Danger UXB
A 1979 ITV series about bomb disposal in the Blitz.
Danger UXB is a British television series that aired on ITV in 1979, set during the Second World War. Created by John Hawkesworth, it stars Anthony Andrews as Lieutenant Brian Ash, a Royal Engineers officer. The show follows the fictional 97 Tunnelling Company, which has been reassigned as a bomb disposal unit, and specifically its 347 Section, tasked with handling the many unexploded bombs—known as UXBs—that litter London during the Blitz. Like his fellow officers, Ash must learn the skills of disarming and destroying these bombs largely through trial and error, as German fuzing becomes increasingly sophisticated and dangerous. While the series focuses on military storylines, it also includes a romantic subplot involving Susan Mount (Judy Geeson), the married daughter of an inventor, with whom Ash falls in love, along with other human-interest vignettes.
The programme draws partly on *Unexploded Bomb - The Story of Bomb Disposal*, the memoirs of Major A. B. Hartley, MBE, RE. Its episodes were written by Hawkesworth and four other screenwriters. Filming took place in 1978 in and around Clapham, Streatham, and Tooting in south London. The technical adviser was Lt. Col. E. E. Gooch, RE (AER), rtd. In the United States, the series aired on PBS as part of *Masterpiece Theatre* from 4 January to 5 April 1981. It was also broadcast in Australia by the ABC and in New Zealand by Television New Zealand.
The cast includes Anthony Andrews as Lieutenant Brian Ash, Maurice Roëves as Sergeant James, Ken Kitson as Corporal Samuel Horrocks, Kenneth Cranham as Lance Corporal Jack Salt, George Innes as Sapper (later Lance Corporal) Jim Wilkins, Gordon Kane as Sapper Gordon Mulley, Robert Pugh as Sapper 'Tiny' Powell, Robert Longden as Sapper Copping, David Auker as Sapper Baines, Martin Neil as Private John Brinckley, John Bowler as Sapper Scott, and Bryan Burdon as Sapper Binns. Company officers include Peter Cartwright as Major Luckhurst, Ken Farrington as Captain 'Fannie' Francis, Royston Tickner as Lieutenant (later Captain) Hamish Leckie, Jeremy Sinden as Lieutenant (later Major) Ivor Rodgers, Steven Grives as Lieutenant Ken Machin, Osmund Bullock as Lieutenant (later Captain) Alan Pringle, David Shaughnessy as 2nd Lieutenant Tim Carter-Brown, Nick Brimble as Lieutenant Gresham, and Norman Chappell as Corporal Mould.
- Type
- Television series
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Network
- ITV
- First broadcast
- 8 January 1979
- Genre
- Historical drama
- Based on
- Unexploded Bomb - The Story of Bomb Disposal by Major A. B. Hartley
Lore & Background
The series was developed by John Hawkesworth and filmed in 1978 in and around Clapham, Streatham, and Tooting, south London. Lt. Col. E. E. Gooch, RE (AER), rtd. served as technical adviser. The programme appeared on US PBS as a segment of Masterpiece Theatre from 4 January to 5 April 1981, and was also screened in Australia by ABC Television and in New Zealand by Television New Zealand.
Reader's Guide
Danger UXB is significant as a dramatization of the dangerous work of bomb disposal during the Blitz, based on the memoirs of Major A. B. Hartley. The series focuses on the technical and human challenges faced by bomb disposal officers, who learned through experience. It was well-received and later inspired a non-fiction book by Melanie Jappy (2001) based on a Channel 4 documentary, which confirmed that many dramatic incidents in the series were based on actual cases. The series remains a reference for the history of bomb disposal in World War II.
Premise & Narrative Architecture
Danger UXB is a 1979 British television drama that aired on ITV, developed by writer John Hawkesworth and set against the backdrop of the Second World War. At its heart, the series follows Lieutenant Brian Ash, a Royal Engineers officer portrayed by Anthony Andrews, who leads a small bomb disposal team known as 347 Section within the fictional 97 Tunnelling Company. Their grim task is to locate and neutralise the thousands of unexploded bombs littering London's streets and buildings in the wake of the Blitz. Rather than presenting Ash as a seasoned expert, the narrative deliberately has him acquire his skills through hard-won experience, constantly facing new and more lethal innovations in German aerial bomb fuzing. While the programme is anchored in military procedure and the technical challenge of defusing ordnance, it weaves in a romantic storyline centred on Ash's relationship with Susan Mount, the married daughter of a scientist, played by Judy Geeson, alongside a variety of smaller human-interest vignettes that give the ensemble emotional depth beyond the danger of their work.
The Ensemble of 347 Section
One of the series' greatest strengths lies in the richly drawn ensemble of men who populate 347 Section and the wider 97 Tunnelling Company. Beyond Anthony Andrews' Ash, the section includes Sergeant James (Maurice Roëves), the large but nervous Corporal Horrocks (Ken Kitson), and Lance Corporal Jack Salt (Kenneth Cranham), a married man perpetually worried about his family's safety. Sapper Jim Wilkins (George Innes) serves as the section driver and a petty thief who dodges work, while Sapper Gordon Mulley (Gordon Kane) doubles as Ash's batman and develops a romance with the landlady's daughter. The Welsh Sapper 'Tiny' Powell (Robert Pugh) is a coarse, piano-playing bully, and the contemplative Sapper Copping (Robert Longden) brings a quiet spiritual dimension. At the company level, officers include the Scottish WWI veteran Lieutenant Leckie, Ash's close friend Ivor Rodgers, and the ever-teased mess corporal Mould. Supporting characters such as the boffin Doctor Gillespie, the codebreaker Stephen Mount, and the cabaret dancer Mickey round out a world that feels lived-in and deeply human.
Production Craft & Technical Fidelity
Filmed across the Clapham, Streatham, and Tooting districts of south London in 1978, Danger UXB owed much of its credibility to the involvement of retired Royal Engineers officer Lt. Col. E. E. Gooch as technical adviser. The production team devised an ingenious method for capturing the claustrophobic bomb-disposal scenes that audiences saw: rather than digging actual shafts, they intercut two separate physical sets. The first was a short above-ground wooden fence designed to read as the rim of a deep excavation. The second was a thirty-foot hollow wooden tower, its interior coated in mud, typically filmed from a high overhead angle looking down into the 'shaft.' One side of the tower's base could be removed to allow close-up shots of the bomb itself. This clever construction gave the illusion of dangerous depth without the cost or risk of real excavation. The episodes were written by Hawkesworth alongside four additional screenwriters, and the series drew narrative material from Major A. B. Hartley's memoir, ensuring that the technical procedures depicted carried a foundation of genuine military experience.
Source Material, Adaptations & International Audience
The dramatic incidents in Danger UXB were not purely fictional. The series drew heavily on the memoirs of Major A. B. Hartley, MBE, a Royal Engineers officer whose book Unexploded Bomb: The Story of Bomb Disposal provided key story developments. Decades later, Melanie Jappy's 2001 non-fiction book, also titled Danger UXB and based on a Channel 4 documentary, confirmed that numerous plotlines corresponded to real events: the fatal double-bomb incident in a schoolyard and garden, the liquid-oxygen fire during a Type Y fuse defusal in the episode 'Dead Letter,' the Grimsby Raid of June 1943 that inspired 'Butterfly Winter,' and the pier disaster behind 'The Pier.' The series also spawned a novel by Michael Booker (Pan Books, 1978) and an annual published in 1980. Internationally, Danger UXB reached American viewers as part of PBS's Masterpiece Theatre between January and April 1981, and was broadcast in Australia on ABC Television and in New Zealand on Television New Zealand, extending its wartime storytelling well beyond its original ITV audience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Danger UXB?
Danger UXB is a 1979 British historical drama that aired on ITV, following a bomb disposal team working in London during the Second World War Blitz. It depicts the daily danger of clearing unexploded German ordnance from the city.
Who plays the lead in Danger UXB?
Anthony Andrews portrays Lieutenant Brian Ash, a Royal Engineers officer who leads the show's bomb disposal section. He and his crew must learn to disarm and destroy German munitions largely through experience, as enemy fuzing techniques grow more complex.
What does 'UXB' stand for in the series?
UXB is the military abbreviation for Unexploded Bomb, the term used throughout the show for the German ordnance that still threatens London after the Blitz. The 97 Tunnelling Company's 347 Section is specifically tasked with locating and neutralising these devices.
Who created Danger UXB and when did it air?
The series was created by John Hawkesworth and first broadcast on ITV on 8 January 1979. It ran as a single-season production during that year.
What is Danger UXB based on?
The show draws its story from the real book 'Unexploded Bomb – The Story of Bomb Disposal' written by Major A. B. Hartley. Hawkesworth adapted Hartley's account of the actual bomb disposal work carried out in wartime London into a dramatic television format.
More in British military television series 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced