First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on January 23rd 2022

Today we welcome back the ever popular WARREN CUMMINGS to present another in our recurring occasional series looking at SPY DRAMAS on TV, and this time we’re looking at one of his favourites, THE SANDBAGGERS, a series made by YORKSHIRE TELEVISION during the turbulent political power-shifting period of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and which starred ROY MARSDEN as NEIL BURNSIDE and RAY LONNEN as WILLIE CAINE.

For a series that only lasted for twenty episodes, it is very fondly remembered as being the very pinnacle of what a series set in the world of espionage could be, and it might have carried on a lot longer if it wasn’t for the untimely disappearance – in very mysterious circumstances – of its creator and main screenwriter IAN MACKINTOSH.

As you’ll discover in our conversation, it’s a series that both WARREN and I enjoy very much, so much so in fact that we do get rather excitable at times and SPOILER ALERT! We do give away several significant plot points from this forty year old series as we get somewhat carried away – not (for once) in a pair of diplomatic bags – but by our own enthusiasm, so don’t say I didn’t warn you, but if you feel like you need to look away now, I perfectly understand, and won’t be sending an operative round to deal with you in some kind of a diplomatic exchange.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.