Introduction

Danger UXB is a 1979 British ITV television series set during the Second World War.

It was developed by John Hawkesworth and starred Anthony Andrews as Lieutenant Brian Ash, an officer in the Royal Engineers (RE).

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Outline

January 1943

A year after Brian and Susan have broken up, they have an awkward reunion when her father, Dr Gillespie, asks for Brian to be posted to his lab to determine how to defuze the new German Y fuze. The design uses multiple battery-operated mercury tilt switches to detect any movement of the fuze and close the circuit. The fuze also detonates automatically if a battery is short-circuited; its sole purpose is to kill bomb disposal officers. Gillespie’s solution is to freeze the insides of the bomb to -20 °C to render the batteries inert, using liquid oxygen poured into a makeshift plasticine dam on the bomb’s casing, a dangerous and time-consuming process. While in Cambridge, Brian has an affair with Elspeth, a woman who has lost the Royal Air Force bomber pilot she loved. The first trial of the Type Y freezing process is for a UXB assigned to 347 Section for disposal, following which Brian learns that Stephen Mount has committed suicide.

Danger UXB Series

You can find a full index of Danger UXB Series 01 here.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Simon Langton.
• Writer(s): Kenneth Clark.
• Release Date: 19 March 1979.
• Running Time: 49-51 minutes.
• Country: UK.
• Language: English.