MINUTE DETAILS of Messherschmitts, hush-hush plots and assorted explosive devices in the Wednesday evening documentary slot after the news. Cunning weaponry, mainly British and German, examined in intimate detail. Bletchley Park cypher stuff held particular fascination as they cracked codes set on those deeply sinister-looking, latterly Hollywood-celebrated Enigma machines. Thorough to the point of obsession as real ordnance was wheeled out for affectionate portrayals of defusing and dismantling activities. Sober forerunner of the “Armed-to-the-ears War Death Blood Guts BANG!” multi-part collectors’ pieces that littered newsagents shelves in the 1990s.
