A single drama recreating the wartime escape from Colditz of the British officer and future Conservative politician, Airey Neave.
This dramatisation recreates the famous Second World War escape of British army officer Airey Neave (Clive Francis). Imprisoned in the high-security Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle, Neave plans a daring bid for freedom with a fellow prisoner, Dutch officer Luteyn (Steve Ubels). Disguised as German officers, they manage to break out of the fortress through a trapdoor under the camp theatre stage. The story follows their perilous journey across Nazi Germany, evading capture with help from contacts such as Louis Nouveau (Frank Shelley) and eventually crossing the border into neutral Switzerland.
This single play was produced and broadcast as a tribute to the Conservative politician, just over a year after his assassination by the INLA. Robert Barr’s script wisely sidesteps a conventional political biography. It concentrates instead on the defining exploit of Neave’s early life: the 1942 escape from Colditz, the first successful home run by a British officer from the fortress. The drama is a deliberate act of remembrance, memorialising the man not through the contentious politics that led to his death, but through a straightforward story of wartime fortitude. By framing his life through this singular act of heroism, the production presented a portrait of uncomplicated patriotic resolve.
Broadcast: BBC One, 1 Episode, 30 September 1980
Written by: Robert Barr
Producer: Ben Rea
Director: Ben Rea
Main Cast: Clive Francis (Airey Neave), Julian Fellowes (Forbes), David Purcell (Woollatt), Steve Ubels (Luteyn), Christian Rodska (Gestapo Officer), Frank Jarvis (Colour Sergeant Major), Frank Shelley (Louis Nouveau), Charles Kinross (Dentist), Barry Summerford (Corporal, Thorn), Reg Turner (Sergeant, Coulogne), Michael Earl (Corporal, Calais), Andrew Maclachlan (‘Forger’), Kenneth Waller (‘Louis’)
