08-01

To anyone who has taken an interest in the work of SOE during the War Years this series is absolutely brilliant.A lot of research has gone into the making of this series and the detail and background is second to none.If you are looking for a lot of action,you may be dissappointed,as the series does tend to concentrate on the people involved and the effect it has on their lives and the people involved in their lives.but this all makes for very real and believable drama.The characters portayed are very much based on real people involved,and the series does show how the different "social" barriers were overcome during these times.It doesn't tend to overglamourise the situation,and portrays the dangers the agents faced on a day to day basis.
As someone who has a keen interest in the work of SOE I would thoughly recommend this series.
My only concern is when are they going to release the 2nd and 3rd series ?

Undercover in occupied France.......2005-02-04

I have this series on VHS and, after having watched it at least three times, still really enjoy it. I find it well-written, well-acted, well-paced, and an interesting take on the usual male spy story. As a woman, I admittedly enjoy stories about women who succeed at difficult tasks. The two women who star in this series face an extremely difficult task--to pass as Frenchwomen in occupied France, despite having spent the majority of their lives in England, while passing secrets under the noses of the ever-watchful Germans. Unlike another reviewer, I won't try to say whether members of the other sex will like it or not. I don't see it as a chick flick at all--simply as a story about spies in WWII which features the women who were spies, as well as the men. Jill Hyem is a fine writer and this is fine WWII drama. If you're looking for lots of battle scenes, however, this isn't it. This is about people, not weapons, and life among the enemy. I recommend it.

A spy series for the gels.......2004-09-12

WISH ME LUCK, a British telly miniseries that aired in the late 1980s, revolves around the perils facing English agents working with the Resistance in WWII occupied France.

Female viewers are the target audience for this melodrama. Real Men need not tune in. The shtick to draw in the gels is the fact that the two main protagonists are women. Liz Grainger (Kate Buffery), a young English housewife and mother, whose husband is serving with the Royal Army in Egypt and whose brother has been killed flying for the RAF, volunteers for clandestine duty as a courier in Normandy while leaving her pre-pubescent daughter with Mum. Half-French, half-English Matty Firman (Suzanna Hamilton), who escaped the German invasion with her French mother to live with her English grandfather in Stepney, is teamed with Liz as a radio operator, even though she has a tendency to leave mission-sensitive material lying about. A third member of the team is Colin Beale, played by an adolescent Jeremy Northam. Women in the audience will think him cute.

While there are tense moments as our heroines find themselves in dodgy spots, the plot focuses mostly on emotional relationships: Matty with Liz, Matty with Colin, Liz with her husband, Liz with her daughter, and Liz with her control behind the lines.

Beyond the touchy-feeliness, which may leave male eyes glazed over, this is too obviously a low budget production - except for the rather striking period hairstyles on several of the female characters. The cheesiness is in the details. The Teutonic invaders are less Aryan and more out of UK central casting. And when they speak Deutsch among themselves, the awkward tone and overly careful pronunciation is reminiscent of memorized speech drills in first year German. Moreover, though Liz and Matty are exhorted in spy school to act like Frenchwomen when on assignment, the latter in particular, once in enemy territory, punctuates loud conversations with Bloody This, Bloody That, and Sod This - all potentially within the hearing of any leather-coated Gestapo ape skulking on the nearest street corner.

A decidedly more clever and much better spy series from the UK is THE SANDBAGGERS, broadcast in the late 70s and featuring an MI6 covert operations team. And if you want to see a truly excellent WWII period piece enjoyable by both sexes, I recommend FOYLE'S WAR, currently in it's third season, the first two of which are available on DVD.

Good soap-ok drama--worth watching.......2004-04-18

This is a decent series--but don't expect "Enemy at the Door"-a similar type melodrama-with superior stories and acting. However, if you like WW2 stories-this is a nice set to watch and rent/own. There's nothing particularly bad about these stories-but events sometimes strain credulity-example--Matty doesn't know how to ride a bicycle-but manages to keep up with Liz without problem on a lengthy bicycle journey after arriving in France--a few of the escapes from capture are a little unbelievable as well-at one point Liz detours her bicycle through the woods--eventually losing it and making her way on foot--but somehow managing to evade and escape the Germans and the dogs that are chasing her--but these are minor flaws. All in all-the series is worth watching-though I would recomend rental rather than purchase--if you can find a video store that rents it!
Honestly, I would recomend either "Enemy at the Door" or "Piece of Cake" over "Wish Me Luck"--but if you've seen those two series and enjoyed them-chances are you would enjoy this one as well

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