History Tearjerker / Colditz

* Perhaps surprisingly, possibly the biggest one in the series happens in the penultimate episode, to one of the Germans. The Kommandant receives word from a friend that his son, Erich, has been killed in the East. His very first scene in the series, set in 1940, involved wishing his son luck in the Luftwaffe. Now, only weeks from the end of war in '45, Karl has to break the news to his wife that their son has been killed - and not even flying. His squadron was grounded for lack of fuel and he was transferred to infantry. Bernard Hepton's performance throughout the scene is heartbreaking. [[spoiler: Particularly when he admits to Col Preston that he lied to his wife and their son wasn't shot, he was crushed, rolled over by a tank.]]

* Most of "Tweedledum" can easily be counted as this, from Marsh's suffering of fairly intense bullying, both at the hands of his fellow inmates and a German guard who is tasked with watching Marsh and whom Marsh surprisingly eventually befriends, to the infamous letter scene at the close of the episode. The latter especially as Pat, Carter, Player and a couple of others have just been [[spoiler:celebrating Marsh's successful repatriation, only to have the light mood immediately punctured when Preston reads out the letter from Marsh's wife, [[BecomingTheMask stating that the man is in an asylum due to his now-legitimate insanity]].]] The heartbroken expressions on each of the men's faces as the situation sinks in and the muted agreement when Preston forbids any similar attempts in the future are devastating and it's one of the surprisingly few episodes to end on an unambiguously sombre note.

* In "Lord, Didn't It Rain", Player stumbles into an American consulate. He's exhausted, ill and on the run. He asks for help, and is bluntly turned down by the consul, who hides behind the United States' neutrality. Player breaks down and literally begs the man for just a few marks so he can try and take a train to freedom, but he won't even do that. Seeing Player so utterly crushed by so officious and cowardly a diplomat is heartbreaking. Even the man's secretary doesn't buy his "neutrality" excuses.

* Perhaps surprisingly, possibly the biggest one in the series happens in the penultimate episode, to one of the Germans. The Kommandant receives word from a friend that his son, Erich, has been killed in the East. His very first scene in the series, set in 1940, involved wishing his son luck in the Luftwaffe. Now, only weeks from the end of war in '45, Karl has to break the news to his wife that their son has been killed - and not even flying. His squadron was grounded for lack of fuel and he was transferred to infantry. Bernard Hepton's performance throughout the scene is heartbreaking. [[spoiler: Particularly when he admits to Col Preston that he lied to his wife and their son wasn't shot, he was crushed, rolled over by a tank.]]

* Perhaps surprisingly, possibly the biggest one in the series happens in the penultimate episode. The Kommandant receives word from a friend that his son, Erich, has been killed in the East. His very first scene in the series, set in 1940, involved wishing his son luck in the Luftwaffe. Now, only weeks from the end of war in '45, Karl has to break the news to his wife that their son has been killed - and not even flying. His squadron was grounded for lack of fuel and he was transferred to infantry. Bernard Hepton's performance throughout the scene is heartbreaking. [[spoiler: Particularly when he admits to Col Preston that he lied to his wife and their son wasn't shot, he was crushed, rolled over by a tank.]]

* Perhaps surprisingly, possibly the biggest one in the series happens in the penultimate episode. The Kommandant receives word from a friend that his son has been killed in the East. His very first scene in the series, set in 1940, involved wishing his son luck in the Luftwaffe. Now, only weeks from the end of war in '45, Karl has to break the news to his wife that their son has been killed - and not even flying. His squadron was grounded for lack of fuel and he was transferred to infantry. Bernard Hepton's performance throughout the scene is heartbreaking. [[spoiler: Particularly when he admits to Col Preston that he lied to his wife and their son wasn't shot, he was crushed, rolled over by a tank.]]

* Perhaps surprisingly, possibly the biggest one in the series happens in the penultimate episode. The Kommandant receives word from a friend that his son has been killed in the East. His very first scene in the series, set in 1940, involved wishing his son luck in the Luftwaffe. Now, only weeks from the end of war in '45, Karl has to break the news to his wife that their son has been killed - and not even flying. His squadron was grounded for lack of fuel and he was transferred to infantry. Bernard Hepton's performance throughout the scene is heartbreaking.