Danger UXB

recurring characters:

Officers of 97 Royal Company Engineers (Bomb Disposal):

Men of 347 Section:

Adapted from stories by Major A. B. Hartley, M.B.E., RE.

Production credits:
Director of Photography: Norman Langley [ episodes 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 & 13 ], Ian Wilson [ episode 3 ], Tony Mander [ episodes 6 & 12 ], Peter Jessop [ episode 10 ]
Executive Producer: Johnny Goodman
Producer: John Hawkesworth
Art Director: James Weatherup, Christopher Burke [ episode 11 only ]
Editor: John Trumper [ episodes 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 & 13 ], Ralph Sheldon [ episodes 3, 6, 9, 11 & 12 ]
Production Manager: Ron Jackson
Music: Simon Park
Script Editor: Linda Agran
Associate Producer: Christopher Neame

1st Series 1979

1. "Dead Man's Shoes"
   gs: Norman Chappell [ Corporal Mould ], Philip Shaw [ Young 2nd Lieutenant ], Margaret Heald [ Norma's Friend ], Charles Pemberton [ Police Sergeant ], Fred Bryant [ A.R.P. Man ], Eric Francis [ Bombed Out Man ], Mollie Maureen [ Old Woman ]

   Brian Ash is eager to begin his new commission until he discovers that the company he has been assigned to is handling bomb disposal and he is to begin defusing unexploded bombs with practically no training.

   b: 8 Jan 79 w: John Hawkesworth d: Ferdinand Fairfax

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2. "Unsung Heroes"
   gs: Marilyn Galsworthy [ Priscilla ], Jean Campbell-Dallas [ Elsie ], Dafydd Havard [ Communist Speaker ], Phyllis McMahon [ Cis ], John Rolfe [ Fire Officer ], Christopher Burgess [ Photographer ]

   Major Francis turns up the criticism on Ash after a patriotic magazine article profiles the 347 Section and Ash tackles a bomb that's not considered vital with a new fuse extractor that doesn't work properly.

   b: 15 Jan 79 w: John Hawkesworth d: Ferdinand Fairfax

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3. "Just Like a Woman"
   gs: Marilyn Galsworthy [ Priscilla ], James Woolley [ Adjutant on course ], William Wilde [ Instructor on course ], Patsy Smart [ Molly Preston ], John Kelland [ President ], Jonathan Elsom [ Captain RAOC ], Prentis Hancock [ Captain BD ], Christopher Good [ Captain West ], Matthew Ryan [ Matthew ], Gretchen Franklin [ Mrs Flack ], Roger Owen [ Chaplain ], John Lillywhite [ Jimmy ], Michael Salmon [ Terry ], Stanley Price [ Policeman ], David Millet [ H.Q. Corporal ]

   Ash must face a formal inquiry after a new officer is killed by a type 17 bomb, but it's the private affair of informing the dead officer's wife that troubles him more.

   b: 22 Jan 79 w: Jeremy Paul d: Roy Ward Baker

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4. "Cast Iron Killer"
   gs: Barrie Cookson [ Brigadier Lawrence ], John Graham [ Professor Hutton ], Mary Healey [ Dorothy ], Liz Bagley [ Grace ], Charles Lamb [ Gardener ]

   The 347 Section is ordered to bring a bomb to Dr Gillespie, a scientist working on a new machine for steaming unexploded bombs into uselessness, and Ash meets Gillespie's daughter Susan for the first time.

   b: 29 Jan 79 w: Don Shaw d: Jeremy Summers

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5. "The Silver Lining"
   gs: John Rapley [ Silversmith ], Christopher Good [ Captain West ], Norman Chappell [ Corporal Mould ], Mike Lewin [ Police Sergeant ], Brian Haines [ Surveyor's Assistant ], Adrienne Conway [ Singer ]

   A little more drinking and lust is the result of the 347 Section spending time defusing a bomb that has demolished a risqué nightclub, and Ash admits to Lt. Rodgers that he is smitten with Susan.

   b: 5 Feb 79 w: John Hawkesworth d: Henry Herbert
   NOTE: This episode takes place in September of 1940.

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6. "The Quiet Weekend"
   gs: David Buck [ Stephen ], David Wood [ Lieutenant Symes ], Kathleen Harrison [ Mrs Dollery ], Benjamin Whitrow [ Major Puller ], Mike Savage [ 1st Private ], Nick Ellsworth [ 2nd Private ], Dierdre Costello [ Gladys ], Sandy Ratcliff [ Rosalyn ], Mary Healey [ Dorothy ], David Arlen [ Policeman ], Richard Henry [ Mess Orderly ], Pamela Abbott [ W.V.S. Lady ]

   Ash and Susan try to get a quiet weekend away from the war so they can fall in love but after Ash is called away urgently Susan returns home to find her husband waiting for her.

   b: 12 Feb 79 w: Jeremy Paul d: Unknown

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7. "Digging Out"
   gs: Cheryl Hall [ Jean ], Maggie Ollerenshaw [ Betty Salt ], Patrick Jordan [ Policeman ], Norman Mitchell [ A.R.P. Man ], Kenneth Owens [ Company Sergeant Major ], John Snagge [ Newsreader ]

   Ash works on a bomb outside of a destroyed office building while inside the men of the 347 Section try desperately to rescue a woman trapped under debris with another ticking bomb right next to her.

   b: 19 Feb 79 w: Paul Wheeler d: Ferdinand Fairfax

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8. "Bad Company"
   gs: James Woolley [ Captain Conroy ], Norman Chappell [ Corporal Mould ], Barrie Cookson [ Brigadier Lawrence ], John Snagge [ Newsreader ]

   Stress begins to take its toll on the 347 Section, manifesting in arguments and fights, but nothing that warrants the sort of treatment that Major Francis starts dishing out.

   b: 26 Feb 79 w: Don Shaw d: Ferdinand Fairfax
   NOTE: This episode begins with "The Bismarck's been sunk!" (1941).

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9. "Seventeen Seconds to Glory"
   gs: Peter Cellier [ Flt. Lt. Fenwick ], Martin Neil [ Private Brinckley ], Stephen Hatton [ Naval Rating ], Charles Pemberton [ Police Sergeant ], Brian Poyser [ R.A.S.C. Corporal ]

   Ash cooperates with the Navy on the defusing of a land mine that gives a man just seventeen seconds to get clear once the clock mechanism starts, while Susan's husband has a nervous breakdown and she leaves Ash for good just after he has proposed and she has accepted.

   b: 5 Mar 79 w: John Hawkesworth d: Douglas Camfield

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10. "Butterfly Winter"
    gs: Martin Neil [ Lance Corporal Brinckley ], Blake Butler [ A.R.P. Man ], Patricia Garwood [ Mrs Busby ], Jason Fathers [ Ronnie Busby ], Tony Steedman [ Reverend Matlock ], Penelope Beaumont [ W.P.C. ], Robert Brown [ Civil Defence Officer ], Michael Sheard [ Police Superintendent ], Clifford Earl [ Desk Sergeant ], Jonty Miller [ Sam Smythe ], Lyndsey Williams [ Chorus Girl ], Paddy Ryan [ Postman ], Daphne Neville [ Woman in Police Station ]

    The 347 Section is called to a quiet village to recover hundreds of butterfly bombs, each about the size of a football with wings that make them flutter to the ground, but most of them have fallen in difficult positions and the men must devise elaborate pulley systems to get to them.

    b: 12 Mar 79 w: Jeremy Paul d: Roy Ward Baker

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11. "Dead Letter"
    gs: Tim Pigott-Smith [ Harry Winthrop ], Deborah Grant [ Elspeth ], Patrick Malahide [ Flt. Lt. Kelly ], Christopher Good [ Major ], Charles Rogers [ Captain ], Ian Collier [ Sergeant ]

    Fourteen months have passed since Ash has seen Susan but their paths cross again when Dr Gillespie asks for Ash to be assigned to help him learn about the new Y fuse, the latest German design.

    b: 19 Mar 79 w: Kenneth Clark d: Simon Langton
    NOTE: This episode begins 14 months after the end of episode #9.

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12. "The Pier"
    gs: Martin Neil [ 2nd Lieutenant Brinckley ], Cyril Cross [ Mr Munton ], Ellis Dale [ Surgeon ], John Snagge [ Newsreader ]

    The Company packs up and moves to the coast where they are to clear the beaches of dozens of British mines laid in preparation for a German invasion, while Susan and Ash get engaged once again following the suicide of her husband.

    b: 26 Mar 79 w: Don Shaw d: Douglas Camfield

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13. "With Love From Adolf"
    gs: Gordon Rollings [ Mr Baker ], John Kane [ Colin Mulley ], Patricia Clapton [ Woman on Bombsite ], William Rourke [ Locator Corporal ], Margaret Heald [ Norma's Friend ], Geoffrey Lumsden [ Parson ], John Snagge [ Newsreader ]

    After a nearly lethal accident while defusing a mine, Ash spends time convalescing and fearing his return to the disposal Company. Mulley and Norma get married and the men devise a scheme to help Ash overcome his fear.

    b: 2 Apr 79 w: John Hawkesworth d: Henry Herbert