Interview with Jan Francis

Down the Line: a Secret Army podcast

In this special episode of Down the Line, AJ Interviews none other than Jan Francis who played Lisa Colbert: codename Yvette, in Secret Army. As well as her memories of being cast in the show, Jan recalls its creator and producer Gerry Glaister, and the learning curve she and her fellow cast members went on as they found out about the historical reality behind the series.

Having recently watched the series again on Talking Pictures, Jan also reflects on whether Secret Army still stands up today. She also reveals some surprisingly relevant stories of her own father's wartime exploits.

We are incredibly grateful to Jan for giving up her time for this interview and for sharing so generously. If you would like to show your appreciation, then please consider donating to Jan's chosen charity: SSAFA (The Armed Forces Charity) at: https://www.ssafa.org.uk/ (and mention this Secret Army podcast when you donate so that contributions relating to this interview can be grouped together).

As ever, we'd love to hear from you. We will shortly be recording our thoughts on the Series 2 episodes: 'Trapped' and 'Not According to Plan' - if you have anything to say about either then our email is: [e-mail] You can also send us a message on Bluesky: AJ is on secretarmypod.bsky.social while Andy can be found at andypodding.bsky.social. AJ is also still on Twitter at @secretarmypod

Thank you for listening!

AJ & Andy x

Next Time: Russian Roulette