The Sandbaggers

In Westminster there stands a drab building, peopled by ambitious men wielding great power in total secrecy, Among its staff are Neil Burnside and Willis Caine, for whom the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) is not just a way of life, but life itself. Neil Burnside, the Director of Operations SIS, objects to sending his best agents, the Sandbaggers, on a mission into Russia for Norway's Secret Service.

Première diffusion : 18 septembre 1978

When Sir Donald Hopkins, a top government advisor, is unexpectedly seen in Vienna, it is suspected that he intends to defect. The Sandbaggers are sent to Vienna to keep tabs on him. Meanwhile, an East African dictator has been executing British citizens, and SIS has put together a proposal for his assassination.

Première diffusion : 25 septembre 1978

Alan Denson threatens to quit the Sandbaggers after a rough, unauthorized assassination mission near the Soviet border, so Burnside applies pressure to Denson's fiancee.

Première diffusion : 2 octobre 1978

There has never been a woman in SIS's Special Operations Section, but with only one Sandbagger left to him, Burnside faces a crisis. The Training School can offer no one... except the enigmatic Laura Dickens. Sandbagger One Willie Caine goes to Gibraltar to investigate the murder of an SIS agent, and the new potential Sandbagger Laura Dickens goes to Morocco to get more clues in the case.

Première diffusion : 9 octobre 1978

Laura Dickens is assigned to find out where an Arab sheik's sympathies lie, while Burnside clashes with Deputy Chief Matthew Peele and the Ministry of Defence over a covert scuba-diving operation.

Première diffusion : 16 octobre 1978

Caine and an agent fresh out of field school, go to Cyprus on the trail of some missing rocket scientists, while Neil lets his romantic guard down at home.

Première diffusion : 23 octobre 1978

Laura Dickens is the most qualified agent for a risky mission in East Berlin and Burnside has to double-deal to make sure her presence there won't pose other security risks as well.

Première diffusion : 30 octobre 1978

The head of the Bulgarian Secret Service asks to meet with Sandbagger Tom Elliott in Sofia, but Burnside doesn't like it and intends to give Elliott backup whether his bosses approve or not.

Première diffusion : 28 janvier 1980

Permanent Under-Secretary of State Sir Geoffrey Wellingham goes missing in Brussels and the Sandbaggers are dispatched to find him, for Burnside's sake as well as Wellingham's.

Première diffusion : 4 février 1980

On an airline flight back from Sri Lanka, Caine and CIA covert-action agent Karen Milner run into trouble during their stop in Turkey, and Burnside runs into bureaucratic opposition when trying to help them.

Première diffusion : 11 février 1980

Sandbagger Mike Wallace runs afoul of the local SIS station while on a risky mission in Warsaw, and Burnside risks his own career to show him support by sending him on a subsequent mission to Stockholm.

Première diffusion : 18 février 1980

In the wake of the assassination of one U.S. senator, the Sandbaggers are assigned to bodyguard another, while Burnside gets wind of a traitor in the British cabinet.

Première diffusion : 25 février 1980

When there's talk of getting a new 'C', Burnside decides to back Peele for the job, believing him more malleable than the other most likely candidate, whom Burnside once clashed with.

Première diffusion : 3 mars 1980

CIA Head of London Station Jeff Ross asks for Burnside's help when Ross' marriage is in trouble, but then Burnside starts to suspect that the KGB and MI5 have an interest in that marriage as well.

Première diffusion : 9 juin 1980

SIS Director of Intelligence Edward Tyler meets a suspicious woman while on holiday in Malta, so Burnside secretly sends the Sandbaggers to keep an eye on him.

Première diffusion : 16 juin 1980

'C' orders Burnside to go on a working holiday in Rhodes, and while he's gone, Ross asks Caine for some risky backup in the USSR, but as Acting D.Ops., Caine would have to send Wallace.

Première diffusion : 23 juin 1980

Burnside tries to get approval to plant a woman in the Soviet Union as a long-term double agent, but he neglects to mention that her real mission is short-term human rights propaganda.

Première diffusion : 30 juin 1980

When a British intelligence source is killed in an accident in Prague, Caine is sent in to find out what really happened while Wallace and Burnside look for clues at home.

Première diffusion : 7 juillet 1980

When a rival for Burnside's job gets hold of a CIA document that describes Burnside as a divisive influence, SIS upper management contrives to promote Burnside ``sideways'' to Madrid.

Première diffusion : 14 juillet 1980

Burnside is opposed to an East-West arms treaty being negotiated in Malta, so he and the Sandbaggers conspire to scuttle the talks by encouraging a Soviet double agent to defect.

Première diffusion : 28 juillet 1980