A WWII drama starring Dirk Bogarde and Maria Perschy is being added to BBC iPlayer

A Second World War drama hailed as “brilliant” is heading to BBC iPlayer.

The Password is Courage, released in 1962 and starring Dirk Bogarde, Maria Perschy, and Alfred Lynch, will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer from Sunday (June 21) following its broadcast on BBC Two.

The drama – which has drawn comparisons to the 1963 war film The Great Escape – is adapted from a book about Sergeant Major Charles Coward, who was held in a prisoner of war camp and rallied his fellow captives to attempt escape. According to a BBC synopsis, the Sergeant Major “was captured at Dunkirk in 1940 and dedicated his time in captivity to acts of sabotage and escape”.

The film made its debut in 1962, proving a hit with cinema audiences and earning widespread critical acclaim upon its release, reports the Express.

Dubbing it the “real Great Escape”, one fan wrote on IMDb.com: “This is truly a classic black and white British film and for those that claim it is just a poor version or copy of The Great Escape, maybe people should consider that the film was made and released a year before The Great Escape. And is in fact more factual than the more popular Hollywood version.”

Further reviews on Rotten Tomatoes described the film as “underrated” and “worth a watch”. “Almost forgotten but absolutely brilliant,” remarked one viewer.

“I would recommend it to anyone!” added another impressed fan.

One viewer noted: “I thought this movie was very well paced. Just when I thought I might get bored, something un-expected would happen. It kept me entertained.”

“This is one of my favourite World War II movies,” added another.

A further viewer observed: “For a film that was done on a low budget, I thoroughly enjoyed this. The realism must have been helped by the fact that Dirk Bogarde was a real life veteran.

“The film was a real story (probably with the occasional embellishment). All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

The Great Escape featured Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough, telling the tale of prisoners of war attempting to break free from a German camp during the Second World War.

The Password is Courage will be available on BBC iPlayer.