List of The Sandbaggers characters

A career intelligence officer, the series' protagonist is Neil Burnside; Director of Operations ("D-Ops") of SIS, a former Sandbagger, and ex-Royal Marine commando. He is devious, manipulative, and by turns dour, brusque, aggressive and independent-minded, putting him frequently in conflict with others. He is fiercely patriotic and devoted to the preservation of Britain's national security, but while battling the KGB, his main sources of antagonism are the people on his side: superiors in SIS, whom he alternately considers too cautious or too reckless; self-serving politicians who grant or withhold permission for his covert operations; territory-hungry MI5 officers; and entrenched civil servants. A heavy drinker while a Sandbagger, Burnside is a teetotaler since becoming D-Ops.

His single-minded devotion to his job cost him his marriage before the start of the series, though he maintains a close relationship with his former father-in-law, Sir Geoffrey Wellingham, the Permanent Undersecretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This provides him a conduit through which to bypass both the Deputy Chief of SIS and C himself. His one attempt at a romantic relationship is with Laura Dickens, a Sandbagger recruit in the first series; aside from this, Burnside's personal life outside SIS is all but non-existent.

The series begins six months after Burnside has become Director of Operations, and a running theme is the high casualty rate that his directorate suffers. Fiercely protective of his agents, Burnside tries to keep them from being abused by others in power, despite the risks inherent in their profession. He is played by Roy Marsden.

Head of the Special Operations Section ("Sandbagger One"), Willie Caine is a former Paratrooper and, according to Burnside, the best operative of his kind in the world. Caine is not afraid to speak his mind nor to openly differ with Burnside, but remains steadfastly loyal to him. Although he dislikes both violence and guns, he is prepared to use them when necessary; he also shows himself on a number of occasions to be willing to risk his life, both for SIS and for Burnside personally. Besides Burnside, Caine is the only character who appears in every episode of the series; he is played by Ray Lonnen.

Introduced as "Sandbagger Three" in the first episode of the second series, Wallace quickly becomes "Sandbagger Two" after the death of fellow Sandbagger Tom Elliott; he remains Sandbagger Two for the remainder of the series, the longest Sandbagger tenure after Willie Caine. A fluent French speaker, Wallace develops from new recruit to seasoned veteran over the second and third series, even successfully undertaking a dangerous mission to rescue a wounded CIA operative trapped in Russia. Burnside puts his career on the line to protect Wallace from a vengeful station chief in the second series episode "A Question of Loyalty". He is played by Michael Cashman.

The Head of SIS when the series begins, code-named "C". A diplomat by training, Greenley is initially treated with suspicion by Burnside. Over the course of the first two series, Burnside comes to both trust and become fond of Greenley, who has the difficult task of balancing political as well as security concerns. Greenley becomes an almost paternal figure to Burnside, often protecting him from the consequences of his worst instincts and keeping the peace between Burnside and Matthew Peele, the deputy chief. He retires at the end of the second series as a result of angina, and Burnside is disappointed to see him replaced by the less benevolent John Tower Gibbs (Dennis Burgess), who remains C for the rest of the series. Greenley is played by Richard Vernon.

Sir Geoffrey Wellingham, KCMG, DSC is the Permanent Undersecretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that oversees SIS. As Burnside's former father-in-law, he is Burnside's contact within Whitehall, and the two often share information and use each other. This avenue of communication is somewhat outside regular channels, and although it can be useful for both Burnside and SIS, the two men occasionally become adversaries when their agendas differ. Due to his background, experience, and position, Wellingham can be a formidable opponent for Burnside, and reminds him of that more than once. Wellingham appears in all but two episodes in the series and is played by Alan MacNaughtan.

The Deputy Head of SIS, former Head of Hong Kong Station and, like Burnside, a career intelligence officer. Unlike Burnside, Peele has little field experience and is more concerned with going by the book, avoiding rocking the political boat, and furthering his own ambitions to higher rank. As a result, Peele often stands in opposition to Burnside, against what he sees as Burnside's recklessness, contempt for the proper chain of command, and lack of political tact. He is disliked by his subordinates and considered a tyrant with no opinions of his own, but proves himself just as committed to the security of Britain as Burnside; their relationship evolves over the course of the series to one of mutual respect (if still antagonistic). Peele appears in all but two episodes and is played by Jerome Willis.

Introduced in the last episode of the second series ("Operation Kingmaker"), John Tower Gibbs replaces Sir James Greenley as C and remains in that capacity until the end of the series. Gibbs is a career intelligence officer, former head of the Washington and Bonn stations and working with the Joint Intelligence Committee when he is appointed C. He and Burnside have an antagonistic relationship from the start, stemming from an altercation they had when Burnside was a Sandbagger and Gibbs was head of Bonn station. Unlike his predecessor, who called Burnside "Neil", Gibbs refers to Burnside only by his surname, disapproves of his methods, and is suspicious of the special relationship with the CIA, preferring to see it phased out. For his part, Burnside views Gibbs as a tyrant who will stifle his (Burnside's) ability to run his directorate. They clash throughout the third series, but in one episode where Burnside is on leave and Caine is Acting D-Ops, Caine and Gibbs work very well together. Gibbs is played by Dennis Burgess.

The head of the CIA's London station, Ross is Burnside's confidant, resource, and his closest, if not only, friend. The two often have lunch and work together to preserve the "special relationship" between the CIA and SIS, and Ross takes an interest in Burnside's (non-existent) personal life. The close relationship between the two does not prevent Ross from using Burnside and SIS on at least one occasion for his own ends, and in some episodes, Burnside and Ross work at cross-purposes; their personal relationship is almost destroyed when Ross cons Burnside in order to use SIS to head off an MI5 investigation into a CIA agent. He is played by Bob Sherman.

Director of Intelligence (D-Int) for SIS, Tyler appears in the second series and the first two episodes of the third. He and Burnside have a friendly relationship of mutual respect; Burnside considers Tyler the best D-Int he's ever known, and Tyler offers Burnside whatever help he can in operations. In the episode "To Hell with Justice", Tyler is revealed to have been a double agent for 23 years; he asks the KGB to lift him in Malta, but after leaving a trail for SIS to follow and stop the lift, Burnside arrives to assassinate him (against direct orders from C). Rather that put his friend through such an ordeal, Tyler calmly commits suicide with a cyanide pill. He is played by Peter Laird.

Other Sandbaggers who appear only briefly are Jake Landy (David Glyder), Alan Denson (Steven Grives), and Laura Dickens (Diane Keen), all killed in the first series; and Tom Elliot (David Beames), killed in the first episode of the second series. Burnside's capable and fiercely loyal personal assistant, Diane Lawler (Elizabeth Bennett), retires at the end of the second series and is replaced by Marianne Straker (Sue Holderness), who stays with Burnside throughout the third series. Karen Milner (Jana Sheldon) is a CIA field officer who reports to Jeff Ross and sometimes works alongside one or more of the Sandbaggers; she is only seen in the second series.

After Tyler's suicide, he is replaced as D-Int by Paul Dalgetty (David Robb), an arrogant and considerably less capable officer who has a completely antagonistic relationship with Burnside. Dalgetty openly maneuvers to replace Burnside as D-Ops, going so far as to hide intelligence communiqués from Burnside in order to do manipulate C and Peele, but at the end of the series, he remains D-Int.