Wish Me Luck

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.

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.

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.

Other key characters were played by Terrence Hardiman, Jeremy Northam, Stuart McGugan, Felicity Montagu, Mark Anstee, Trevor Peacock and Nigel Le Vaillant.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

At the outset of Episode 3, Liz, Matty and Colin have arrived by plane in Area 3 where they are met by members of the communist resistance, headed by Maurice (Vincenzo Nicoli), and to their astonishment, local villagers, revealing worryingly lax security arrangements.

However, she has trouble getting a transmission through and ends up staying on air long enough for her radio location to be pinpointed by a German detector van.

Cad plans for Liz to go back to London to brief in person, as Matty's transmissions are troubled by poor reception.

However Krieger realises that it must have been Claudine who passed the information to the British and offers her a deal: either she turns double agent or he will hand her over to the Gestapo.

Episode 6 sees Liz arrive back safely in London after a rescheduled pick-up to find that her husband, Laurence (Le Vaillant), is also due home at any minute.

Cad offers her a job in London since she will not be going back to France and asks her to brief Nigel Piggott, codename Alain, the sabotage expert who is to replace her in Area 3.

However, she can't resist gloating that Celeste is safe in England, belying Claudine's continued attempts to convince Krieger that Liz is innocent.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Gordon confides his distrust of Vivien to Liz, who finds out about her unauthorised absence and other lapses of security, and takes her to task.

The Germans find Emily's transmitter in a barn, and Liz decides she must move to a new safe house, to the dismay of Marie and Leon who have become very attached to her.

Cad gets a visit from his son, about to leave on active service, and then agrees with Paul Daubert that they must send an overall co-ordinator to France.

Haunted by the sacrifice Marie and Leon have made for her she asks to carry out the reprisal execution of Annette, but finds someone has beaten her to it.

Initially shocked, Liz is relieved to have back-up she can trust but is determined to keep things professional; she has become a clear-sighted and capable leader, somewhat to Kit's dismay.

The series climax sees Liz, Kit, Emily and Josef finalising their plans to bomb the factory unaware that Vivien is being questioned by Voller, and about to be handed over to the Gestapo.

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.