I See a Dark Stranger

In 1937 Ireland, Bridie Quilty grows up hearing her father's heroic tales of the Irish Revolution. Those stories fuel a lifelong distrust of anything British and a fierce pride in her homeland. The seeds of conflict are planted early.

By 1944, after her father's death, Bridie decides to carve a life of her own in Dublin and hopes to join the IRA. She leaves home with a head full of revolution and a heart set on action. The journey marks a turning point from innocence to political resolve.

On the way to Dublin, Bridie shares a train compartment with J. Miller, a businessman who is secretly a German agent. He quickly tests her suitability, then recruits her for a plan to break a fellow spy out of prison. The ride marks the first turn toward espionage and danger.

Miller arranges for Bridie to work at a hotel and bar in Wynbridge Vale, giving her cover and access. The job lets her gather information and move with a degree of anonymity. It also introduces her to the local world that will entangle her with British and German agents.

Bridie becomes friendly with a sergeant who unknowingly provides details about a prisoner's impending transfer to London. She files away the information as a potential lever in Miller's plan. The misused trust foreshadows the web of double-crosses to come.

Lieutenant David Baynes, a British naval officer on leave, arrives under cover of academic research on Cromwell. He attracts Bridie's curiosity but remains unaware of the larger spy game around him. His presence intensifies the danger of Bridie's mission.

To aid the freed prisoner, Bridie is instructed to distract Baynes on the day of the transfer. They travel into the countryside under the pretense of a half-day outing, and Baynes begins to realize Bridie's charms are a tactic, not a confession of feeling. The transfer plan proceeds without his knowledge.

The escape attempt succeeds only to end in tragedy as the freed spy is shot during the getaway. Miller is wounded in the melee but manages to flee. Bridie watches the consequences of following orders and the cost of betrayal.

Before dying, Miller tells Bridie where to find a crucial notebook on the Isle of Man. He asks her to dispose of his body and to pass along the notebook's location to the spy chain. Her loyalties are now tied to a dangerous operation that has claimed many lives.

Bridie travels to Liverpool to seek a route to Ireland, but travel is suspended and a chase ensues. She continues onward to the Isle of Man to locate the notebook in the Tynwald and to decipher its secrets. British intelligence keeps pace, closing in behind her.

In the Isle of Man, Bridie deciphers the notebook and discovers the location of the imminent D-Day landings. She decides to burn the notebook to prevent its use by the Germans. The act marks a decisive turn in the spy game and personal risk.

The trailing German agents kidnap Bridie and David and transport them toward Ireland, hiding among a funeral procession as smugglers cross the border into Northern Ireland. A border melee erupts, and Bridie and David escape amid the chaos. A BBC broadcast announces D-Day has begun, changing the strategic situation and alerting both sides.

David helps Bridie escape, and a chase leads to a confrontation with the spy ring. The police arrive and arrest all the remaining conspirators. The episode ends with Bridie and David facing the consequences of their choices.

After the war, Bridie and David marry, beginning a new life together. They spend a difficult but hopeful honeymoon at The Cromwell Arms, where Bridie struggles to reconcile her past with the future she seeks.