Mon, Oct 30, 1978
When an East German spy in the employ of SIS offers them photographs of a new missile site, Burnside finds that the only person qualified for the job is Laura Dickens. For personal reasons - he's quite fallen in love with her - he's reluctant to send her. When she is captured by the East German security service, he makes a pact with the devil by promising the French secret service access to CIA materials in exchange for a high-ranking KGB agent they could swap for her. In the end, Burnside must opt for a solution that pleases no one, least of all himself.
Mon, Mar 3, 1980
When "C" announces that he is stepping down for health reasons, speculation is rife that the job will go to John Tower Gibbs, a one-time senior officer of the SIS who has in recently years been working at the Foreign Office. Burnside and Gibbs have anything but a cordial relationship going back to when Burnside, as a Sandbagger, investigated Gibbs who was at that time abroad as a Head of Station. Burnside decides to play kingmaker by promoting the prospects of the Deputy Chief, Matthew Peele. He subtly tries to influence Wellingham who demonstrates that he is still far superior to his former son-in-law when it comes to the game of office politics.
Mon, Feb 4, 1980
After having delivered the bad news to Tom Elliot's parents, Willie Caine considers leaving the Special Ops unit. Down to two Sandbaggers once again, Burnside is tasked with locating Sir Geoffrey Wellingham who, while in Brussels, disappears on his way to NATO Headquarters. He dispatches both Sandbaggers to Brussels despite direct orders from the Deputy Chief to send only one. Working with their German counterparts, they seek out the terrorists responsible but are having difficulty identifying just which group that is. Burnside is also concerned that he lent a top secret file to Wellingham on SIS cooperation with South Africa, which is against government policy. The file is in Wellingham's office safe and he's not sure how he'll get it back.
Mon, Feb 18, 1980
When Sandbagger #2 Mike Wallace has a run-in with the Head of Station in Warsaw, he finds himself called on the carpet back home. While Burnside accepts his version of events, which puts the botched Warsaw operation clearly at the door of the local station, the Deputy Chief insists on a proper investigation. On another front, the SIS learns that the number two man in their Stockholm Station, Pat Bishop, is passing information to a British businessman who is known to have ties to the KGB. Both Sandbaggers are sent to investigate but when Bishop suddenly changes his routine, they believe they have a leak somewhere. Only by retracing his steps does Burnside realize just what Butler is up to.
Mon, Jul 14, 1980
When the SIS medical officer suggests that Neil Burnside is under stress and should be rested, Deputy Chief Matthew Peele sees his chance to replace him with the new Director of Intelligence, Paul Dalgetty. The final nail in Burnside's coffin seems to be a secret CIA assessment of the SIS where Burnside is described as a major negative influence. However, when Burnside confronts his CIA colleague Jeff Ross, he gets a different side of the story and goes on the attack.
Mon, Sep 25, 1978
When the SIS station in Vienna reports the presence of Dr. Sir Donald Hopkins, Burnside is afraid that they may have a defector on their hands. Hopkins is the chief scientific advisor attached to the Cabinet Office and was supposed to be on his annual fishing holiday in Scotland. After much wrangling, with both the Foreign Office and his superiors, he gets permission to send in two Sandbaggers to bring Hopkins in. At the same time, the SIS learns that an East African dictator has killed a journalist accusing him of being an SIS agent, which is not correct. Burnside is keen to take action against the dictator who was responsible some years previously for the death of Sandbagger #3.
Mon, Oct 9, 1978
Now down to only one Sandbagger, Burnside looks to recruit new members and offers the job to Laura Dickens. When they learn that the number two SIS man from Algiers is killed in Gibraltar, Burnside dispatches Sandbagger #1, Willie Caine, there to find out what was going on. He also send Dickens to Algiers to find out what the agent was doing in Gibraltar in the first place. Burnside has another problem when his CIA colleague tells him that an SIS officer, Colin Grove, has been seeing a psychiatrist privately. There is concern that the psychiatrist may be a foreign agent and if that is the case, the entire special relationship between the CIA and the SIS may be in jeopardy.