The Sandbaggers

The best spy series in television history.

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.

Drama

Seasons

1. First Principles

Air Date: 1978-09-18

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

Air Date: 1978-09-25

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?

Air Date: 1978-10-02

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

Air Date: 1978-10-09

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

Air Date: 1978-10-16

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

Air Date: 1978-10-23

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

Air Date: 1978-10-30

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.

1. At All Costs

Air Date: 1980-01-28

The head of the Bulgarian Secret Service asks to meet with Sandbagger Tom Elliott in Sofia, but Burnside doesn't like it and intends to give Elliott backup whether his bosses approve or not.

2. Enough of Ghosts

Air Date: 1980-02-04

Permanent Under-Secretary of State Sir Geoffrey Wellingham goes missing in Brussels and the Sandbaggers are dispatched to find him, for Burnside's sake as well as Wellingham's.

3. Decision by Committee

Air Date: 1980-02-11

On an airline flight back from Sri Lanka, Caine and CIA covert-action agent Karen Milner run into trouble during their stop in Turkey, and Burnside runs into bureaucratic opposition when trying to help them.

4. A Question of Loyalty

Air Date: 1980-02-18

Sandbagger Mike Wallace runs afoul of the local SIS station while on a risky mission in Warsaw, and Burnside risks his own career to show him support by sending him on a subsequent mission to Stockholm.

5. It Couldn't Happen Here

Air Date: 1980-02-25

In the wake of the assassination of one U.S. senator, the Sandbaggers are assigned to bodyguard another, while Burnside gets wind of a traitor in the British cabinet.

6. Operation Kingmaker

Air Date: 1980-03-03

When there's talk of getting a new 'C', Burnside decides to back Peele for the job, believing him more malleable than the other most likely candidate, whom Burnside once clashed with.

1. All in a Good Cause

Air Date: 1980-06-09

CIA Head of London Station Jeff Ross asks for Burnside's help when Ross' marriage is in trouble, but then Burnside starts to suspect that the KGB and MI5 have an interest in that marriage as well.

2. To Hell with Justice

Air Date: 1980-06-16

SIS Director of Intelligence Edward Tyler meets a suspicious woman while on holiday in Malta, so Burnside secretly sends the Sandbaggers to keep an eye on him.

3. Unusual Approach

Air Date: 1980-06-23

'C' orders Burnside to go on a working holiday in Rhodes, and while he's gone, Ross asks Caine for some risky backup in the USSR, but as Acting D.Ops., Caine would have to send Wallace.

4. My Name Is Anna Wiseman

Air Date: 1980-06-30

Burnside tries to get approval to plant a woman in the Soviet Union as a long-term double agent, but he neglects to mention that her real mission is short-term human rights propaganda.

5. Sometimes We Play Dirty Too

Air Date: 1980-07-07

When a British intelligence source is killed in an accident in Prague, Caine is sent in to find out what really happened while Wallace and Burnside look for clues at home.

6. Who Needs Enemies

Air Date: 1980-07-14

When a rival for Burnside's job gets hold of a CIA document that describes Burnside as a divisive influence, SIS upper management contrives to promote Burnside ``sideways'' to Madrid.

7. Opposite Numbers

Air Date: 1980-07-28

Burnside is opposed to an East-West arms treaty being negotiated in Malta, so he and the Sandbaggers conspire to scuttle the talks by encouraging a Soviet double agent to defect.

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