The Eagle Has Landed, the Eagle Has Flown and Exocet

Three BBC Radio Full-Cast Thrillers

De: Jack Higgins

Narrado por: Michael Fitzgerald, Geoffrey Whitehead, Peter Jeffrey, Moir Leslie, Peter Acre, David Bamber, Frank Grimes, Graham Padden, full cast

Full-cast dramatisations of three of Jack Higgins’ best-known novels

Jack Higgins (the pen name of Henry Patterson) was the internationally bestselling author of 85 novels. He shot to fame with The Eagle Has Landed, which sold 50 million copies worldwide and became a hit film. Adapted for radio, it is included here, together with its gripping sequel The Eagle Has Flown and the sensational Falklands War thriller Exocet.

The Eagle Has Landed – November 1943, and Winston Churchill is planning a weekend's relaxation in the Norfolk village of Studley Constable. Little does he know that a crack group of German paratroopers, aided by deadly IRA gunman Liam Devlin, are waiting to kidnap him and deliver him to Adolf Hitler…Starring Michael Fitzgerald, Frank Grimes, Rosemary Martin and Harry Patterson, aka Jack Higgins, this classic story is one of the greatest World War Two adventures ever told.

The Eagle Has Flown – Gunned down during ‘Operation Eagle’, German paratrooper Kurt Steiner is alive, but a prisoner in the Tower of London. Now Himmler wants him back, and calls in the one man with the skills to retrieve him: Liam Devlin. Harry Paterson stars as himself, Jack Higgins, with Michael Fitzgerald as Steiner, Frank Grimes as Devlin and Graham Padden as Himmler.

Exocet – Argentina has invaded the Falkland Islands, forcing Britain to send in a naval task force to reclaim them. With war looming, Brigadier Charles Ferguson of MI6 recruits the beautiful Gabrielle Legrand to spy on her Argentinian lover, Raul Montera. Her mission: to work alongside her ex-husband, Tony Villiers, to foil a Soviet plot to sell deadly Exocet missiles to Argentina… Peter Jeffrey, Michael N Harbour, Moir Leslie and William Hope star in this riveting four-part drama.

Text copyright © Jack Higgins 1971, 1983 (The Eagle Has Landed), 1983 (Exocet), 1991 (The Eagle Has Flown)

Cast and credits
Written by Jack Higgins

The Eagle Has Landed
Jack Higgins – Harry Patterson
Steiner – Michael Fitzgerald
Col Radl – Ian Hogg
Joanna – Rosemary Martin
Liam Devlin – Frank Grimes
Molly – Holly Aird
Pamela – Kimberly Hope
Father Vereker – Simon Carter
Churchill – Roger Hume
Himmler – Graham Padden
Canaris – Terry Molloy
Hitler – David Halliwell
Sturm – David Vann
Meuhoff – Neil Coker
Neuman – John Dixon
Lemke – Stephen Garlick
Betty Wilde – Heather Barrett
Graham – Philip Molloy
Arthur – Christopher Good
George – Vincent Brimble
Sgt Hofer – Geoffrey Whitehead

The Eagle Has Flown
Liam Devlin – Frank Grimes
Jack Higgins – Harry Patterson
Steiner – Michael Fitzgerald
Vaughan – Quint Boa
Himmler – Graham Padden
Canaris – Terry Molloy
Hitler – David Halliwell
Mary – Melanie Revill
Lavinia – Charlotte Westoram
Shaw – David Neal
Rommel – Gordon Reid
Munro – Leon Tanner
Carter – John Dixon
Schellenberg – David Holt
Kneussel – Richard Allenson
Kramer – Richard O'Ryan
Berger – Peter Meakin

Exocet
Brigadier Charles Ferguson – Peter Jeffrey
Major Tony Villiers – Michael N Harbour
Gabriel Legrand – Moir Leslie
Harry Fox – Peter Acre
Victor Vronski – David Bamber
Col Raul Montera – William Hope
Julio Garcia/Col Dwyer – Allan Corduner
Nikolai Belov – David March
Sgt Major Jackson – Eric Allan
Chief Supt Carver/General Leopoldo Galtieri – John Church
Anna Marchuk – Melanie Hudson
Queen Elizabeth II/Margaret Thatcher – Melinda Walker
Prof Paul Bernard – Keith Drinkel
Major Langham/Major Espinet – Steve Hodson
Journalist/Private Elliot – David Holt

©2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P)2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Dated adventure tales

I liked 'The Eagle has landed' but overall the high concept stories here (likely ground-breaking when first released) and characters (public school educated, beautiful, rich, all with convenient skill sets... eg knows how to fly a plane just at the right moment!) have not aged well. There were also too many characters (confusing), cliched personas(upper class = heroic), and poorly timed humour + suddenly intense romances that ultimately made the drama feel uneven.