Kessler

Kessler is a 1981 BBC six-part sequel series to the Second World War drama Secret Army, set in contemporary times decades after the original show's wartime setting.

Several characters from Secret Army, including Albert Foiret, Monique Durnford and Natalie Chantrens, return in Kessler, reuniting the original Lifeline resistance partners.

The character Colonel Hans Ruckert is based on real-life Luftwaffe ace Colonel Hans Rudel.

The Nazi-sympathising Paraguayan aristocrat Don Julian Yqueras is allegedly partly based on Argentine President Juan Perón and partly on Paraguayan President Alfredo Stroessner, both of whom sheltered Nazi war criminals in real life.

The series features Martin Bormann as a character who never appears fully on screen, apart from one arm; historically Bormann was believed to have died in 1945, though this was not confirmed until 1998.

The series also depicts Josef Mengele, Auschwitz's 'Angel of Death'; in reality Mengele had died in 1979 under the assumed name Wolfgang Gerhard, a fact not revealed until 1985.

Many key production figures from Secret Army carried over to Kessler, including producer Gerard Glaister, writer John Brason, and directors Michael E. Briant and Tristan de Vere Cole.

Kessler was released on DVD in the UK in 2005 by DD Home Entertainment, the same company that had previously released the complete Secret Army series.