Danger U.X.B. (DVD, 2005)

Outstanding dramatization of life in England during WWII. Anthony Andrews is superb! If you are a fan of British drama, don't miss this wonderful series.

I saw this series in it's original run on PBS/Masterpiece Theatre (over 20-years ago) as hosted by Alistair Cook -- a great drama and testament to a little known or recognized side of the Blitz. Not blantantly violent or graphic, Danger UXB is a thinking persons movie -- a must have addition to any World War II history buff and lover of wartime drama!

Danger UXB relates the early days of the first explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) units during the Battle of Britain. Though I haven't finished watching all 10 hours, it is evident that it sticks pretty close to the reality of EOD in those days, and conveys a lot of what EOD these days remains - tense, careful, dangerous. Unlike those guys, EOD techs now receive a year (minimum) of intensive training, and since bomb-making and EOD response is a cat-and-mouse game of evolve->conquer->evolve-again, training is always needed. And the solutions (what they call render safe procedures, or RSP) are classified in order to keep the adversary in the dark as to what the EOD responder knows so he won't have an incentive to adapt. This BBC series conveys straight to the gut what this is all about, and what these guys, and now women, take on every time they go to work.

I bought it at the recommendation of my EOD-tech adviser. I run a nonprofit organization called Terra Segura International (www.terrasegura.org); we build landmine clearing technology and now robots for use against bombs in Iraq etc. So even though I've been around these guys and this issue for going on 15 years, he thought it would be good if I saw this series. He's an ex-Marine EOD tech, so he KNOWS about this world, but he told me that he got a lot out of it also.

One of the sidelights of working with EOD people is you discover that as a group they contain probably the highest percentage of eccentrics you'll ever meet anywhere (and I use the word "eccentric" in a very respectful and caring way). Their world has things in it that are not glamourous but the personifications of ugly and evil. They risk their lives every day making those things go away. Whatever their politics (usually on the conservative side), they don't suffer fools at all, they're blunt and honest, and they don't care how many letters you have behind your name. This series gives you the reasons why.

The story of the British soldiers whose duty in WW II during the Nazi Blitz was to disarm unexploded bombs (UXBs) sounds as if it could be a rather routine, indeed rather dull, affair. Make no mistake, however. This is an adventure story of the highest order, filled with nail-biting excitement, coupled with a heart-tugging romance. I remembered watching it in its first TV run, and what I remembered made me hasten to buy the set.

Lt. Brian Ash (Anthony Andrews, in one of his two greatest starring roles, the other being in BRIDESHEAD REVISITED) is a green-behind-the-ears soldier advanced to officer rank solely because he has studied engineering, and assigned to a UXB Company with absolutely no other qualification for the job. HUH? Well, you see, nobody knows anything about how to defuse an unexploded bomb, only an officer (and never an enlisted man) is permitted to do the actual defusing (veddy, veddy British), and like as not he will very soon go up with the bomb he is disarming, so why waste time in trying to train him? After all, if he does go up wuth 'his' bomb, that will be one bomb less to worry about.

Andrews is superb in this role, and if you aren't on the edge of your seat when he descends into the hole his squad has dug around the first bomb he is assigned to defuse and reaches out to just barely touch its fuse, which he has to remove, then your nerves are more steely than mine. Of course he succeeds in this first attempt, or there would be no more story, but when he ascends from the hole with the fuse, and then vomits, you might feel like doing the same.

I shan't go into the love story intertwined with Ash's career for the next few years. Suffice it to say that it is just as touch-and-go a thing as defusing any bomb, and that it is warmly and realistically played out.

The supporting actors are all absolutely first-rate as well, particularly those playing the members of his squad, and of them most especially the man who plays Sgt. James, whose name I could not figure out from the brief credits.

This, then, is a tale of a little known, if known at all, part of what when on in WW II, but one that is well worth remembering along with the exploits of 'The Few' who flew the Spitfires and Hurricanes to destroy the Nazi bombers before they could drop their deadly loads. And a worthy tribute it is!!!

DON'T MISS IT!!!

jayjayaye

I seen the show when I was younger and thought it was great. It was nice to see the show again after all these years.

Highly entertaining series. Accounts of the many unexploded bombs that fell on London during WWII in the late thirties and early forties and how little they knew about how to defuse them. The men putting their lives on the line. Great acting, and photography.

I saw one of these programs several years ago on, I think, PBS. I was immediately enthralled with it, and have been searching for several years for Danger UXB on PBS, and/or other networks, to no avail. Found this DVD set, and have nearly watched all of the first disc. As I am of a "certain age", I have memories of my grandmother (English), in USA, sending packets of food stuff, and other necessities to relatives in London during the war (WWII). It is heart wrenching to see what the Londoners did have to put up with during the war. However, this DVD set also delves into the lives of those being bombed, and the Army fellows who are doing the disarming of bombs. Good acting, suspenseful as well. Really glad to have this, and will enjoy them for many more years to come.

Excellent service. Would buy from them again. Item received promptly. We are most interested in British dramas and would like to know any source out there.

Thank you very much for the DVD. I appreciate doing business with you. I look forward to watching Danger! UXB next weekend. I remember how exciting the show was on PBS in the 1970's. This was TV at it's greatest! Thank you again.

Top notch series that is based on actual historic fact. Worthy of every award it's won. You won't regret buying and watching this classic.

One of the best series ever! Excellent actors. This was a PBS series and originally I purchased the VHS version and liked it so much I wanted to have it on DVD.

This was originally a series shown on Masterpiece Theatre over here and I *really* liked the series. Defusing unexploded bombs is a real "nail-biter" occupation and the episodes that I saw back then (I was not able to watch the entire series) were [for me] riveting! In fact, my BIGGEST disappointment was when the series ended as it seemed to me to be too "abrupt" and left too many loose ends.
So, I was REALLY happy when the entire series became available. I found the technical explanations clear and easy to follow and each week the episode would highlight a different UXB "hazard". (Wait until you see what you can do with Butterfly bombs!). The plot is pretty loose and really seems to do no more than tie together the various UXB situations that our hero encounters.
So, if you are "into" this sort of material, I think that you will be happy with this series. The episodes were very well made and the situations are riveting. Watching the Hero's face when he finds out that he has been assigned to this unit with NO prior experience in demolition removal is really something that you should not miss.
Nevertheless, if you do not have a serious interest in this topic (the defusing of unexploded bombs during WW II), then this series may not be for you. As noted earlier, the plot is "thin" outside of the actual issues that have to do with the defusing of bombs. The "romantic" element seems to have been included in a "pro forma" fashion.

This is one of the most gripping and frightening series of all time. Imagine sitting in a pit while cradeling a large ticking unexploded bomb and gently trying to remove its fuse that may well be booby trapped? Besides this the acting is superb and there is a troubled love story intertwined with the dreadful suspense. Anthony Andrews gives a highly nuanced performance and is totally believable as Lt. Ash who is the main character. This is a British drama and is not as action-oriented as American films but I would give it my highest rating! I saw this many years ago and was happy to find it on DVD especially given the barren wasteland offered by broadcast TV.

Danger UXB is quite simply one of the best dramas ever produced in England. Riveting edge of your chair excitement and a pinch of romance to keep the wife happy. A companion book is available in paperback in the used book shops as well that shows documents and manuals used by these brave men. I saw this series on Masterpiece Theater years ago and have always wished I had my own copies. This show stands up to multiple viewings. Cheerio !

I saw this series many years ago on PBS, and it is even better the second time around!! The quality of the picture is good.

This British TV series combines drama, humor, suspense, and even a touch of romance. The setting is wartime London, ca 1940, and young officer Brian Ash is conscripted to head up a bomb disposal unit. He has about 30 minutes of training before he must face his first live bomb.

The appalling spectacle of the blitz gradually unfolds as we see the horrible job of dealing with the thousands of unexploded bombs that the Luftwaffe intentionally scattered all over London. By dropping bombs with delayed-action fuses, the Wehrmacht hopes to tie up railroad lines, telephone exchanges, and thoroughfares for days or weeks for fear the bombs will go off while a crowd of people is present.

As the war grinds on, the Luftwaffe ordnance designers keep coming up with more and more clever fuses, some of them intentionally boob-trapped to kill anyone who tries to defuse them. The technology alone is fascinating enough to make techie geeks like me want to watch all the episodes. A bonus is also the classic MG with Ash drives.

A fascinating angle to this series is the way that the danger and death of war is brought right into everyday British lives and neighborhoods. The men of bomb disposal who face death every day may go home to stay in a normal British apartment, complete with rationed food, and teenage daughters who are fascinated with these heroes who sleep under their roofs. Lonely wives of officers off to war, Retired men trying to help the war effort, a nude dancer in whose club a bomb falls, A crooked businessman who has huge piles of valuable silver stashed in his basement. Even a curious schoolboy who xomes close to losing his life to the unexploded bomb which has fallen in his back yard.

Lonely soldiers have many opportunities to interact with these equally lonely young women. Even more fun than the MG.

So after 25 years I finally bought the DVD series. And I am so glad I did. It's even better the second time through, when I don't have to wait a week between episodes.

Five stars.

Although typical of the BBC photography of the period, tension reigns! An excellent screenplay of the peril officers and men of the bomb disposal squad faced, and the heroism they displayed in the face of death. Interesting personal tidbits thrown in.

I first saw this series while working my present job working with joint service EOD. I can say even though it is from late 70's the show is awesome. You will be left on the edge of your seat as Lt Brian Ashe render safes the Nazi bomb fuzes knowing that the germans have left little changes each and everytime...

The naval mine episode being the most exciting episode when the Naval EOD officer tells Ashe to RUN as he drops the tool he is using to render safe the timing mechanism in the fuze and the fuze begins ticking. I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes suspense as no character is safe and twists and turns keep you interested from the first to last episode. I didn't want to stop watching and pretty much ran each dvd through to the end one after the other.

ENJOY!!!

Excellent period drama, I had remembered seeing and enjoying this the first time it aired on T.V. Well worth seeing again. Good story line set with an accurate period backdrop, covering a tense period in British history. Great appreciation given to the jobs the characters portrayed. Only drawback is the dated production, quickly overlooked once you get into the story. Recommended watching.

I remember watching several episodes of Danger UXB on PBS in the 1980s on Masterpiece Theater. When I found the DVD set, I was glad that I would finally get to see the whole series. The show made that much of an impression on me.

I found the series to be very interesting. The show chronicles the beginning of the British bomb disposal unit druing World War II. The writing, directing, and acting were all well done. If you are a World War II enthusiast, you will enjoy this.