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Synopsis
Rural England, 1940. With her husband lost at Dunkirk and her son missing in action, Maggie must keep the family farm running alone. Her solitude is upset by the arrival of Gerhard, a Luftwaffe pilot who crashes nearby and pretends to be a Polish deserter from the RAF.
Things are complicated by the arrival of Maggie's Land Girl Doreen who also has an uncle in the military police stationed at the nearby base. She soon discovers Gerhard hiding at the farm and falls for his spy story.
Doreen's uncle, the Sergeant, has designs on the widow Maggie. Soon his suspicions are raised by Doreen about who is actually living at the farm. As a result, the situation starts to spiral out of control with fatal consequences for both Gerhard and the Sergeant.
The story is bookended by the discovery of a box by Maggie's grandchildren when they are clearing the farm to sell, marked with an address in Berlin.
The story's final scene unfolds years later in a Berlin apartment, where the two halves of a torn photograph are brought together at last — one from the box and one from Gerhard's aged wife's possession - a symbol of the reconciliation.
The story is inspired by, and an homage to, the H E Bates short story The Triple Echo (1970) that was filmed in the movie of the same name starring Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed in the lead roles.
Meet the Cast
The Lonely Farming Widow
With her husband lost at Dunkirk and her son missing in action, Maggie holds the farm together through sheer determination. Tough, practical, and warm-hearted, she is the moral centre of the story — a woman faced with making difficult personal and moral decisions in a time of war.
The Downed German Pilot
Luftwaffe pilot Gerhard crashes near Maggie's farm and pretends to be a Polish deserter from the RAF. With Maggie's unwitting help, and despite the suspicions of the land girl Doreen, and her military police Uncle, he manages to evade capture but the war catches up with him in the end.
The Land Girl
The wily Doreen is the land girl assigned to Maggie's farm who eventually discovers Gerhard and falls for his charms. Her Uncle is in the military police at the nearby base and it is the actions of the two of them that lead to disaster for Gerhard.
Doreen's Uncle
The Sergeant has the hots for Maggie and once his niece Doreen moves in at the farm and raises his suspicions about who is living there, his actions lead to disaster - both for him and for Gerhard.