X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

Special Branch Season 1 Episodes

Season 1 Episode Guide

33 Episodes 1969 - 1969

Episode 1

Troika

Wed, Sep 17, 1969 60 mins

The officers of the Special Branch mount a dawn raid on the homes of the members of a suspected spy ring.

Where to Watch

Episode 2

Smokescreen

Wed, Sep 24, 1969 60 mins

Cowley suicides shortly after an unproductive round of questioning by Eden in gaol, which leads to an embarrassing public coroner's inquest. Jordon investigates a scientist being vetted for a sensitive position and all agree he's too far left for further consideration, yet he still succeeds.

Where to Watch

Episode 3

The Promised Land

Mon, Sep 9, 2019 60 mins

A small boat arrives at a beach in Kent where illegal aliens are unloaded, but the police bag the smugglers and all bar one of the Pakistanis, now quite ill, who seeks refuge with an immigrant rights activist.

Where to Watch

Episode 4

A Date With Leonidas

Mon, Sep 16, 2019 60 mins

A teenager's vow of vengeance leads to Inspector Jordan interrupting a wedding and Superintendent Eden accepting a parcel that contains death. Before the day is over both men have cause for concern.

Where to Watch

Episode 5

The Kazmirov Affair

Mon, Sep 23, 2019 60 mins

Where to Watch

Episode 6

A New Face

Mon, Sep 30, 2019 60 mins

The son of a trusted officer of the special branch has become radicalised while away at university, trying to join a gang of riot-minded militant socialist students. This threatens to break up his family, and his father's position.

Where to Watch

Episode 7

You Don't Exist

Mon, Oct 7, 2019 60 mins

A girl lands at Heathrow from Rhodesia, but owing to Britian's break of diplomatic relations, she has no valid passport. A young officer is supposed to mind her until she can be sent back, but takes her for a tour instead.

Where to Watch

Episode 8

The Children of Delight

Mon, Oct 14, 2019 60 mins

Is there something sinister going on behind the facade of 'The Children of Delight' - a group of hippies who have arrived on Eden's patch. Detective Sergeants Webb and Gifford go undercover to investigate.

Where to Watch

Episode 9

Reliable Sources

Mon, Oct 21, 2019 60 mins

Superintendent Eden is on the spot. The Security Commission has met to consider the leak that tipped a spy during the Troika affair. The detective is cleared - but told that he cannot continue his role as Special Branch controller.

Where to Watch

Episode 10

Short Change

Mon, Oct 28, 2019 60 mins

A girl being held for giving official secret documents to the Russians faces a long gaol term, but an exchange offer for a Briton arrested in Moscow is offered. The officers suspect she's far more than she seems to be.

Where to Watch

Episode 11

Exit a Diplomat

Mon, Nov 4, 2019 60 mins

When a member of a foreign embassy is caught shoplifting in London, but tries to hide her status by willingly accepting arrest, Superintendent Inman takes an interest in her employers.

Where to Watch

Episode 12

Care of Her Majesty

Mon, Nov 11, 2019 60 mins

Jordan's methods cause friction in an overseas British Embassy when he goes to investigate the theft of ten thousand pounds.

Where to Watch

Episode 13

Round the Clock

Wed, Nov 13, 2019 60 mins

Haggerty's appointment to Special Branch immediately brings him into conflict with Craven - he believes that Craven is on the trail of a man who is already dead.

Where to Watch

Episode 14

Visitor From Moscow

Mon, Nov 18, 2019 60 mins

When a KGB officer is sent to London to coordinate security measures with the SB team for the forthcoming visit a Russian VIP, Inman instructs Jordan to help him - with disastrous results.

Where to Watch

Episode 15

All the King's Men

Fri, Nov 22, 2019 60 mins

A deranged man has taken a hostage and threatens to blow up a block of flats. Craven must act quickly to avert disaster.

Where to Watch

Episode 16

Time Bomb

Mon, Nov 25, 2019 60 mins

Sent to investigate the death of the son of a pro-British oil sheikh in a bomb plot, Superintendent Inman finds a hotbed of intrigue and dangerous international situation about to explode in his face.

Where to Watch

Episode 17

You Won't Remember Me

Fri, Nov 29, 2019 60 mins

Craven is puzzled as to why he has been asked to carry out twenty-four hour surveillance on a couple who are engaged to be married.

Where to Watch

Episode 18

Inside

Mon, Dec 2, 2019 60 mins

Jordan goes undercover as a prisoner to uncover a convicted spy's secrets.

Where to Watch

Episode 19

Blueprint for Murder

Wed, Dec 4, 2019 60 mins

The team is assigned to protect a visiting foreign diplomat.

Where to Watch

Episode 20

Dinner Date

Mon, Dec 9, 2019 60 mins

Jordan flies to Frankfurt to escort a British subject, Selby, back to England. Selby had disappeared three years earlier in East Germany and the British Government are anxious to learn what he's been up to - but the Russian KGB hide in the shadows.

Where to Watch

Episode 21

Stand and Deliver

Wed, Dec 11, 2019 60 mins

An experimental weapon is stolen from a military research facility, but the thieves are unaware the weapon is unstable.

Where to Watch

Episode 22

Depart in Peace

Mon, Dec 16, 2019 60 mins

An ex-colonial policeman is pressured to return to Africa to testify at the trial of a onetime Mau-Mau warlord, but he adamantly refuses.

Where to Watch

Episode 23

Miss International

Mon, Dec 23, 2019 60 mins

What appeared to be a straightforward case - protecting the wife of a foreign VIP, who has entered a beauty competition in the cause of female emancipation for her own country - turns into a nightmare situation for DCI Jordan.

Where to Watch

Episode 24

Warrant for a Phoenix

Mon, Dec 30, 2019 60 mins

An accusation of theft against a highly respected Greek historian sets the Special Branch team a problem. Interpol have requested his extradition from England - but Inman isn't satisfied with the facts of the case.

Where to Watch

Episode 25

The Pleasure of Your Company

Mon, Jan 6, 2020 60 mins

Inman meets the CIA's new man in London. Jordan meets an old friend from Moscow. All perfectly legal - until the two are seen together at intervals and the Special Branch team become involved in international politics.

Where to Watch

Episode 26

Not to Be Trusted

Mon, Jan 13, 2020 60 mins

Is an eminent scientist, on lone to a top-secret research establishment, a security risk? That's the question facing Inman and his team. The research establishment is suddenly prone to 'leaks'. Has the man been got at?

Where to Watch

Episode 27

Borderline Case

Mon, Jan 20, 2020 60 mins

While a member of the SB team keeps watch on Karl Peter's flat, Inman and his team scan though his charge sheet. They believe he will attempt to incite London dockworkers into taking industrial action against their employers.

Where to Watch

Episode 28

Love From Doris

Mon, Jan 27, 2020 60 mins

When military security intercepts letter written to a lonely serviceman by his foreign 'penpal' Rita, which contain casual references to secret information, Supt Inman sends DS Jordan to investigate.

Where to Watch

Episode 29

Sorry Is Just a Word

Mon, Feb 3, 2020 60 mins

When a Czech au-pair goes missing in London and her father is one of the most powerful men the country, Inman and Jordan must find out what's happened to her. But their enquirers lead to a dead end.

Where to Watch

Episode 30

Error of Judgement

Mon, Feb 10, 2020 60 mins

When Inman discovers that "The Guardians" are taking a more-than-usual interest in a group of pro-germ-warfare people and finds that their leader is a pretty girl, he decides to send Jordan along to question her.

Where to Watch

Episode 31

Reported Missing

Mon, Feb 17, 2020 60 mins

Jordan and Inman go in search of a missing Russian ballerina.

Where to Watch

Episode 32

Fool's Mate

Mon, Feb 24, 2020 60 mins

When Britain's top code and cypher breaker is forced to mingle with Communist players during a chess tournament, Inman goes along to keep an eye on him. Moxon, meanwhile, is playing a dangerous game of his own: the pawn being Jordan.

Where to Watch

Episode 33

Red Herring

Mon, Apr 6, 2020 60 mins

Where to Watch