Excellent but underrated film

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I really enjoyed this show. It show much about what WW2 spies had to go through before going in to occupied europe. I would recommend to any spy or history buffs.

I wasn't quite sure I wanted to watch this, but once I got started, I'm happy I did. The historical links are solid and well-presented. Whether SOE was really as effective as the series hints at or not is a matter of conjecture, but there is absolutely no denying that the SOE training and missions had a significant effect not just on WWII, but on the development of the CIA para-military units, post-war SAS and the US Army Special Forces. It was very interesting to see a very varied group from today put through the SOE syllabus and training program, to include peer assessment and self-selection (drops) that are still an integral part of SOF selection today. I was only surprised by one of the non-selections and none of the selections.

Like other history reality series (Manor House, 1940s House), it is fascinating to see contemporary individuals come to grips with historical tools and processes ... and then have to 'make them work' to achieve a goal. Fourteen start, six survive -- and not necessarily the ones you'd expect. The facilitator judges are credible also, so it's an interesting insight into the British secret service in WWII. While some of the historical facts seemed slightly breathless and overblown, the human element was quite real and credibly done.

For a start will someone please tell these people how to dress? The so called ex Colonel has jammed his side cap over his head like a tea cosy. His pips are way off on his epaulettes. The uniforms only seem to fit where they touch. As for weapons training you have to be joking, when you fire a weapon, short or long, you lean forward into it, not backwards like all these seem to be doing. The section on first introductions to firearms was a joke. Golden rule one, never point it anyone unless you want to kill them, second golden rule every time you handle a new fire arm check to see if it was loaded. The instructor failed to ensure his class did this. They then put their pistols in their pockets, great way to shoot yourself. I don't know why they had the ludicrous stuffing explosives into dead rats exercise, far better to show them how to blow things up. All in all a pretty poor show.