Original title
Spearhead
Released
7/18/1978
Origin country
GB
Genre
Drama
Production companies
Southern Television
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
3
Number of episodes
19
Spearhead is a British television drama produced by Southern Television for the ITV network. With a total of three series and 19 episodes from 1978 to 1981, the series follows the daily lives of a group of soldiers in 'B' Company, 1st Battalion Royal Wessex Rangers, a fictional British Army infantry regiment, during The Troubles.
The Royal Wessex Rangers are on tour in Northern Ireland and are determined to catch a bomber working in the area.
Given a fortnight furlough, the men of the Royal Wessex brag to one another what a great time they're going to have. But the reality is very different.
The platoon return home under the temporary command of an NCO. One of his men has gone AWOL after beating up a soldier from another platoon during exercises and he has to show his superiors he can handle it in true military fashion.
Back on duty in Northern Ireland, the Royals frustrated at having to treat the hostile local youth with kid gloves, especially since one among them may be helping a sniper.
For assaulting a fellow soldier and going AWOL, Adams must now face a court-martial. If he pleads not guilty, as he intends, he will drag some comrades down with him. Can he be persuaded to change his mind?
A soldier with a rebellious streak and a drinking problem is posted to the Royals for one last chance to prove himself. Shortly after his arrival, the barracks are hit by a spate of thefts.
With Adams back from military prison and belligerent newcomer Stephens now apparently an accepted part of the squad, Platoon 6 heads off to the Welsh mountains on exercises. But an unreformed Stephens stirs up antagonisms and threatens the team's unity.
The Royals are posted to West Germany and 6 Platoon have been given a new CO. Meanwhile, Colby schemes to get rid of the troublesome Stevens, who reveals one of the (many) reasons for his rage.
The strains in Box's marriage lead him to a blunder during tank exercises. His wife is lonely, homesick and harbouring a secret. And Gadd's stag party (he's getting married in the morning) turns rancourous.
Twiss and Gilbey are both thinking about promotion. Bilinski wants to marry Helga, but she's an escapee from communist East Germany, and Army Intelligence thinks she may be a spy.
Adams's father visits from England. Tensions are still high between them, but a visit to the museum of Belsen concentration camp has a surprising effect. Stevens, permanently angry and deeply unpopular, receives some devastating news.
Pickering causes a serious incident on the heavily defended border between East and West Germany, forcing 6 Platoon to weigh up the conflicting demands of humanity, group loyalty, and military discipline.
6 Platoon are back on active duty in Northern Ireland. During a nighttime surveillance operation, they're ambushed and Twiss goes missing, presumed captured. Enquiries among locals are met with bitter and mutual hostility.
B Company has been sent to Hong Kong, still for the time being part of the British empire. Gilbey trains new recruits while 6 Platoon has the inglourious task of hunting down and handing back refugees from China.
The platoon is still on furlough. Some of the squaddies have been brawling in the local bars and brothels. Mayhoe encounters racism in the army. Adams's father visits the refugee camps for the Vietnamese boat people. Pickering's love life takes a possibly murky step forward. And Bilinski is having an affair with a Chinese woman, unaware that some shady characters are watching him.
Bilinski's love affair with the lady from Macau has left him open to blackmail by the snakeheads, who want him to join their trafficking racket. When a search party is sent, his interpreter is found murdered but the man himself has disappeared.
Bilinski is under investigation for possible complicity in people smuggling for the snakeheads in return for dubious favours received. Box is furious: he should have been going home to England, but he has to replace Bilinski in charge of 6 Platoon, itself festering with resentment.
It's time to go home. There are debts to be paid, treasured possessions to be left behind, goodbyes to be said. And futures to think about. Can a Black man like Mayhoe get promotion in spite of racism in the British army? Will Box's wife let him re-enlist? What of Bilinski, demoted to store duty? Gilbey's retirement plans? For Pickering, there's a final surprise.
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