Enemy at the Door


Enemy at the Door is a British television drama series made by London Weekend Television for ITV. The series was shown between 1978 and 1980 and dealt with the German occupation of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, during the Second World War. The programme generated a certain amount of criticism in Guernsey, particularly for being obviously filmed on Jersey despite being ostensibly set on Guernsey. The series also marked the TV debut of Anthony Head as a member of the island resistance. The theme music was by Wilfred Josephs.

Plot

The islanders were chiefly represented by the respected local doctor, Philip Martell, who struggled to maintain the peace while the Germans were led by Major Dieter Richter, a peacetime academic who was inclined to be lenient on the Guernsey populace but whose approach was challenged by his more conventionally nasty SS counterpart Hauptsturmführer Klaus Reinicke. Rounding out the principal German characters were Major Friedl and Oberleutnant Kluge, a former policeman still more inclined to act as a policeman rather than a soldier.
Many episodes portrayed the balance of power and fragile harmony between the islanders and the German occupying forces, and how it was threatened by either resistance action or over-zealous clamping down by the Germans.
A precursor to his role as Bergerac in the detective series set on Jersey, John Nettles played a police detective ordered to work for the Germans and anguished by the conflict between his duty and collaborating with the enemy.
The series ended with the Germans still in occupation, and did not depict their eventual defeat.

Cast

Series One (1978)

#TitleOriginal Airdate
1By Order of the Führer21 January
2The Librarian28 January
3After the Ball4 February
4Steel Hand from the Sea11 February
5The Laws and Usages of War18 February
6V for Victory25 February
7The Polish Affaire4 March
8Officers of the Law11 March
9The Jerrybag18 March
10Treason25 March
11Pains and Penalties1 April
12The Prussian Officer8 April
13Judgement of Solomon15 April

Series Two (1980)

#TitleOriginal Airdate
1Call of the Dead5 January
2Reception for the General12 January
3Angels That Soar Above19 January
4No Quarter Given26 January
5Committee Man2 February
6Post Mortem9 February
7The Raid16 February
8Jealousy23 February
9War Game1 March
10The Right Blood8 March
11From a View to a Death15 March
12The Education of Nils Borg22 March
13Escape29 March