The Secret Service: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Secret Service was a British children's espionage television series.

The series follows the adventures of Father Stanley Unwin, the parish priest of a rural English village. Affecting the appearance of an eccentric middle-aged vicar, Unwin moonlights as a secret agent for BISHOP (British Intelligence Service Headquarters, Operation Priest), a top-secret division of British Intelligence based in Whitehall. Answering to his superior, "The Bishop", Unwin is stationed at his vicarage with Matthew Harding – another agent who, when not assisting the Father on missions, adopts the manner of a simple gardener. Supporting characters include Blake, a junior BISHOP operative, and Mrs Appleby, the Father's ageing housekeeper, who is unaware of Unwin and Harding's involvement with British Intelligence.

Series details

• Title: The Secret Service
• Format: Animation
• Language: English
• Genres: Action, Adventure, Espionage
• Premiere date: 1969-09-21
• Final broadcast date listed: 1969-12-14
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: ITV1
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 13176
• TVDB ID: 71101

Cast and credited roles

• Stanley Unwin — Father Stanley Unwin
• Gary Files — Matthew Harding
• Jeremy Wilkin — The Bishop
• Keith Alexander — Agent Blake
• Sylvia Anderson — Mrs. Appleby

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1969-09-21; final listed air date 1969-12-14; episode order: 13.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Secret Service on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.