First time viewer

Following the recent re-runs of Colditz on the 'Yesterday' channel in the UK, they have followed it up with 'Enemy at the Door'.

I would have been about 12 when this was first broadcast but I don't remember my parents watching it at the time, and I certainly hadn't seen it since. However, following the excellent 'Colditz' - which grabbed my two teenage daughters as well - we just had to watch 'Enemy at the Door' too.

We also have a special reason for watching because we live in Jersey, so the occupation of the Channel Islands, and the physical remnants of it which remain to be seen to this day, is a constant feature of our lives, albeit in an almost subconscious way (apart from the 'Liberation Day celebrations each year when it is brought into focus once again) as I imagine it is in the other Channel Islands too.

The real point of my post is this - how wonderful to see a series, probably the first mainstream series of its kind (and several years before 'Bergerac' brought the peculiar Jersey-French names into focus) unashamedly use real place names (however oddly French, and yet not quite French-sounding as they are) and make no explanation or apology for doing so. No 'let's ignore the reality and make up some nice, safe, English-sounding places and surnames just so we don't frighten people away' - so unlike the more recent (and yet still excellent in its way) 'Island at War' which avoided any reference to the real Guernsey at all in terms of location, although they did use some of the more accessible surnames. 'Enemy at the Door' even opens with the map of the island with some of the parish names on it.

Anyone who lives in, or has visited, any of the Channel Islands will know that it is not always easy to know how to pronounce some of our place names - even if you have a degree in French that would not necessarily help you, lol! I just want - a long time after the event, unfortunately - to congratulate the producers of 'Enemy at the Door' for plunging in with both feet at a time when the Channel Islands were not exactly mainstream, even if they're unfortunage 'claim to fame' as being the only part of the British Isles to be occupied was more well-known to some.

An enjoyable series so far - looking forward to seeing the rest!
Jerseyporter

"The end is where we start from." (Captain Jack, "Torchwood")