Wish Me Luck is a British television drama about the exploits of civilian women who became undercover agents in Occupied France during the Second World War. The series was made by London Weekend Television for the ITV network between 17 January 1988 and 25 February 1990 and created by Lavinia Warner and Jill Hyem, who had previously produced and written the BBC women prisoner of war series Tenko. The series was filmed on location in England and France.
Wish Me Luck is similar to Tenko and the 1970s BBC drama Secret Army, in that it deals with strong female characters coping under extreme conditions in wartime. The organisation for which the series' women agents worked, the Outfit, was based on the real-life Special Operations Executive. Season 1 and 2 were based on the exploits of SOE agent Nancy Wake and much of the dialogue was copied from her autobiography The White Mouse.
The series also addressed social issues and divisions under wartime conditions. A great deal of attention was also paid to creating the social context of the operatives, the drama of their work, against the backdrop of an intensely detailed local "colour" in both wartime Britain and France.
"Wish Me Luck (as You Wave Me Goodbye)" is a song made popular during the Second World War by Gracie Fields.
Contents
Principal cast and crew
The first series centred around the exploits of two recruits:
Kate Buffery as Liz Grainger / Celeste
Suzanna Hamilton as Matty Firman / Aimee
Also starring:
Jane Asher as Faith Ashley
Julian Glover as Colonel Cadogan
Michael J. Jackson as Kit Vanston / Gregoire
Jeremy Northam as Colin Beale / Cyrano
Shelagh McLeod as Claudine de Valois
Warren Clarke as Colonel Werner Krieger
Lynn Farleigh as Vivien Ashton / Solange
Catherine Schell as Virginia Mitchell / Dominique
Jeremy Nicholas as Lewis Lake / Antoine
Mark Anstee as Luc Ferrier
Trevyn McDowell as Yvette
The second series includes:
Jane Snowden as Emily Whitbread
The third and final series, which was based on the 1944 Vercors rebellion, saw Jane Snowden joined by Catherine Schell, Jeremy Nicholas and, in one of her first television roles, Shirley Henderson. Running the 'Outfit' back in London were Jane Asher and Julian Glover. Other key characters were played by Terrence Hardiman, Jeremy Northam, Stuart McGugan, Felicity Montagu, Mark Anstee, Trevor Peacock and Nigel Le Vaillant.
Plot
Series 1
Episode 1 opens with Liz Grainger, codename Celeste (Buffery) apparently undergoing violent German interrogation.
It transpires that this is part of her training for 'The Outfit', a secret organisation run by Colonel James 'Cad'
Cadogan (Glover) and Faith Ashley (Asher), who are now recruiting civilians to boost their numbers. The rest of the
episode combines scenes of Liz's training to go to France as an undercover agent - and that of fellow recruit Mathilde (Matty) Firman, codename Aimee (Hamilton) - with flashbacks showing how they came to be recruited. Matty is a factory worker from Stepney, who escaped to London from France with her French mother early in the war and is steered to The Outfit by an officer who witnesses her at a dance slapping a man for calling the French collaborators. She is desperate to contribute more effectively to the war effort because of her French and Jewish
heritage. Liz, whose husband is serving overseas and whose brother Jack has recently been killed in the war, has moved to Devon with her daughter Vicky to escape the Blitz. She is recruited almost by accident, following her response to a radio appeal for French holiday snaps to help the war effort (in circumstances resembling those of the recruitment of real life agent Odette Hallowes). Liz initially refuses to undertake work which would entail leaving her daughter but is persuaded by Cad to undergo training, in which she does well, and becomes determined to volunteer. Cad overrides the reservations of some of his colleagues about sending civilian women (particularly a mother) to France and recommends her as a courier. Also to be sent is former actor, Colin Beale, codename Cyrano (Northam) whom Liz and Matty have befriended during training. In contrast Matty, despite excelling in her training as a wireless operator, is rejected for undercover work: her talkative nature makes her a security risk.
In Episode 2, Matty has returned to Stepney and the factory, but Cad is regretting rejecting her since their recruitment pool is dwindling. He relents and calls Matty back, initially for wireless receiving ("godfather") work in England, where she makes friends with fellow-trainee Lois Mountjoy (Abigail McKern). Liz is now at the final stage of training, and Matty makes the most of her second chance by being top of the class. Meanwhile, Cad, Faith and their colleagues discuss the worsening situation in 'Area 3', around Brague. Kit Vanston, codename Gregoire (Jackson), the resident agent out there, is convinced that the Germans are planning a major operation in the dock area but can do nothing without back-up. There are doubts about the local Communists and resistance and messages coming through are virtually unreadable because Kit doesn't have a wireless operator. Liz and Colin are to be rushed out there to help - Liz has a childhood friend, Claudine De Valois, as a contact in the area. News from the training school is that Matty is the only wireless trainee at the standard required to go into the field and she is added to the team. Lois is to act as her "godmother" at home. The three are briefed, say their goodbyes and prepare to leave immediately.
Series 2
Series 2 opens in Autumn 1943 with the execution by firing squad of three members of 'The Outfit' in South-Western France. Liz is now working alongside Cad and Faith in London, and has the task of contacting the bereaved relatives, including John Ashton's widow, Vivien (Farleigh), while Faith interviews potential young recruit Emily Whitbread (Snowden). Cad receives direct approval from the Prime Minister for the work they are doing, and also gets a visit from Vivien, offering to volunteer herself. Colin has been on a leaders' course, and is to be sent out to head up Area 7. Kit Vanston, for whom Liz clearly still has feelings, is being brought home. Liz helps train the new recruits, but admits to Faith that since hearing Matty has gone back into the field, she is missing being in France herself. Vivien (codename Solange) and Emily (codename Zoe) pass their training and prepare to leave for France with Colin. Emily sleeps with her boyfriend as a final fling. Kit arrives back, after more than a year leading Area 3, and is met by Liz.
In Episode 2, Colin, Vivien and Emily parachute into Area 7, and are met by brusque Outfit agent Gordon, codename Gaspard (Stuart McGugan) and local resistance leader Josef (William Simons), but Colin fractures his ankle in the drop. Emily quickly settles into her billet, posing as a relative of widowed shopkeeper Marie Ferrier (Gillian Raine), whose son Luc (Anstee) has just gone off to join the Maquis, and her father, Leon (John Boswell). Their neighbour Annette (Carmel McSharry) is revealed to be short of money and seems suspicious of Emily. Vivien's cover is as nanny to her wealthy friend Juliet (Bobbie Brown), who lives in a nearby chateau. Liz and Kit's relationship blooms when she helps him settle back home. He updates her on the news from Area 3: Maurice was captured and tortured to death by the Gestapo after she left. Liz's mother guesses Liz is having an affair and warns her not to risk her marriage; Liz tries to break it off with Kit who asks her to marry him. She refuses. Meanwhile, in France, Emily fears she is pregnant, Vivien seems to have a hidden agenda, and Colin rouses the suspicions of a young milice officer. He later finds her searching his rooms and has to shoot her.
Colin is in shock at the beginning of Episode 3. Vivien and Gordon hastily get rid of the milicienne's body. Emily's pregnancy is confirmed, much to Cad's fury, but she decides to have an abortion so as to continue her work. Vivien's secret is revealed: 19 years ago she had a baby in France and released her for adoption; she seeks the help of a priest in trying to trace her - but he appears to be a collaborator. Colin is having a breakdown - much to the contempt of Gordon, who takes temporary charge - and Cad and Faith worry about who can be sent to replace him. Returning home unexpectedly one night, Liz finds Laurence in bed with another woman. He blames her for being a bad wife and mother, which Liz takes to heart, despite her anger that she gave Kit up needlessly to save her marriage; she agrees to Laurence's demand for a divorce and custody of Vicky and volunteers to lead Area 7 herself. Faith summons Kit to talk Liz out of it, but Kit's chauvinist attitude enrages Liz - they row and part on bad terms. Colin escapes to Spain on foot as Liz (with a new codename of Collette) sets off for France.
Series 3
The third and final series is based on the actions of the Maquis du Vercors and the events in Vassieux-en-Vercors, though the locations used are given fictional names, such as the village being named Couermont and the plateau "Le Crest".
Jane Snowden, Michael J Jackson, Jane Asher, Stuart McGugan and Mark Anstee all reprise their roles, with agents "Dominique" (Catherine Schell) and "Antoine" (Jeremy Nicholas) joining the cast. The series focuses on the build-up to a planned uprising by the resistance in Le Crest, led to by Renard (Trevor Peacock), with the belief that supplies will soon arrive from Great Britain. However Nicole (Felicity Montagu), a woman who had befriended Emily in the opening moments of the series is feeding all this information to the Nazis and General Stuckler (Terrence Hardiman) orders the resistance to be quashed and troops are parachuted in, leading to a bloody finale. Other notable appearances in this series are Shirley Henderson who plays a young Jewish girl named Sylvie and Glyn Grain who plays Bonnard, the estranged husband of Dominique.
DVD releases
The complete series of Wish Me Luck is available on DVD in both the UK and USA.