Spyforce

Spyforce was an adventure series which was broadcast on Channel Nine in Australia. The show was set during the second world war.

Spyforce Nine Network's series, is a straight action-adventure series about espionage in World War II. lt is well produced and entertaining.

Spyforce spies on enemy spies -frustrates them, sabotages their efforts, harasses the enemy in the islands, and in Asia, as the Japanese Army makes its downward thrust toward Australia.
The stars of the show are two Australian actors, Jack Thompson and Peter Sumner. In the series both men are former planters in New Guinea who got away to Sydney when Japanese arrived in New Guinea during World War II.

They are co-opted by the head of "Spyforce," Colonel Cato (Redmond Phillips), to work for an elite group of spies with headquarters in Sydney.
Thompson plays the role of Erskine (he never gets a first name in the show), a dinkum Aussie. Sumner is German born Gunther Haber, who was educated in England, has lived and worked in New Guinea since he left school.
They knew one another in New Guinea, both loved the same girl, are antagonistic to each other. Their antagonism both helps and hinders their work. The relationship and interplay of personality between Erskine and Haber was built into one of the strengths of the series. They are opposites in character - Erskine is a beer-drinking, flash, outdoor Aussie type; Haber is quieter, obviously better educated, more cultured.
The series is set in Sydney in 1942. A period piece, but a period that many people remember vividly, identify with.

Episodes were made in Hong Kong, Macao, Bangkok, Malaysia, and Singapore, but most were shot at Narrabeen Lakes and at Deep Creek, off Sydney's Wakehurst Parkway. There is a belt of rainforest there that makes remarkably good New Guinea and Asian territory.

Airdates and episode order varied in different parts of Australia.

The basic schedule was:
26 August 1971 - 6 November 1971 - Thursday
6 November 1971 - 5 January 1972 - Saturday
5 January 1972 - 31 December 1972 - Wednesday