''Pathfinders'' (1972–1973, aka ''The Pathfinders'') is an ITV drama set in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, telling the story of the fictitious

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

192

Pathfinder Pathfinder, Path Finder or Pathfinders may refer to: Aerospace * ''Mars Pathfinder'', a NASA Mars Lander * NASA Pathfinder, a high-altitude, solar-powered uncrewed aircraft * Space Shuttle ''Pathfinder'', a Space Shuttle test simulator Arts and ...

squadron. The Pathfinders were specialised RAF squadrons that marked targets for

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the Strategic bombing during World War II#Europe, strategic bombing of Germany in W ...

. The series used

radio control Radio control (often abbreviated to RC) is the use of control signals transmitted by radio to remotely operate a device. Examples of simple radio control systems are garage door openers and keyless entry systems for vehicles, in which a small ha ...

led

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

models for the flying scenes. The technical adviser for the series was

Group Captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

Hamish Mahaddie. The music was by Malcolm Lockyer.

Premise

A new squadron is formed with hand-picked, volunteer crews to rectify the highly inaccurate bombing of the

: 95% of all bombs are more than away from the target, according to Wing Commander MacPhearson. They are supposed to receive three weeks training and evaluation, but are instead given their first mission for that night by naysayers eager to discredit the concept.

Cast

* Robert Urquhart as Wing Commander MacPhearson (13 episodes) *

Jack Watling Jack Stanley Watling (13 January 1923 – 22 May 2001) was an English actor. Life and career Watling was born 13 January 1923 in Chingford, Essex, England. The son of a travelling scrap metal dealer, Watling trained at the Italia Conti Academy ...

as Doc Saxon (12 episodes) *

Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London) was an English comedy actor. He appeared in four ''Carry On'' films: '' Don't Lose Your Head'' (1966), '' Follow That Camel'' (196 ...

as The Padre (4 episodes) *

Jack May Jack Wynne May (23 April 1922 – 19 September 1997) was an English actor. Early life and education May was born in 1922 in Henley-on-Thames, and was educated at Forest School in Walthamstow. After war service with the Royal Indian Navy in Br ...

as Squadron Leader Shanks (3 episodes) *

Christopher Cazenove Christopher de Lerisson Cazenove (17 December 1943 – 7 April 2010) was an English film, television and stage actor. Early life and career He was born Christopher de Lerisson Cazenove, on 17 December 1943, the son of Brigadier Arnold de Leri ...

as Flight Lieutenant Doug Phillips (2 episodes) * Jonathan Sweet as Flying Officer Bill Short / F (2 episodes) *

Mark McManus Mark McManus (21 February 1935 – 6 June 1994) was a Scottish actor known for his roles in the British television series '' Sam,'' '' Bulman, The Brothers, Strangers,'' and '' Dramarama'' and the feature film '' 2000 Weeks''. He was best know ...

as Flight Sergeant Joe Cameron (1 episode)

Episodes

In 2006, Simply Media released the series on DVD in the UK. Despite being sold as "The Complete Series", the release is actually missing Episode 8 "Our Daffodils Are Better Than Your Daffodils", without any explanation. The episode was also missing from the 2002 four-tape UK VHS release of ''Pathfinders'' from DD Video, although the episode was released in the US on VHS using the title "Assignment Top Secret".

References

External links

*
CTVA archive ''Pathfinders''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pathfinders Tv Series 1970s British drama television series 1972 British television series debuts 1973 British television series endings British aviation television series British English-language television shows ITV television dramas Television series about the Royal Air Force Television series based on actual events Television shows produced by Thames Television World War II television drama series