Rat Patrol

[lookashiny]

The Rat Patrol is a half hour TV show set in the North African theater of World War II. It ran for two seasons, from 1966 to 1968. It is available in its entirety here.

Plot
The Rat Patrol is a four-man crew who operate with two jeeps, mounted with large machine guns. Their primary mission is to attack Nazi supply convoys and destroy Nazi supply caches and bases, though they sometimes have other missions as the plot demands. Their chief adversary is Hauptmann Hans Dietrich. Some episodes involve one or more of the Rats getting into danger or being captured and having to find their way out. There's lots of explosions.

Characters


Sam Troy (Christopher George)
Sgt. Sam Troy is the leader of the Rat Patrol. He's a good leader, cool under fire, and quick to find solutions. He has a few one-off romances on the show, but the episodic nature prevents any of them from continuing. His father died when he was young ("Two for One Raid") and he has one brother ("The Field of Death Raid") who was played by Christopher George's brother. He was often injured or captured including in "The Chain of Death Raid" where he was chained to Dietrich by Arab slavers and had to work with him to return to his crew and "The Tug Of War Raid" where he nearly gets hanged. He wears an Australian bush hat (no reason is ever given for how he got it).



Jack Moffitt (Gary Raymond)
Sgt. Jack Moffitt is the only British member of the team (despite the real life desert patrol being nearly all British), who joins the group in the first episode. He and his archaeologist father (who appears in "The Dare-Devil Rescue Raid") spent a lot of time in North Africa and the Middle East, giving him knowledge of the cultures and languages of the area. He's normally cool and composed, but has occasional moments of anger (like when his father is in danger or when he's dealing with an old flame in "The Fatal Reunion Raid"). He also has a younger brother, who is killed offscreen in London in "The Hickory Dickory Dock Raid". He usually wears a black military beret.



Mark Hitchcock (Lawrence P. Casey)
Cpl. Mark Hitchcock, called "Hitch", drives Troy's jeep (except in the first episode, where he drives Moffitt). He's a former college student and a young man desperate to prove himself. In the first half of the show, he says "Who was there: you or me?", but that fades after the first season. He's the most openly womanizing character, though he doesn't always get far with the women he chases. He has a close to serious relationship in the 3-part "The Last Harbor Raid". He chews bubblegum often. He was the first main character seriously injured, in the second episode "The Life Against Death Raid". He wears a red kepi hat, that is never explained.



Tully Pettigrew (Justin Tarr)
PFC. Tully Pettigrew, called Tully most of the time, drives Moffitt's jeep (except in the first episode). He's from Kentucky, and ran moonshine as a kid, which is where he got his amazing driving skills. He doesn't talk much, and probably has the least characterization of anyone on the show, though he's still a popular character. He gets wounded in an explosion in "The David and Goliath Raid". He wears an Army helmet, though as the show goes on he starts to forgo wearing a shirt under his uniform jacket.




Hans Dietrich (Hans Gudegast/Eric Braeden)
Hauptmann Hans Deitrich is the chief enemy of the Rat Patrol, though several episodes ("The Moment of Truce Raid", "The Truce at Aburah Raid", "The Violent Truce Raid") have them agree to a truce for various reasons. He is often the sole survivor of his troops after the Rat Patrol attacks them, since he's the only one who is a main character. He's honorable and sympathetic at times, and sometimes is at odds with more fanatical Nazi officers or the Gestapo ("The Street Urchin Raid" for example).

Fandom
It's a pretty small fandom, with mostly slash and gen fics. Archiveofourown has some fics here. The most popular pairings are Troy/Moffitt, Troy/Dietrich, and Hitch/Tully. There's at least one fic for most pairings, though.

Comments

[corvidology]

I've seen a couple of episodes of this in re-run shows and guess I'd like it a lot if I saw more given how fond of 60s TV shows I am, like the original Man from UNCLE, The Avengers, The Wild, Wild West and Department S though that one continued into the early 70s.

[lookashiny]

You'd probably like it, if you like those shows. The plots are thin sometimes and there's lots of explosions, but the acting is good and it's a lot of fun.