User reviews

Back to 1987 to see really well made drama and this one a wartime one on the SOE. The first series is really very good, especially with Kate Buffery. Pretty well researched although there are a few errors and with a good feel ending which is not too lacking in veracity. Same for second season except a lot of emotionalism in the last episode and it started to unravel. The third series seems to have become lost in what is either a serious drama on the SOE or something of a Barbara Cartland novel. I have to see the last four episodes but something has really gone wrong and it is a wretched shame because it was so believable in the first two series. Now its wacky. In general though this is a first class wartime drama, far superior in its early series to anything else I have seen. I mean we have a real life Lysander here which was the aircraft type used during the war and that really is a first. Well shot but must have been expensive as a lot of vehicles and factories get blown up in a time before CGI. Julian Glover and Jane Asher do extremely well as the home front whilst Suzanna Hamilton is outstanding in the first series and Jane Snowden is good in the second series, both as radio operators, but JS is a victim of the weird plot in series three. Both these girls seemed to disappear from sight after Wish Me Luck which is a great shame.

Wish Me Luck from 1987 is a three-season series about the exploits of British female spies in France during World War II. The series starred Jane Asher, Michael J. Jackson, Kate Buffery, Jane Snowden, Jeremy Northam, Julian Glover, and Susanna Hamilton.

Seasons 1 and 2 of the late were based on the autobiography (including much of the dialogue and situations) of the British spy Nancy Wake, so there is a high degree of accuracy.

I really saw this as a mixture of several of the great female spies: Odette Hallowes, Violette Szabo, Wake, Virginia Hall, and Lise de Baissac.

Season 1 concentrates on the Buffery and Hamilton characters. The Buffery character was similar to Odette's - the government asked for photos people took while on vacation near the French coastline, and after submitting hers, she was invited to train as a spy. The other character, Mattie (Hamilton) is trained as a radio operator.

In season 2, we are introduced to another radio operator, portrayed by Jane Snowden. Different agents and government officials appear throughout the series. Season 3 deals with the Vercors rebellion of 1944.

I have to say that Season 1 for me was the best - it almost seemed as if Season 2, there was a change in the producers - the show seemed to have a more '70s TV look.

There are many edge of your seat scenes. The series shows the effect of the occupation by the locals, the private lives of the spies, and the danger the spies were in constantly. I really couldn't just watch one episode and stop! It's a binge-watch type of show.

The lives of these British spies were fascinating, and I highly recommend reading about the lives of the real-life women mentioned, and also seeing the film Carve Her Name with Pride, about Violette Szabo.

We enjoyed this drama, having found it in out local public library. We usually enjoy English drama. Was initially a bit put off by the potential violence. However, we really enjoyed the characters. We haven't finished it yet, but wanted to check on what others had thought. If you have the chance, rent it or see it. Very enjoyable. Good for Americans post 9-11.

This is a most engaging story of WW2 special agents sent to France. The characters are strong and the drama is well directed. There may be many stories of this kind but this is one of the better ones that keeps you hanging on waiting for the next episode.

Sadly this has not been repeated (to my knowledge) on TV - more's the pity. With the dearth of good drama, and a never-ending diet of soaps and "any old excuse to put the public on TV" it would be good to see this again.

As a fan of wartime drama series like Secret Army I picked up this Network 2007 title earlier this year and having now strolled through the entire contents I must say, despite the lack of extras, I'm extremely delighted with the entire 23 episodes of "Wish Me Luck" (in a 4/4/4/3/4/4 disc configuration). It has certainly been an enthralling emotional journey for a show that is superbly crafted with well-defined characters, dramatic scripts, effective incidental music and marvellous location filming. Each season of the show follows an established pattern of introducing two new trainee British agents of conflicting backgrounds and personalities and after initial training they find themselves in occupied French territory attempting to put what they have learnt to good use. The German aggressor for each run is primarily personified by a significant officer. For the 1st season it was the softly spoken Colonel Werner Krieger (Warren Clarke), the 2nd season the unsettlingly quiet Colonel Voller (Donald Gee) and the 3rd brought us the barking mad power crazed General Stuckler (Terence Hardiman). The first two seasons pose additional personal complications for Liz Granger with the eventual disintegration of her marriage and her blossoming romance with Kit Vanston a highly effective operative whom she knew before the war. Each season concludes with a dramatic final set piece. In the 1st it is the rescue of Matty Firman from the Germans, in the 2nd it is the engineering factory raid coupled with the resolution to Vivien's renewed relationship with her daughter and in the 3rd it is the mass German assault on the Le Crest resistance movement. Personally I found the 1st season incidental music a trifle overpowering however there are some beautifully effective pieces used in the 2nd and 3rd seasons which helps to greatly enhance the viewers enjoyment. Although present in the 1st it is the beautiful location filming used during the 2nd and in particular 3rd season which is especially breathtaking and helps to significantly elevate this series against other World War Two drama series. Although all the regular cast contribute marvellously to the overall believable aspect of the series I personally would single out both Michael J Jackson & Kate Buffery for special praise for their outstanding performances as Kit Vanston & Liz Grainger, two stars whom convey such a resonate believable atmosphere to their characters, their previous history prior to the war and their newly blossoming romance in such dangerously difficult present times. Passionate delivery of scripted lines can also be appreciated from many of the series guest stars like Trevor Peacock (Renard), Nigel Le Valliant (Laurence Grainger), Shirley Henderson (Sylvie), Caroline John (Helene), Bryan Pringle (Father Martin), Jeremy Brudenell (Jean-Louis) and Stuart McGugan (Gordon Stewart) to name but a few. If you enjoy great emotive exciting drama with engaging character interaction matched with stunning scenery and appropriately moving incidental music then I strongly recommend you nab a copy of this series. I am confident it will be the wisest investment you have ever made!

Wish Me Luck has to be my all time favourite TV series. There is just something about it that captivates me even now 20 years after I first saw it! The characters were perfectly cast and gave excellent performances. Especially Kate Buffery and Michael J Jackson who I thought fitted the bill perfectly. I can't imagine anyone else playing those two characters.

This series is definitely worth watching again (or maybe for younger viewers for the first time around), especially if you're interested in the WW2 era. I think it particularly struck a chord because, although the storyline was fictional, these kind of events or similar actually did take place all those years ago and it's a stark reminder of what the Allies fought for and sacrificed so that we may have our freedom today. And it was portrayed subtly without the 'over dramatisation' some war series/films seem to add.

So if you haven't seen this already - go out and buy it!

Suppose for a moment, you're a British female in German-occupied Western France around 1940 before the Americans entered the war. You're posing as a French national who is a trained nurse making house calls. However, that's just you're day job. You have a fake identity card and a fictitious history. In truth, you're actually a crackerjack radio operator specializing in Morse Code. Your task: to receive information about German military operations and movements through a network of the French Resistance in Normandy and Brittany and transmit the information via a Morse Code radio back to Britain. The surrounding area is being constantly surveyed by German soldiers headed by a German colonel who would probably prefer staying where he is rather than being sent to the Eastern Front of the war. In short, he's under as much pressure as you are to do his job. And then you're brought to his headquarters for a "routine" interrogation. Will the colonel accept your fake identification card, or will he suspect that you're in fact an agent working for the Allies? This is part of the set-up of a truly enjoyable British-produced series called "Wish Me Luck".

Liz Grainger (Kate Buffery) and Matty Firman (Suzanna Hamilton) are two females who desire to work for Special Operations Executive (SOE), the British equivalent of the CIA which operated predominantly during the Second World War. SOE's main function was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements. Liz and Matty first train in the British headquarters of SOE then are sent out into the field on missions nearly as dangerous as those fighting on the front-lines. In short, their tasks are to undermine German-controlled France by providing intelligence to the allies about possible war plans, missions, and strategies. If they're caught, they will probably be tortured for their information, sent to a death camp, or simply executed on the spot.

Of the two, Matty has the most crucial of jobs: to send as frequently as possible coded transmissions of intelligence through her radio back to Britain. Her cover, described above, is a French national nurse who simply makes rounds to patients in need of care. The tasks of her colleague, Liz Grainger also posing as a French national, is more subtle. She's there to support some of the different resistance members and spies by receiving and sending messages through the network, many of whom are of the French Resistance while others are from different countries and allegiances, including some communists. Some of these contacts include priests, bakers, and simple townsfolk, not all of whom are willing to cooperate because of previous altercations with the Germans. Like her colleague, she risks her cover being blown. She lived many years in France and speaks French without an English accent. Her messages are often hidden in places like the confessional of a church, or at a local shop.

Eventually Liz meets up with a French friend from her school days, Claudine de Valois, who was part of the French aristocracy and lends books out from her family's library. They concoct a cover story which includes Liz, posing as Celeste, having been in France her entire life, even though she's essentially a British citizen and not French. The German maintaining order and constantly sniffing out possible resistance operatives is Colonel Werner Krieger. He has become somewhat smitten with Claudine and constantly visits her small library. When Liz arrives at Claudine's library, he invites himself to tea with the two women who must act casually to maintain their cover stories. Luckily the colonel because of his infatuation with Claudine enjoys the women's company rather than trying to undercover whether the women's stories ring true. While the women act happy and nonchalant, inside they are terrified their covers could be revealed at any moment.

Overall a very enjoyable and compelling series about female spying, intelligence and espionage. While we often believe the real fighting of the Allies happened predominantly on the front lines, many others, both men and women, were engaged in extremely dangerous missions under cover. These people helped to support the Allies in their larger efforts to undermine the German stronghold on occupied countries. While the fighting of the soldiers was extremely important and not to be diminished, the spy network was at least equally as vital to the eventual destruction of the Third Reich.

This has been a thrilling series to watch. Wish it went further. It sure beats reality TV. The series tied it all together each episode and the characters brought the story line to real life without overdoing any part of it. I am sorry that there were only three seasons to watch as I was truly interested in the way the war was conducted by the resistance and the German invaders who seem to live up to everything I have ever read. It also portrays the resistance fighters as being lacks in their fighting process but did the best the possibly do under the trying circumstances. I would like very much that the series continued to support the invasion by the allied forces to see how they would handle it. Than You for a great thee seasons.

I love Foyle's War and was hoping this would be in the same vein, but unfortunately Wish Me Luck is not as well written, acted or directed, and the production values are cheap. The single biggest flaw is the second rate Star Wars theme variation soundtrack that permeates this film from beginning to end.

Like many BBC productions, Wish Me Luck also suffers from having been shot on videotape - a cheap method of filming that ruined a lot of worthy British dramas in the 1970s and 1980s. In keeping with the cheap production values, most scenes appear to have been shot on the first take and would have benefited from more rehearsals and takes. As is, the suspense never builds in this series because the special effects and stilted overacting constantly reminds the viewer that this is just a teleplay.

On the good side is some accurate research behind the story, excellent costuming, and realistic sets - especially in series 3 which is almost entirely shot on location in southern France. This would be a great candidate for remaking into a film or re-shot as a shorter series.

Very much in the vane of Secret Army and Colditz.

Tense and well told. Based on the daring dos of Nancy Wake ( The White Mouse) .

Why fabricate faux feminist heroes when there are countless stories waiting to be told .

Carve theirs names with pride. .

A creditable depiction of SOE and Resistance operators. The risks run by them and the strain they were under was immense. Third series understates actual support given to FFI on real-life Le Crest. And ending was a bit cheesy. But definitely worth watching.

Those captivated by "Wish Me Luck" when it aired on television will be delighted to hear that it is now being released on DVD. This is an exceptionally well-done drama centered on the work done by civilian volunteers for the British SOE (Special Operations Executive) in France during World War II.

There are, of course, other works of this kind, but "Wish Me Luck" stands out as particularly well-researched, providing innumerable small details that should please aficionados of the intelligence and resistance work of the war. The focus of the series, though, is clearly on the romance, suspense, and drama of the story. Overall a fantastic work.

This series was recently undeservedly brought back from obscurity by the Yesterday Satellite Channel in the UK. It is totally laughable and most of the actors must have auditioned to see how much they could overact. It was so bad that I daren't miss an episode of this hogwash. Several of the cast set out to show how not to act, but the Oscar winner was probably Brian Pringle playing a priest working for the French underground who would have been better employed by London Underground. He was simply appalling and it was a relief when he was shot after a couple of episodes. He was joined by so many of the cast in their over the top clichéd portrayals of German officers, Frenchmen and upper class English women. Trevor Peacock invented the new method of acting by delivering as much of his dialogue through clenched teeth, but at least he looked realistic whereas Jane Snowden had a fresh hairdo and makeup in every scene and also a steady supply of new skirts and blouses. The production spoilt itself in that they used authentic German armour and aircraft but let itself down as in the case of the women being shown as glamour pusses instead of tough secret agents. Jane Asher found her true calling when she turned to cake making as she really took the cake as the boss of the British base of the SOE operations. Kate Buffery was often seen smoking in the series, but I venture to say that she never smoked at all in 'real life.' I saw the DVD on sale in HMV for the princely sum of £55 for the complete series which could earn many of the 'actors' some royalties, but personally I'd put most of them plus the director in front of a firing squad! Another series along similar lines was 'Secret Army' which was remorselessly spoofed and spoilt by 'allo, allo', but 'Wish Me Luck' didn't need to be spoofed as it became a comedy in it's own right. The French locations couldn't save this series which was spoilt by poor acting, intrusive music and abysmal scriptwriting. Why did I watch it? My Resistance was low!

I looked forward to watching this as a big WWII fan, but the acting was truly dreadful. This series could be used as the perfect example of uneven acting. Actors go from happy to explosively angry in less than a sentence. I don't know if it is the fault of the actors or the director, but it is bad enough to render the whole series truly laughable. Hogan's Heroes was TRYING to be funny. I'm sure these folks were not.

Another problem is that actors disappear from the series without any explanation.

I've watched a tremendous amount of British television and this series is an embarrassment to the industry, I'm sure.

I went back to look. Suzanna Hamilton who played Matty in the first series was probably the worst of the acting and the best example of the good to bad mood swings. Deary me, she could get violently mad over nothing!

Another example was the romance between Luc and Emily in the third series. Lordy, if I only had a dollar for every time they fought angrily and then made up, I wouldn't be here writing this....

This series, while entertaining, could easily be converted to a comedy with few changes in the script. I know it was 1988 but I didn't realize how far we've come