Wish Me Luck (1988-90) was a TV series about two British women who served as undercover agents in France during World War II. One of our Patreon subscribers requested that we review the series, and I volunteered because I like World War II films/series, especially those that center on women!
The two central characters are Liz aka Celeste (Kate Buffery) and Matty aka Aimee (Suzanna Hamilton: Tess, Out of Africa), and they are supported by various other agents and officers, played by actors including Jane Asher, Julian Glover (Tom Jones, Wuthering Heights, Nicholas and Alexandra, Ivanhoe, Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, The Young Victoria, Princess Kaiulani, Game of Thrones) and a young and hot Jeremy Northam. Apparently Shirley Henderson shows up in season 3, but I didn’t make it that far!
The costumes were designed by Sue Born-Thompson, Nicola Sandford, and Sue Formston, none of whom have designed any titles I recognize in their IMDB listings.
Liz is an upper-middle-class wife and mother who studied in France and now wants to contribute to the war effort:
While Matty is more working class, with a French mother (speaking French is key, because they are going undercover as French women):
There’s a bit of uniforms, but mostly practical clothing for their training:
And then civilian clothing for undercover:
Jane Asher seems to have had some kind of contractual clause that meant her hair was a mashup of 1940s and 1980s:
Overall, I can see the appeal of the series, especially since they drew on real women’s war experiences for the storylines — but too much of it was done on soundstages with low-budget, late-1980s equipment for me to be able to stick with it! I hope for those of you who watched the series back in the day, you enjoy the trip down memory lane?
Did you love Wish Me Luck?Â
Find this frock flick at:
1980s aesthetics usually win out over Historical authenticity, in 1980s Hollywood land! Wump wump!