TV
Rat Patrol, The (ABC 1966-1968, Christopher George, Gary Raymond)
Wartime drama series The Rat Patrol told stories of a Commando unit working in North Africa during the second world war.
The Rat Patrol were not just men but super soldiers. Not that the overstated abilities of Sgt Sam Troy and company seemed to bother star Christopher George who said at the time: ‘They call the hero bigger than life, but he isn’t. There are heroes, and they are heroic. All you have to do is read the exploits of these men to know how fantastically heroic they were. There’s nothing unreal about a hero. That’s what a man should be.’
The series proved controversial in the UK because of the way it practically ignored the British contribution to the North African campaign even though the series was in part based on the exploits of a British armored car squad known as the Long Range Desert Group. Some of the early episodes were filmed in Spain.
production details
USA | ABC – United Artists – Mirisch-Rich | 58×25 minutes | Broadcast 12 September 1966 – 16 September 1968
Creator: Tom de Greis
Producers: Stanley Shpetner, Lee Rich
cast
Eric Braeden as
Christopher George as Sgt. Sam Troy
Gary Raymond as Sgt. Jack Moffitt
Larry Casey as Pvt. Mark Hitchcock
Justin Tarr as Pvt. Tully Pettigrew
Hans Gudegast as Capt. Hauptman Hans Dietrich