Shark Bytes

Always enjoyed this program and the actors were magnificent, particularly Roy Marsden.
Would also like to see this program repeated as it is very pertinent to our situation today.
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This show started my infatuation with Brit TV. Smart, always interesting.

Having gone through the episodes on Netflix, I have to say this is now my favorite show of all time. (And I'm desperately in love with that fantastic tortured bastard Neil Burnside.) An intelligent show about intelligence, more Le Carre than Le Carre. It's a terrible pity so few have ever heard of it. Even the startlingly hideous 1970s fashions are engrossing. More than anything, as someone here already said, it's the rare luxury of watching a character think that makes this such a spectacular series.

Excellent show, great remedy for cheezy Bond-clone spy shows!!! Roy Marsden, as well as the rest of the cast, was brilliant. One of the few shows that still shocked me when people died. This wasn't like Star Trek where the new guy in the away team died and no one cared. This show dispatched main characters in brutal efficiency, which only added to the gritty realism and suspense of the show. Each episode was only a moment away from "who's next?". Only great tragedy caused its early demise. But even if it hadn't had ended early, it would have had to end eventually, and I would mourn its end all the same. Why can't other shows have this kind of intelligence (no pun intended) in them?

The Sandbaggers was created by Ian Mackintosh (who actually disappeared in mysterious circumstances) and ran for three short series. A wonderful series that evolved as it went along. It NEVER jumped the shark. Truly awesome.

This show is another example of the superiority of British acting. The ensemble cast created a riveting drama without the slickness of current American T.V. You could actually see the characters think, which you don't see on American T.V. Roy Marsden created a very unique and charismatic in Neil Burnside. I was shocked to see an interview with the actor in which he wore a pink shirt and move his hands when he spoke! Neil Burnside is the complete opposite, very button downed and controlled. Very sexy without trying! Loved the show.

Never Jumped! A thoroughly realistic portrayal of the dirty, nasty reality of spy work. I particularly appreciated the effort made by the series to get the details right. Any series made on a budget will have to use stock film. The Sandbaggers at least took a look at the film they were going to use beforehand, and wrote details into the script to explain what we saw. This may be something I'm anal about, but I appreciate the writers going that extra mile to get the details right.

Like others I am so glad this is listed. I saw this when it was on in the late 70s and haven't seen it since - but neither have I forgotten it. It was compelling viewing. A cult show of the highest order. It was chillingly close to the bone with its brilliant writing and Machiavellian intrigue. I recall that the death of the creator brought production to a sudden halt when the story lines were dancing around the SALT talks which were so prominent in real politics at the time. There was some speculation in the press that his death was not an accident.

Never jumped the shark. This show just ran long enough to be one of the best written and acted dramas to ever grace the small screen. It's untimely demise due to the death of it's writer/creator just adds to the mystique.

One of the best scripted shows ever. The sparsity added to the realism. You actually enjoyed watching characters think. Maybe because thinking is such a rarity on TV. While fans regret the early demise of the show, and its creator, Roy Marsden has gone on to do some very good work on stage and TV.

This was the darkest treatment of espionage I think I've ever seen on television. I kept waiting for Burnside to snap completely, after losing several Sandbaggers in the field. I should point out, though, that there is no evidence that Willie died at the premature end of the series. According to the one fan site I've found, the plan for the next run might have been to move Willie into Burnside's position, and put Burnside into the field.

This show was brilliant. I can still remember the episode when Willie died--I was babysitting and the parents came home and I was still traumatized by the whole thing. What an absolutely brilliant piece of television--it's a shame that there's nothing even close to this these days.

At the border exchange of captured spies, Burnside (the Director of Operations of MI6) has his agent assassinated, thereby saving the "special relationship" with US intelligence. The upshot of all this was...he was in love with the agent he had assassinated! A great scene that the series could not top!

I miss it. Granted, a relic of the cold war, but still fantastic. The Malta episode stands out among the best.

The fact that it ended on a cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers wasn't intentional, and the tragic loss of both writer and series in one awful accident is one of the saddest things ever to have happened to series television. At least they had the sense to let it die, and not attempt to carry on with a different writer. Ian MacKintosh WAS the show. (Although the actors were so good enacting his concepts...!)