Colditz (1972)

The 1972 BBC series, not the 2005 remake. What lifts it above a boys'-own escape caper is how seriously it takes the boredom, rivalries and strain of years spent locked in a castle. Major Pat Reid, the real British escape officer at Colditz, advised on the series, and the schemes have the fiddly plausibility that comes from that. Bernard Hepton's weary German commandant is the quiet star, a decent man running a prison he knows is a game of wits. Co-produced with Universal, it also features David McCallum and Robert Wagner across 28 episodes.