Enemy at the Door

Enemy at the Door is a British television drama series made by London Weekend Television for ITV. The series was shown between 1978 and 1980 and dealt with the German occupation of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, during the Second World War. The programme generated a certain amount of criticism in Guernsey, particularly for being obviously filmed on Jersey despite being ostensibly set on Guernsey. The series also marked the television debut of Anthony Head as a member of the island resistance. The theme music was composed by Wilfred Josephs.

Plot

The islanders were chiefly represented by the respected local doctor, Philip Martel (Bernard Horsfall), who struggled to maintain the peace while the Germans were led by Major Dieter Richter (Alfred Burke), a peacetime academic who was inclined to be lenient on the Guernsey populace but whose approach was challenged by his more conventionally nasty SS counterpart Hauptsturmführer Klaus Reinicke (Simon Cadell). Rounding out the principal German characters were Major Freidel and Oberleutnant Kluge, a former policeman still more inclined to act as a policeman rather than a soldier.

Many episodes portrayed the balance of power and fragile harmony between the islanders and the German occupying forces, and how it was threatened by either resistance action or over-zealous clamping down by the Germans.

A precursor to his role as Bergerac in the detective series set on Jersey, John Nettles played a police detective ordered to work for the Germans and anguished by the conflict between his duty and collaborating with the enemy.

The series' narrative ended in 1943 with the Germans still occupying the island.

Cast

Reception

The review on the Screenonline website by Sergio Angelini describes Enemy at the Door as featuring "stories and characters that explore the complex issues of alienation and wartime collaboration in a multi-faceted and surprisingly subtle fashion." However, "[W]hile striving for a sense of day-to-day reality, the series was shown well before the 9 o'clock watershed, consequently holding back from showing too much of the grim reality of the situation."

The series was re-broadcast in the UK by Talking Pictures TV from September 2020 and is scheduled to be rebroadcast on the same channel in May 2024.

Series overview

Episode List

Series 1 (1978)

Series 2 (1980)

References

External links

• Episode guide, DVD review, cast gallery
• Enemy at the Door at IMDb