Kessler - The Complete Series (3 Disc Set)

The ruthless Gestapo officer – in hiding and on the run

Set in Occupied Belgium, The Secret Army followed the activities of Lifeline, a secret organisation set up to help Allied airmen and agents escape back to Britain across German lines. Its most deadly enemy was Standartenführer Ludwig Kessler (Cliffford Rose), fanatical head of the Gestapo. The Secret Army ended with Kessler making good his escape rather than face retribution for his war crimes.

This series picks up Kessler’s story 3 years later. A Belgian TV investigative journalist, van Eyck (Jerome Willis), interviews a prosperous German industrialist calling himself Manfred Dorf, confronting him on camera with his true identity, Ludwig Kessler, which he denies. But he is living on borrowed time. Sooner or later someone will recognise him. To confirm his theory van Eyck invites members of Life line to the studio: Albert (Bernard Hepton), Monique (Angela Richards) and Natalie (Juliet Hammond-Hill). Others are also interested in Kessler. Bauer (Alan Dobie), a member of German Intelligence, dedicated to tracking down former Nazis still operating within the Federal Republic. Mical Rak (Nitza Saul), an attractive Israeli seeking revenge. Kessler sent her parents to Dachau.

But Kessler is a powerful enemy. He has friends in high places and has lost none of his viciousness and psychotic zeal. He has become a leading figure in the modern Nazi legion, hoping to establish the Fourth Reich and funding Kamaraden in South America and all over the world. He is not about to give up without a fight. Another complication is Kessler’s daughter, Ingrid (Alison Glennie), a fervent neo-Nazi whose terrorist friends are not recognised by the old guard.

Eventually Kessler is forced to flee, first to England and then to the Nazi headquarters in South America. But former Luftwaffe Colonel Ruckert (Ralph Michael) fears Israeli retaliation. Even Mengele and Bormann fear for their lives. With Bauer and Mical Rak hot on his heels, Kessler decides to throw in his lot – and his immense fortune – with Ingrid’s militant young friends…