# Old Nazis on old tv programs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486 "2024-08-09T17:56:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2024, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/41 "2024-08-10T21:57:17Z")
The _I Spy_ episode “Child Out of Time” revolved around the search for a list of Nazi war criminals. The catch is that the list exists only in the memory of a young girl whose mother drilled the information into her from a young age. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/42 "2024-08-10T22:29:45Z")
I’m guessing this was around the time _ **Marathon Man** _ came out? ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2024, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/43 "2024-08-10T23:32:09Z")
1987’s _Order of the Black Eagle_ is about a super spy infiltrating a group of Nazis who have somehow kept Hitler alive. I mainly mention it because the spy’s side kick is played by Typhoon, possibly the best baboon actor to ever grace the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/44 "2024-08-11T01:19:06Z")
1986 made-for-tv movie [Of Pure Blood - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Pure_Blood) is the story of a woman who discovers that she was born as part of the Third Reich’s “lebensborn” breeding program– and that the program has been secretly continued over the years. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/45 "2024-08-11T12:31:07Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@terentii](#): > > > > The myth of Nazi efficiency, BTW, is pure bullshit. Nazi Germany was a chaotic patchwork of competing agencies that Hitler used to pit his minions against one another and see which ones would come out on top. No reputable historian believes in the myth any more, if they ever did. > > And all the pre-war economical efforts and “progress” were built on debt, debt and more debt. Which is pretty much the explanation for the Chinese “miracle” of the last 20+ years. The early Deng-era improvements over pure Communism were a legit result of unleashing the forces of Capitalism (read “greed”). The latter years? Debt. Vast unpayable debt. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/46 "2024-08-11T16:32:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Which is pretty much the explanation for the Chinese “miracle” of the last 20+ years. The early Deng-era improvements over pure Communism were a legit result of unleashing the forces of Capitalism (read “greed”). The latter years? Debt. Vast unpayable debt. Let’s hope China doesn’t try the same solution as the nazis: invade and conquer all the countries that were their creditors. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/47 "2024-08-11T17:32:19Z")
From what I’ve read, China is using the debt foreign countries have with it as a way to take control. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada_Jr)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/48 "2024-08-12T18:12:54Z")
It is a short story, not a TV show or movie, but I wanted to mention [Mark Elf](https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20191024) by Cordwainer Smith, originally published in 1957, as an example of an Old Nazi story. It is unusual in how Old the Nazi is–about sixteen thousand years–and it is rare or unique in that the Old Nazi is the heroine of the story–since in this case the Old Nazi is in fact a young woman who was put in suspended animation and stayed there longer than was planned. Besides, it is always worth mentioning Cordwainer Smith. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/49 "2024-08-12T19:15:48Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The myth of Nazi efficiency, BTW, is pure bullshit. Nazi Germany was a chaotic patchwork of competing agencies that Hitler used to pit his minions against one another and see which ones would come out on top. Yep. They were good at certain things, but that was really the efficient German. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/50 "2024-08-12T19:52:27Z")
It’s startling when you stop to think about it that for all the upheaval the Nazis inflicted on the planet and the 20th century, they were in power just twelve years\*; about 6½ in peace and 5½ in war. Or in other words, no longer than the Reagan-Bush1 administrations. \*and as coincidence would have it, the USA had a single president for almost the exact same period. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/51 "2024-08-12T19:52:34Z")
While we are on the subject, can anyone remember an episode of, it might be The Avengers, or something else, in which the protagonists stumble on an entire SS battalion which have permanently sealed in an underground cave system with only one or two still left alive by the 1960s (when our heroes discover this) ? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/52 "2024-08-12T20:11:54Z")
There was an episode of **The New Avengers** – I think the two-part second season “K is for Kill”, with this plot. It’s also the one with Diana Rigg (courtesy of archival footage). > **[The New Avengers (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Avengers_(TV_series))** > > The New Avengers is a secret agent action television series produced during 1976 and 1977. It is a sequel to the 1960s series The Avengers and was developed by original series producers Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens. > The series was produced by The Avengers (Film and TV) Enterprises Ltd for the ITV network, cost £125,000 per episode to produce at Pinewood Studios, and was seen in 120 countries. > A joint United Kingdom-France-Canada production, the series picks up the adventures of John Stee... ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/53 "2024-08-12T20:17:07Z")
There was an Emma Peel episode of _ **The Avengers** _ in which some mastermind with delusions of grandeur was raising a private army in an underground complex of old mines. But I was 10 or 11 at the time and don’t remember if he was a Nazi or not. IIRC, the mines were supposedly in Wales. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/54 "2024-08-12T20:28:20Z")
I think I saw that one recently - ‘Invasion of the Earthmen’ . Written by Terry Nation, who wrote many Dr Who episodes. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/55 "2024-08-12T20:28:45Z")
Are my memories accurate? ---
**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:** [August 12, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/56 "2024-08-12T22:46:51Z")
Broadly, though they might also fit 'The Living Dead ', which features a coal mine. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/57 "2024-08-13T13:03:49Z")
There was a storyline in the 70’s childrens show ‘The Tomorrow People’ where Hitler turned out to be an alien. There were a bunch of old Nazis keeping his corpse around ready for a resurrection and indoctrinating the next generation through popular music. At the time there was a trend amongst British punks to adopt the swastika and other Nazi regalia as a mark of rebellion. This show took a very heavy handed and patronising approach to that and almost felt like government backed propaganda. Nazis are bad? Thanks for letting me know, I hadn’t realised! It’s mostly remembered now for being an early role for Nicholas Lyndhurst and being yet another Hitler role for Michael Sheard (the strict teacher Mr Bronson in the school soap Grange Hill) ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/58 "2024-08-13T14:25:39Z")
There was a _Doctor Who_ serial called “Silver Nemesis” in the penultimate season of the original run (Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor, with Sophie Aldred as his companion Ace) in which The Doctor plays off aging Nazis, a 17th century sorceress, and the Cybermen against each other. Haven’t seen it in a while (that’s the one McCoy season not yet on BluRay) but I think there was a “hiding out in Argentina” subplot as well, another common component of the trope. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/59 "2024-08-14T23:26:01Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > While we are on the subject, can anyone remember an episode of, it might be The Avengers, or something else, in which the protagonists stumble on an entire SS battalion which have permanently sealed in an underground cave system with only one or two still left alive by the 1960s (when our heroes discover this) ? Heh, The Champions did similar. Though the trapped soldiers in that show were the more honorable sort (clean Wehrmacht myth pretty explicitly laid out) and trapped by the SS. One of whom stole the identity of his trapped honorable twin, if I recall correctly. Only two still living by time our heroes arrive, I think. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2024, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486/60 "2024-08-15T09:57:58Z")
That sounds like it might be the one i remember. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-nazis-on-old-tv-programs/1005486.md?page=4)