# Colditz (1972-1974) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colditz-1972-1974/853771 "2020-05-14T05:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colditz-1972-1974/853771/1 "2020-05-14T05:18:03Z")
BBC series I had never heard of that I discovered today. Features American actors as well such as Robert Wagner and Dan O Herlihy (Who apparently is actually Irish). Filmed on videotape, so it doesn’t look so great. I found interesting: 1. It actually has a conclusion 2. No subtitles were used. The one ep i watched, ( the last one) had a decent amount of German used. 3. I thought it a little silly that the 52 year old O Herlihy was playing a prisoner…but after research, the guy he’s based on was a 48 year old paratrooper. ---
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colditz-1972-1974/853771/2 "2020-05-14T15:01:49Z")
Sounds interesting. Where were you able to watch it? Netflix? ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colditz-1972-1974/853771/3 "2020-05-14T17:39:25Z")
There were two seasons of it as I recall. Most of the scripts and characters were based on genuine events although some characters were composites. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colditz-1972-1974/853771/4 "2020-05-14T17:44:17Z")
> [@turner](#): > > Sounds interesting. Where were you able to watch it? Netflix? There are some episodes free on Youtube [I’m not sure if the whole series is there]. But you can start with Series 1, Episode 1 at: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xn_FEgp81oE/hqdefault.jpg "Colditz TV Series S01-E01 - The Undefeated") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn_FEgp81oE) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colditz-1972-1974/853771/5 "2020-05-14T18:23:58Z")
The book is excellent, if you want more to the story. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colditz-1972-1974/853771/6 "2020-05-16T10:56:42Z")
It’s very good. Saw some of the repeats as a kid and then one of the UK channels did repeat the whole thing in the last decade or so. I’d be very cautious about some of the accuracy. Quite a lot is fictionalised for TV purposes. For instance, I think the classic episode with the prisoner feigning insanity in order to be repatriated, only to go insane as a result is basically made up. The accompanying board game is however completely authentic. Now who wants to be the dupe who volunteers as the German commandant? ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colditz-1972-1974/853771/7 "2020-05-16T12:30:31Z")
> [@](#): > > I think the classic episode with the prisoner feigning insanity in order to be repatriated, only to go insane as a result is basically made up. That was the episode that everybody remembers. Especially the twist at the end. Though elements of it appear in Reid’s book - again the character is a composite. The Earl of Harewood commented on his time in Colditz “I often wonder if some of the others, like me, watched with fascination the TV series\* Colditz\*, which reflected none of the disagreeable side of the castle but quite a lot of its camaraderie, caught some of the physical attributes of the place and dealt with many of the legends in a perfectly plausible if fictionalised manner.”