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6 Episodes 1980 - 1980
Episode 1
51 mins
When Sandbagger Two Tom Elliot is sent to Sofia on a operation to meet a Bulgarian agent claiming he wants to give information to western intelligence, everything goes wrong and Neil Burnside and Willie Caine go in to try and help save Elliot.
Episode 2
49 mins
After having delivered the bad news to Tom Elliot's parents, Willie Caine considers leaving the Special Ops unit. Down to two Sandbaggers once again, Burnside is tasked with locating Sir Geoffrey Wellingham who, while in Brussels, disappears on his way to NATO Headquarters. He dispatches both Sandbaggers to Brussels despite direct orders from the Deputy Chief to send only one. Working with their German counterparts, they seek out the terrorists responsible but are having difficulty identifying just which group that is. Burnside is also concerned that he lent a top secret file to Wellingham on SIS cooperation with South Africa, which is against government policy. The file is in Wellingham's office safe and he's not sure how he'll get it back.
Episode 3
50 mins
On their way home after providing security at a major international conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka Sandbagger #1 Willie Caine and CIA agent Karen Milner find themselves on an airliner hijacked by Middle East terrorists. At home Burnside wants to pull out all the stops and send in an SAS team to free the hostages but runs into unexpected obstacles. For him, the decision is simple - Caine puts his life on the line regularly and now it's necessary for the Service to do the same for him. The government however does not want to be seen as negotiating with terrorists nor do they want to face the prospects of a major operation going bad. Burnside, who has already been warned that his tendency to act without consultation will affect his prospects for promotion, none the less tries desperately to mount an operation on his own.
Episode 4
50 mins
When Sandbagger #2 Mike Wallace has a run-in with the Head of Station in Warsaw, he finds himself called on the carpet back home. While Burnside accepts his version of events, which puts the botched Warsaw operation clearly at the door of the local station, the Deputy Chief insists on a proper investigation. On another front, the SIS learns that the number two man in their Stockholm Station, Pat Bishop, is passing information to a British businessman who is known to have ties to the KGB. Both Sandbaggers are sent to investigate but when Bishop suddenly changes his routine, they believe they have a leak somewhere. Only by retracing his steps does Burnside realize just what Butler is up to.
Episode 5
50 mins
Burnside and the SIS face a particular problem when they learn that a senior Cabinet Minister and protégé of the Prime Minister is a spy for the KGB. Burnside's CIA friend has recently been complaining about the FBI and expressed his belief that they were involved in the wave of assassinations in the US in 1960's. When Burnside realizes that the Prime Minister, who refuses to take action, already knows all of the information about the MP he broaches the subject of taking action on their own, 'for the good of the Nation'. He and Wellingham agree that this is not the British way and Burnside gives his word that he will take no action. In a parallel story, both Sandbaggers are dispatched to the USA to provide additional security at a US Senator's funeral. Willie Caine is assigned a particularly difficult Senator whose damn the torpedoes approach may cause grief.
Episode 6
50 mins
When "C" announces that he is stepping down for health reasons, speculation is rife that the job will go to John Tower Gibbs, a one-time senior officer of the SIS who has in recently years been working at the Foreign Office. Burnside and Gibbs have anything but a cordial relationship going back to when Burnside, as a Sandbagger, investigated Gibbs who was at that time abroad as a Head of Station. Burnside decides to play kingmaker by promoting the prospects of the Deputy Chief, Matthew Peele. He subtly tries to influence Wellingham who demonstrates that he is still far superior to his former son-in-law when it comes to the game of office politics.