The Champions (TV Series) The Survivors (1968) User Reviews

The Nazi Cave

[bensonmum2 · 8/10 · 6 September 2015]

The Champions are sent to Austria to investigate the murder of three students looking for Nazi treasure at the bottom of a lake. Craig and Richard run into similar trouble when they are shot at. What they find is a map that shows the Nazis may have stashed their weapons in an abandoned iron mine. Upon investigation, they find more than weapons - they find soldiers unaware the war has been over for 20 years. Who wants to keep this secret and keep these men imprisoned?

There's a lot to like about The Champions' episode The Survivors. I'll begin with Donald Houston as Richter. The murder of the three students at the beginning of the episode, the murder of his partner, and the intentional cave-in show what a nasty piece of work Richter is. Richter may not be a super-human, but he poises a real threat. Good job of acting by Houston - and the whole cast for the matter. This is the first episode I can remember where all three members of The Champions played equal parts in the mission. Usually, each episode so far has tended to focus on one, with the other two left with little to do. And the final twist at the end - I honestly didn't see it coming. Very nice writing and direction in this one.

I've got no real complaints, so an 8/10 seems about right.

Decent enough

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 27 August 2021]

Austrian antics in this one as a number of murders in a lake signal the presence of some lost Nazi gold hidden beneath the surface. Donald Houston shows up as a heavy and there are some nasty Nazis around too for our heroes to tackle. Decent enough for what it is.

Excellent, creepy episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 27 March 2023]

The Champions are sent to Austria, to the scene of a double murder. Two young divers are shot dead by the side of a lake after exploring an abandoned Nazi vehicle, several similar murders have occured over the last few years.

Initially I thought this was a somewhat weird episode, but as it develops, it actually opens up into something really quite profound. I won't give the game away, but for many fans of this show at the time, the second World War would still have been in living memory, and the scenario would perhaps resonate quite a lot.

It's loaded with atmosphere, it has such a creepy and unusual vibe, it's unlike any other episode, I know people have referenced other shows, but I got an Avengers vibe from it.

It is so well acted, the entire cast were spot on here. I think this is so far the best episode for Bastedo, Sharron felt like that star of the show.

I'd love to know what that guy did for food, did he then move to Craggy Island?

9/10.

Yet Another Champions Power Slip Up?

[richard.fuller1 · 9/10 · 31 July 2006]

Wonderful episode with its lost German soldiers plot.

Now we in America have pretty much only the single episode of Gilligan's Island to observe about Japanese soldiers from WWII who didn't realize the war had ended and there they remained, diligent at their posts.

But here was a European version of the same scenario; well, slightly altered.

Yet how many times did Richard Barrett's perceptive hearing fail him? He never heard anything of the gun that fired on him when he was across the river (as opposed to Sharron in The Iron Man, who hears the gun just before it fires at the dictator).

He also failed to react to the second guy who came up behind him when he was flat out on the ground. The first assassin across the river had to shoot his own man when he realized the guy wasn't going to shoot Richard.

He fails to hear the gentlemen hiding at the exit to the mine as he leaves with the old German soldier.

Then he fails to hear these guys outside the inn where he and the soldier have gone to (as opposed to his own hearing in Happening, when he hears the old Australian, Banner B. Banner, outside Joe's Place with the gun).

Difficult to overlook slip ups like these, I suppose, but still it was a very entertaining episode. One of the best so far in this series.

The last Nazi outpost

[ShadeGrenade · 10/10 · 17 July 2012]

Donald James' 'The Survivors' is an underrated gem. Three students are searching the bottom of an Austrian lake for lost Nazi treasure. Two men - 'Richter' ( Donald Houston ) and 'Emil' ( Bernard Kay ) - are watching them, and when the students retire to their tent they are machine-gunned to death. Tremayne sends the Champions to investigate, though he personally thinks the matter unimportant. 'Burgomeister Franz Reitz' ( Clifford Evans ) tells Sharron that he regards the legend of lost Nazi treasure a myth. He also tells her that his dead twin brother was a Colonel in the S.S. Craig finds a truck at the bottom of the lake, along with a map showing the whereabouts of iron mines. Richard is attacked by Emil, who gets mistakenly shot by Richter. The mines contain a small pocket of Wehrmacht officers, who hid there during the war's dying days along with food and equipment to wait for the call to return to action. It never came, and they have remained there ever since. Only two are left - 'Schmeltz' ( John Tate ) and 'Colonel Reitz', whom his brother claimed was dead...

I probably disliked this as a child way back in 1968/69, but can appreciate it better as an adult. What I like about it is the fact the imprisoned Nazis are not the bad guys. Burgomeister Reitz had the mines closed to conceal the truth about having been in the S.S. Richter's job is to ensure they remain a secret. There is a certain pathos to the Nazis' situation - they have spent twenty years unaware that the war is over ( how awful it must have been all those years without female companionship ), and are still devoutly loyal to a futile cause. The insane Colonel Reitz, in particular, is a tragic figure, strutting about in his Nazi uniform, shouting orders to men who have been dead for years. When he realises the truth, he blows himself up. There is a wonderfully touching moment as Schmeltz emerges from the mines, and gazes with awe and admiration at the night sky, something he has not seen in literally years.

Welsh actors Houston and Evans are marvellous, particularly the latter in his duel role. A young Stephen Yardley - later to play 'The XYY Man' - is one of the unfortunate students. Another reviewer has commented on Richard's failure to hear a gun-man sneaking up on him, well, this would be a dull show indeed if our heroes got every single thing correct all the time.

'The Six Million Dollar Man' later did a similar idea, called 'The Last Kamikaze', which pitted 'Colonel Steve Austin' ( Lee Majors ) against a Japanese soldier convinced his country is still at war with the United States.