Secret Agent Selection WW2, episode 5

The last episode of ‘Secret Agent Selection WW2’.
I’m rather looking forward to this, the show has been rather good so far and I can’t wait to see how our agents will perform in the field.

Skip to 2:15 if you don’t need reminding of what happened in the previous episode and don’t want any spoilers.
I’ll never understand why tv people think we want to have what we’re about to see ruined by giving half of it away at the start.

Of the 14, 6 have managed to get through to this final phase of the course, if the training had been as long, strict and difficult as it really was back in the 1940s, this number would have been even smaller.
But of course, for a tv show you can’t take as much time as they took for the training during WW2 and contestants and health & safety officers would have objected to using live ammo, real explosives and other bits of training that were rather dangerous.

Either way, I am very impressed with the contestants so far and to be honest, I didn’t think I would be.
These men and women did very well and I bet some of them would have made it through to the end of real wartime SOE training.

They look pretty good, hairstyles, clothing, nothing really stands out as not being historically accurate.
Although as someone obsessed with this subject, I can’t help wondering if the labels in the clothing are French, just in case the Germans check…

Their mission involves sabotage.
The team is dropped somewhere on the training grounds, I must say I’m rather excited and would have loved to take part in this.
I’ve done a few exciting things that are similar, I would have rather enjoyed this.

The agents have their fake paperwork, I wonder how accurate it is, if the men for instance have the right stamps to exempt them from forced labour.
I doubt it, then again, as well prepared as real SOE agents were, more than once they figured out that things had changed, regional laws and rules were not quite as expected as well.

Hiding in plain sight is always the best idea, well done team.
However as one of them is carrying a wireless transmistter, they really should have this person walking in the back so they can dispose of the radio or hide themselves if the others spot the enemy.

Just as with previous episodes, it is really wonderful to get these short bits of information about the real wartime stories of SOE agents.
Even if this show wasn’t as good as it is, at least the adventures of real SOE agents would have reached a large audience.

The team was told the office would be empty, it isn’t.
Good thinking of whoever thought this up.

Lizzy is getting a shot at lockpicking, she did great in training and although of course this still is training, this time she’s doing it under more stress.
Will our favourite do well?
Sadly this lock isn’t budging.
Where a lockpick fails, a foot generally doesn’t.

However, the enemy now knows someone has broken in.
If I was in charge of this show, this would have dire consequences.
I’d punish the contestants by doubling the security at the telephone exchange, as I would have done if I’d been the local German commander.

On a sidenote, this farm building is gorgeous.

The suitcase radio is really brilliant, I wonder if and how they made it work for the show.
Were the contestants made to pretend, was there a real transmission going on or did they hide a mobile phone inside it?

The teams have to spend the night on a farm and in a shed.
I wonder if they’re going to be allowed a restful night…

Lizzy is a Vegan but has put this aside for the show.
I admire her even more know, I’ve had similar experiences, having been a vegetarian for a while, I too ate meat for historical purposes and during training.
Authenticity above everything!

I do find it odd that the team has spam with them to eat.
If I’m not mistaken this was not available in occupied France, it was something that could get you in trouble when you wer ecaught with it.

Another thing not quite right with the scene in the shed is that there is a lot of light.
During WW2 there were very strict blackout laws in place, not to mention that you probably just wouldn’t want passers by noticing light coming from a shed.
They should have used a torch or a little candle, of course that would have meant the scene would have been rather dark and TV people are scared of the dark.
Nevertheless, it was darker in reality and I think it would have looked even better if they’d dared to take that risk.

See, having, by accident, seen a bit of the intro, I already know that some things will fail and/or succeed, making what we’re watching a lot less exciting.
Please tv people, stop spoilers!

They’ve found the container, that looks wonderul, parachute, container, the works.
The agents are a little bit too relaxed though, were they not told the Germans would have heard the plane during the night and would be patrolling the area?
At least they follow proper protocol and hide the chute and container.

The chief is pretending to be a French policeman.
Why didn’t they get an actor in WW2 French police uniform who only speaks French?
I know that during training the real SOE did this.
Not only is seeing the uniform quite a game changer as it can be rather intimidating, even if you know it is fake, but having your language skills tested under stress is essential training.

 

The team being stopped isn’t very well prepared for this and seem flustered, making up their cover story for being in the area on the go.
Looking for a lost dog? Ha!
Good save, but I’d still be suspicious.

So now the teams have joined up and are preparing for the attack.
Not so sure about the wires and the gaffer tape, did they have those back then?
Would it be too much to ask to get fabric covered wires?
They’re not even using the real stuff anyway.
I do appreciate the narrator telling us that they agents are using dummies, it sounds silly but some reality shows would just not tell the viewer that some things are staged.
I wonder if they told the contestants the explosives were fake.

 

I love the scene of them listening to the wireless waiting for the code message that tells them the operation is on.
Listening to these messages from a genuine WW2 radio in a historical setting is quite the experience, I’ve done this and it was incredible.

The agents are incredibly nervous, the tension can be read from their faces.
Of course, this is just training, no it is just pretend training for a tv show, it is nowhere near how it would have really felt back then, but for the show to give the contestants these kinds of feelings is quite an achievement, well done.

One thing that isn’t so well done is that again they’ve got an enemy who doesn’t look like the enemy.
It really wouldn’t have been that difficult for a production like this to get someone walking around in a German uniform.
Little effort that would not only made it all look more interesting for the viewer but also would have just made the experience a lot more exciting and scary for the agents in training.
The first time I stood face to face with German soldiers asking for my papers, I was terrified, even though I knew it wasn’t real.

The centry has to be taken out…
Go Lizzy!
The “German” goes down a little too easy, but I guess you don’t want to risk having Lizzy kill one of your actors, because I bet she could.

 

The tree and the telephone exchange are taken out.
Mission successful!

More great historical footage and background information.
Not enough people know how essential the local resistance attacks on the Germans were for the success of D-day.

The final part of their training was interesting but a little too easy for my taste.
I would have liked a few random German patrols, interaction with local resistance (not always willing to cooperate), a raid on the safe house, etc.
Because not knowing who to trust and always expecting the enemy makes you feel paranoia and tension you’ve never experienced before, in many ways it is scarier and a more stressful than the actual moments of action.

I’m so glad Jeffries has gotten a confidence boost from taking part, she has/had no idea of her qualities while she is so impressive.
She has no reason to be insecure about anything and I’d gladly have her on my team the next time we go defeat some Nazis.

Then again, that goes for all the contestants that made it to the end.
They’re all very impressive and the best thing about this show is that it reminds the viewer that those least likely at first to be good agents are actually best suited.
The grandmother, the mousy young girl, the amputee veteran, etc.
Just like it was and is in reality.
And I hope that this may give hope and inspiration to people who think they wouldn’t be of much use in time of war or disaster.
Like ones these stories inspired me as a young girl, excited to learn that wars weren’t just fought by big strong burly men.

Magda reads the farewell letter from her great aunt who was in the Polish resistance and executed.
It is heart breaking.

They’ve all passed and they all volunteer to continue onwards and actually go to occupied France, although of course this won’t really happen because the show has come to an end and they’ll never have to actually go put their training into practice.
Although if I was in the secret agents business today, I’d consider recruiting one or two of these contestants… because of course the kind of work the SOE agents did, is still being done today all over the world.

Oh wonderful, some of the students are giving another once in a lifetime opportunity; they’re going to meet real SOE agents!
Brilliant, what a fantastic thing to add to this show.
I’m even more jealous of the people who were given this opportunity.

 

Debby follows in the footsteps of Vera Atkins, someone I portrayed for a documentary once.
This bit is a rude reminder of what happened to those who didn’t make it home.
In most cases they awaited a horrific fate, worse than that of the average POW.

The SOE may have shortened the war by 6 months, I think that is a careful estimate.
Either way, knowing the situation my grandparents were in when the war ended, I know they probably wouldn’t have made it if it lasted that much longer and I therefore owe these brave agents my life.

I would have loved to hear what the SOE veterans thought of the show, maybe the producer can make an extra episode about that now the show has finished.
Would be great to see them watch it.

 

Conclusion.

I wasn’t looking forward to this show, I consider myself a little bit of an expert on this subject or at least the era, and was expecting to be confronted with lots and lots of mistakes, silly contestants refusing to take part out of fear for breaking their nails and way too many shortcuts being taken.
But I was actually quite pleasantly surprised and as the show went on became more and more excited.

Yes, shortcuts were made, yes there were a few sloppy mistakes here and there, but at its core the show did what it had to do; teach the viewer about the SOE and give every day people a little taste of what it would be like to be trained for the SOE.
The experience was exciting for both contestants and viewers, the overall look was ok but above all, it really succeeded in teaching the viewer quite a lot of interesting stuff.
By using historical footage but also talking to real SOE agents (I would have liked more of that), a lot was added to this show.
As often a show like this stands or falls with the contestants, picking the wrong people can ruin everything.
But for this program the production team really outdid themselves.
They found some really impressive and willing participants, many of whom with interesting and inspirational backstories.

In short, I’d absolutely put this show on the must-see list of Living History Reality shows.
More please.