Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 9,317MI6 Agent
edited February 5
I've watched a bit of Season 1 of The Man From UNCLE on DVD after finding it last year in a charity shop. I only remember the colour episodes being shown as repeats on TV back when I was a youngster in the 1990s. I remember it being good so presumably the series eventually got into its stride. I imagine that David McCallum gets more to do as the series goes on. I seem to remember that McCallum was only meant to be the secondary character with Robert Vaughan as Solo being the main attraction. However, McCallum actually ended up getting more fan mail than Vaughan so his popularity probably meant they gave him more screen time as the series progressed. I can't be certain but that's my hunch.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I don't know about good, but Dad and me are watching BETRAYAL which is on ITV 1 - I guess it is probably on some kind of iPlayer. An MI5 operative risks losing his job and his wife and kids after following up a lead which may or may not suggest an imminent terrorist threat to the UK. The lead character is a selfcentred reckless individual who doesn't fit the mould of careful and considered planning which one expects from a security service operative. Spy stuff is mostly cloak and dagger, very technical and close knit, but this opens it out with guns and drug gangs and failed marriages and arguments with authority. Frankly, the narrative is a mess. If the authors are going to raise issues of mental well-being, they ought to plot the story appropriately and do thorough research on HR procedures as well as police investigations and public inquiry, because this tale seems to be founded in cloud-cuckoo land. The opening scene saw an informant shot dead and John Hughes [hero, nominal] killing the assailant with no attempt to only injure or restrain. He would certainly be put on enforced leave while his suitability for continued work was assessed; there would probably be an investigation - it is fortuitous nobody has come forward from the second victim's family and raised hell with their MP etc about the police running around shooting people. The marraige break down stuff is handled only partly to satisfaction. Hughes seems not to empathise with his wife's situation, is egotistical, childish and envious. I am amazed his wife stuck him for so long. He's a bit of a d~~k to be honest. The second episode gives the wider game away too early. It'll all end in tears one way or another.
Palin introduced this late 1980s drama about a 90-year-old woman facing eviction from the house she has lived in all her life to make way for a new housing complex. Unfortunately thanks to a judicious selection of clips you could tell pretty much how the drama would pan out, including the final denouement. Jocye Carey played her age as the woman now living alone - she was the station buffet proprietess in Brief Encounter over 40 years earlier and was part of Noel Coward's stable of actors. Nigel Planer (Hippy Neil in The Young Ones) borrows the voice and put-upon demeanour of Dennis Waterman in Minder to play against type as a suited yuppy housing developer who has to arm twist the intransigent resident, and he is, answerable to Alun Armstrong - it's something to realise that most of these including Palin are still alive and still acting nearly 40 years on. Palin told a nice story about how he took Carey out to Bibendum restaurant in London after filming had finished where by chance she bumped into Rex Harrison, and they chatted away like old times; I guess Harrison would had an association with Coward via Blithe Spirit.
One actor I took time to recognise - he had a Michael Hordern-type persona - I realised was the smooth British envoy in the pre-credits of You Only Live Twice, the one who mediates between the angry sparring Americans and Russians (how times have changed, now they require a Mandelson smoothie to placate things between the US and the UK). The actor is Robin Bailey - that said, it seems a bit odd that he's meant to be Joyce Carey's 'much younger' brother given he's the chancellor of some high-ranking university; he'd have been long retired. The actor made a name playing Henry Higgins in the Australian version of My Fair Lady in the early 60s and went on to play appear as a regular in Crown Court.
Anyway, Number 27 is good stuff; well written solely by Palin. It's quite nostalgic even if even back then there is a sense of sorrow about the way the old UK is being sold down the river, and they didn't seem to blame it on the immigrants so much. It felt like a snapshot in time even though it isn't as obvious as the 60s and 70s.
A six-part thriller series about 5 members of a divorce support group who band together to give revenge on their various spouses. Douglas Henshall and Martin Compston head the cast. In style it’s very much like Hustle with the group members acting as other people to make the plan work. Things don’t always run smooth and some fast thinking is needed to bring the plan back on track. It’s all quite fun until the deaths start to happen.
Up until the climax of the final episode it’s very good and then the “twist” ending is inserted and that just doesn’t work, especially as the scene immediately prior to the “reveal” then becomes senseless and wouldn’t have happened.
Everything doesn’t have to have a twist ending, and if it does have one, then it has to match up to what has happened previously, in this case it blatantly doesn’t work and leaves the viewer very much disappointed.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Another Man from UNCLE episode. Series 1 - this 1964 episode has a scene borrowed a year later for Thunderball - Napoleon Solo opens the door during a sexy liaison with a Spectre - I mean, THRUSH agent - only to come face to face with his own doppelgänger, who sprays him with some gas.
Ilya gets sidelined yet again. You were hoping for the moment when the fake Solo gives himself away, and these happen aplenty but nothing comes of it. It's down to the genuine Solo to free himself from captivity.
Not a bad episode really and the bad girl sex appeal is notched up, with a rather immoral payoff; the good gals in this series always seem a bit American, a bit 'girl next door', not quite Sandra Dee but...
"This is where we leave you Mr Bond."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,885Chief of Staff
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast…on Netflix…three friends reunite after the death of an old classmate…but is she really dead..?…and what actually happened in the cabin in the woods all those years ago…? Excellent series.
The Tony Blair Story on Channel 4. Last episode tonight.
A good refresher course. Blair is interviewed and looks stricken for much of it, largely due to Iraq, for which he still refused to countenance any alternative decision.
It's odd - no interviewer has ever really nailed him on this. It shouldn't be that hard. Come on - why did he tthink there were weapons of mass destruction when there were none? Who misinformed him?
Given the way things panned out, what would he have done differently, even if he still opted to invade Iraq?
I noticed there were zero Tory talking heads. Nada. You have to try to recall that Ian Duncan Smith was leader of the opposition at the time because 'the Quiet Man' made no impact at the time, just bought into the Labour line because they didn't ant to get outflanked on defence. So in a way, there was no Opposition, save the likes of Corbyn who came across as level-headed - but how can you trust a leader who can't even arrange varifocals for himself?
George Bush came across as jovial, articulate and self-aware compared to the current incumbent but he really didn't come across like that at the time; the clips they used were flattering.
It's solipsistic to say this, but 9/11 really did mess things up for the West, in the long term it eroded trust in our politicians, because Blair was great up until that point imo. Labour got re-elected but only because the Tories were so useless and after that politics always felt skewered, like we were in thrall to other forces, and not just due to Murdoch and the press.
"This is where we leave you Mr Bond."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,885Chief of Staff
Small Prophets.
Written by Mackenzie Crook and starring Pearce Quigley. Set in and around Manchester…it centres around Michael Sleep (Quigley) who wants to find out what happened to his girlfriend who went missing several years ago…Michael Palin plays his father, who’s in an old folks home, and tells him about a mystical recipe he has in an old journal about growing homunculi - supernatural beings that are compelled to tell the truth…so he can ask what happened to his girlfriend.
This is superb…it will probably be the best thing to watch all year 😳
An offensive word was left in during a delayed transmission of the BAFTAs and it has unsurprisingly kicked up an almighty fuss, made all the more awkward because the person, John Davidson, shouting the 'N' word suffers from Tourettes. The film I Swear which received a couple of gongs is based on his life experiences, so it's all a rather sad incident, whether the BBC messed up or not. A couple of commentators have come out and said they don't believe it is involuntary, which straddles a very difficult and potential line of intent and can bring forward misinformation about the syndrome. Having worked with someone who suffered from TS, it is phenomenally difficult to cope with, both for the sufferer and for those in the vicinity.
The BBC has not covered itself in glory by transmitting the involuntary gaff. You wonder who is reviewing things for transmission these days?
Newsnight was very fair debating the situation tonight. I would suggest social media probably isn't being fair.
A phenomenal missed opportunity. If I'd have been in the audience I'd have seized with both hands the excuse to shout out what a Scottish •••• Alan Cummings was, and how he should f** Emma Thompson up the a••••• and I wouldn't have got any blame for it, it would all be on the other bloke. Then baldly Prince Wills having to do a speech in this week of all weeks, I mean could there be a more open goal. It would be like an episode of Ricky Gervais' Extras.
I wasn't aware that as well as speech Tourette's Syndrome also affected written text. You learn so much here at AJB. Although maybe I should've been aware of it given that I seem to have it regarding John Gardner and Never Send Flowers. 😉
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
John Braine’s Joe Lampton transfers to the small screen after Laurence Harvey’s big screen outings in two movies. I remember seeing this on ITV as a teenager and being transfixed by Kenneth Haigh’s brilliant portrayal of the cocky northern businessman who beds as many women as he can whilst wife Zena Walker tries to hold the family together. It’s tough and gritty stuff ( the first time I can remember the word s**t being said on television and a character actually being seen vomiting onscreen). Fast cars, loose women and dodgy business deals galore as Joe Lampton’s life suffers as many downs as ups. You can tell it’s a 1970’s television drama by the stark clarity contrast of outdoor and indoor scenes.
I found this on YouTube, and it takes a bit of searching to get every episode, but it’s a highly recommended slice of drama when ITV were actually producing some radical programming.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
A couples daughter is kidnapped during a sleepover. A terrible script with some dreadful acting. Capable actress Holliday Grainger looks aghast as her two fellow main stars struggle to come to terms with attempting to act professionally. How the scriptwriter thought it was a good idea for her podcast detective character to be able to outwit a whole team of seasoned detectives (who seemingly haven’t a clue) is beyond parody. Not even watchable with brain in full switch-off mode. 1/5, only for Holliday Grainger who must feel terribly let down by her agent.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Just saw advertised on Sky Arts a new documentary series SPYMASTERS about the thriller writers of the fifties and sixties who 'redfined' the espionage genre. Sounds interesting.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 9,317MI6 Agent
I know I’m late to the party on this series but we’re finding it very good as police blood spatter analyst Dexter Morgan deals out his own form of justice to those escaping punishment. A good ensemble cast helps this along. Onto season 4 now.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,885Chief of Staff
Last One Laughing series 2…very funny, very childish 🤣
Sadly, after two episodes, I am somewhat confused as to the point of this Sky Arts documentary series called Spymasters: The Great Spy Writers. While I understand the producers want to demonstrate context and theme - mostly betrayal, both to your country and your friends - they do seem to concentrate on the actual historical instances of the time without reference to the writers. There is no indepth analysis of their work, only what frames their work, the influences on their psychological makeup rather than the effect the words and sentences have in generating a reader's interest. They also constantly reference films and filming persuasions rather than the literary one. As much as I like The Third Man, I would like to know what makes the novella so interesting and why it made such a great espionage movie, not simply telling me it is great and then showing me Orson Welles. They mentioned war films at length, and referenced Alistair MacLean (Where Eagles Dare, The Guns of Navarone) specifically because his war novels feature betrayals - the film clip from Navarone is entirely unrelated to MacLean's version, which shows very little familiarity with his books. They also completely omitted MacLean's great espionage novels. I will keep watching, but for me, the series is clumping along and no more.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,885Chief of Staff
Just one episode left of series 5 of Slow Horses….its not as good as the other 4 series but its still better than most shows out there…and Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) just keeps getting better 🤣
Spymasters clashes with Simon Schama's History of Britain repeats, which are brilliant, so I keep missing - though it's repeated on Saturday about 4pm I think, but they didn't promote that much so I missed that too.
Anyone watching The Capture? Utter hogwash but gripping all the same, all about deep fake and who gets to exploit it. This is its third series, I hadn't seen the others. This series is nearly over, though.
Slow Horses has never been shown on terrestrial TV, I've completely missed out on that.
Seasons 1-4, especially 4, are all excellent. It's hit or miss after that, and unfortunately the series finale in S8 does not stick the landing.
The good news is that the follow up series (DEXTER: NEW BLOOD and DEXTER: RESURRECTION) are both really good. Indeed, RESURRECTION is one of the strongest seasons of the entire franchise and sets up an intriguing hook for additional seasons.
Stared watching THE COPENHAGEN TEST which is a just-future set espionage tale about bio-hacking. Like all modern spy stuff, this quickly dove-tailed into a stupid high-kicking fight sequence that blows everyone's cover. The plot is quite intricate but the writers keep giving away the answers to the questions too quickly, so it lacks genuine intrigue. I already have my eyes on a prize, as it were, and am wondering if I may be right.
We loved season 4 and liking season 5 very much. What is good is that each season presents a different set of problems and obstacles for Dexter to surmount instead of just aping previous seasons.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Two youngish adult children arrive for the weekly Friday night dinner at their parents house. Set in north London the Goodmans are a Jewish family and each dinner is interrupted by creepy neighbour Jim. The two boys haven’t really grown up and prank each other constantly, the father is weird and mother tries to keep things together. Full of comedy situations this is a delightful series, even if some of the situations become absurdly unbelievable. Other characters turn up on a semi regular basis. Recommended.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
That's a shame then. Thanks for the review of the series so far, @chrisno1. I had forgotten to watch out for this series but perhaps I'm not missing much? If it was meant to be about spy fiction literature then that's what it should be about really and not something else entirely. I have noticed the tendency to use clips from film versions when talking about books. It's a pity too as there are never many programmes looking at historical spy fiction so to screw up a chance like this is criminal. It's reflective of the general dumbing down of the approach to books and culture I suppose. The lowest common denominator is what they're aiming for.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Comments
I've watched a bit of Season 1 of The Man From UNCLE on DVD after finding it last year in a charity shop. I only remember the colour episodes being shown as repeats on TV back when I was a youngster in the 1990s. I remember it being good so presumably the series eventually got into its stride. I imagine that David McCallum gets more to do as the series goes on. I seem to remember that McCallum was only meant to be the secondary character with Robert Vaughan as Solo being the main attraction. However, McCallum actually ended up getting more fan mail than Vaughan so his popularity probably meant they gave him more screen time as the series progressed. I can't be certain but that's my hunch.
I don't know about good, but Dad and me are watching BETRAYAL which is on ITV 1 - I guess it is probably on some kind of iPlayer. An MI5 operative risks losing his job and his wife and kids after following up a lead which may or may not suggest an imminent terrorist threat to the UK. The lead character is a selfcentred reckless individual who doesn't fit the mould of careful and considered planning which one expects from a security service operative. Spy stuff is mostly cloak and dagger, very technical and close knit, but this opens it out with guns and drug gangs and failed marriages and arguments with authority. Frankly, the narrative is a mess. If the authors are going to raise issues of mental well-being, they ought to plot the story appropriately and do thorough research on HR procedures as well as police investigations and public inquiry, because this tale seems to be founded in cloud-cuckoo land. The opening scene saw an informant shot dead and John Hughes [hero, nominal] killing the assailant with no attempt to only injure or restrain. He would certainly be put on enforced leave while his suitability for continued work was assessed; there would probably be an investigation - it is fortuitous nobody has come forward from the second victim's family and raised hell with their MP etc about the police running around shooting people. The marraige break down stuff is handled only partly to satisfaction. Hughes seems not to empathise with his wife's situation, is egotistical, childish and envious. I am amazed his wife stuck him for so long. He's a bit of a d~~k to be honest. The second episode gives the wider game away too early. It'll all end in tears one way or another.
Michael Palin's Number 27 with Joyce Carey and Nigel Planer, from the late 80s.
Do you want to do this, @chrisno1 or shall I? 😉
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Oh, very well then.
Palin introduced this late 1980s drama about a 90-year-old woman facing eviction from the house she has lived in all her life to make way for a new housing complex. Unfortunately thanks to a judicious selection of clips you could tell pretty much how the drama would pan out, including the final denouement. Jocye Carey played her age as the woman now living alone - she was the station buffet proprietess in Brief Encounter over 40 years earlier and was part of Noel Coward's stable of actors. Nigel Planer (Hippy Neil in The Young Ones) borrows the voice and put-upon demeanour of Dennis Waterman in Minder to play against type as a suited yuppy housing developer who has to arm twist the intransigent resident, and he is, answerable to Alun Armstrong - it's something to realise that most of these including Palin are still alive and still acting nearly 40 years on. Palin told a nice story about how he took Carey out to Bibendum restaurant in London after filming had finished where by chance she bumped into Rex Harrison, and they chatted away like old times; I guess Harrison would had an association with Coward via Blithe Spirit.
One actor I took time to recognise - he had a Michael Hordern-type persona - I realised was the smooth British envoy in the pre-credits of You Only Live Twice, the one who mediates between the angry sparring Americans and Russians (how times have changed, now they require a Mandelson smoothie to placate things between the US and the UK). The actor is Robin Bailey - that said, it seems a bit odd that he's meant to be Joyce Carey's 'much younger' brother given he's the chancellor of some high-ranking university; he'd have been long retired. The actor made a name playing Henry Higgins in the Australian version of My Fair Lady in the early 60s and went on to play appear as a regular in Crown Court.
Anyway, Number 27 is good stuff; well written solely by Palin. It's quite nostalgic even if even back then there is a sense of sorrow about the way the old UK is being sold down the river, and they didn't seem to blame it on the immigrants so much. It felt like a snapshot in time even though it isn't as obvious as the 60s and 70s.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
THE REVENGE CLUB (2025)
A six-part thriller series about 5 members of a divorce support group who band together to give revenge on their various spouses. Douglas Henshall and Martin Compston head the cast. In style it’s very much like Hustle with the group members acting as other people to make the plan work. Things don’t always run smooth and some fast thinking is needed to bring the plan back on track. It’s all quite fun until the deaths start to happen.
Up until the climax of the final episode it’s very good and then the “twist” ending is inserted and that just doesn’t work, especially as the scene immediately prior to the “reveal” then becomes senseless and wouldn’t have happened.
Everything doesn’t have to have a twist ending, and if it does have one, then it has to match up to what has happened previously, in this case it blatantly doesn’t work and leaves the viewer very much disappointed.
Another Man from UNCLE episode. Series 1 - this 1964 episode has a scene borrowed a year later for Thunderball - Napoleon Solo opens the door during a sexy liaison with a Spectre - I mean, THRUSH agent - only to come face to face with his own doppelgänger, who sprays him with some gas.
Ilya gets sidelined yet again. You were hoping for the moment when the fake Solo gives himself away, and these happen aplenty but nothing comes of it. It's down to the genuine Solo to free himself from captivity.
Not a bad episode really and the bad girl sex appeal is notched up, with a rather immoral payoff; the good gals in this series always seem a bit American, a bit 'girl next door', not quite Sandra Dee but...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast…on Netflix…three friends reunite after the death of an old classmate…but is she really dead..?…and what actually happened in the cabin in the woods all those years ago…? Excellent series.
With your recommendation I’ve put this on my watchlist 😁
You won’t regret it…it’s also very funny…we’ve just three episodes left…
The Tony Blair Story on Channel 4. Last episode tonight.
A good refresher course. Blair is interviewed and looks stricken for much of it, largely due to Iraq, for which he still refused to countenance any alternative decision.
It's odd - no interviewer has ever really nailed him on this. It shouldn't be that hard. Come on - why did he tthink there were weapons of mass destruction when there were none? Who misinformed him?
Given the way things panned out, what would he have done differently, even if he still opted to invade Iraq?
I noticed there were zero Tory talking heads. Nada. You have to try to recall that Ian Duncan Smith was leader of the opposition at the time because 'the Quiet Man' made no impact at the time, just bought into the Labour line because they didn't ant to get outflanked on defence. So in a way, there was no Opposition, save the likes of Corbyn who came across as level-headed - but how can you trust a leader who can't even arrange varifocals for himself?
George Bush came across as jovial, articulate and self-aware compared to the current incumbent but he really didn't come across like that at the time; the clips they used were flattering.
It's solipsistic to say this, but 9/11 really did mess things up for the West, in the long term it eroded trust in our politicians, because Blair was great up until that point imo. Labour got re-elected but only because the Tories were so useless and after that politics always felt skewered, like we were in thrall to other forces, and not just due to Murdoch and the press.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Small Prophets.
Written by Mackenzie Crook and starring Pearce Quigley. Set in and around Manchester…it centres around Michael Sleep (Quigley) who wants to find out what happened to his girlfriend who went missing several years ago…Michael Palin plays his father, who’s in an old folks home, and tells him about a mystical recipe he has in an old journal about growing homunculi - supernatural beings that are compelled to tell the truth…so he can ask what happened to his girlfriend.
This is superb…it will probably be the best thing to watch all year 😳
The BBC is in trouble over editing again...
An offensive word was left in during a delayed transmission of the BAFTAs and it has unsurprisingly kicked up an almighty fuss, made all the more awkward because the person, John Davidson, shouting the 'N' word suffers from Tourettes. The film I Swear which received a couple of gongs is based on his life experiences, so it's all a rather sad incident, whether the BBC messed up or not. A couple of commentators have come out and said they don't believe it is involuntary, which straddles a very difficult and potential line of intent and can bring forward misinformation about the syndrome. Having worked with someone who suffered from TS, it is phenomenally difficult to cope with, both for the sufferer and for those in the vicinity.
The BBC has not covered itself in glory by transmitting the involuntary gaff. You wonder who is reviewing things for transmission these days?
Newsnight was very fair debating the situation tonight. I would suggest social media probably isn't being fair.
A phenomenal missed opportunity. If I'd have been in the audience I'd have seized with both hands the excuse to shout out what a Scottish •••• Alan Cummings was, and how he should f** Emma Thompson up the a••••• and I wouldn't have got any blame for it, it would all be on the other bloke. Then baldly Prince Wills having to do a speech in this week of all weeks, I mean could there be a more open goal. It would be like an episode of Ricky Gervais' Extras.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Apols to any Scottish members who may have bene offended by what I posted last night, there as no malice involved, it was involuntary.
And to any Emma Thompson fans.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I wasn't aware that as well as speech Tourette's Syndrome also affected written text. You learn so much here at AJB. Although maybe I should've been aware of it given that I seem to have it regarding John Gardner and Never Send Flowers. 😉
MAN AT THE TOP - 2 Seasons 1970-1972
John Braine’s Joe Lampton transfers to the small screen after Laurence Harvey’s big screen outings in two movies. I remember seeing this on ITV as a teenager and being transfixed by Kenneth Haigh’s brilliant portrayal of the cocky northern businessman who beds as many women as he can whilst wife Zena Walker tries to hold the family together. It’s tough and gritty stuff ( the first time I can remember the word s**t being said on television and a character actually being seen vomiting onscreen). Fast cars, loose women and dodgy business deals galore as Joe Lampton’s life suffers as many downs as ups. You can tell it’s a 1970’s television drama by the stark clarity contrast of outdoor and indoor scenes.
I found this on YouTube, and it takes a bit of searching to get every episode, but it’s a highly recommended slice of drama when ITV were actually producing some radical programming.
THE STOLEN GIRL (2025) 5 Episodes ITVX
A couples daughter is kidnapped during a sleepover. A terrible script with some dreadful acting. Capable actress Holliday Grainger looks aghast as her two fellow main stars struggle to come to terms with attempting to act professionally. How the scriptwriter thought it was a good idea for her podcast detective character to be able to outwit a whole team of seasoned detectives (who seemingly haven’t a clue) is beyond parody. Not even watchable with brain in full switch-off mode. 1/5, only for Holliday Grainger who must feel terribly let down by her agent.
Just saw advertised on Sky Arts a new documentary series SPYMASTERS about the thriller writers of the fifties and sixties who 'redfined' the espionage genre. Sounds interesting.
Wow, that sounds fascinating and right up my street! Will have to keep an eye out for that as it sounds like must-watch television!
DEXTER Seasons 1-3
I know I’m late to the party on this series but we’re finding it very good as police blood spatter analyst Dexter Morgan deals out his own form of justice to those escaping punishment. A good ensemble cast helps this along. Onto season 4 now.
Last One Laughing series 2…very funny, very childish 🤣
Sadly, after two episodes, I am somewhat confused as to the point of this Sky Arts documentary series called Spymasters: The Great Spy Writers. While I understand the producers want to demonstrate context and theme - mostly betrayal, both to your country and your friends - they do seem to concentrate on the actual historical instances of the time without reference to the writers. There is no indepth analysis of their work, only what frames their work, the influences on their psychological makeup rather than the effect the words and sentences have in generating a reader's interest. They also constantly reference films and filming persuasions rather than the literary one. As much as I like The Third Man, I would like to know what makes the novella so interesting and why it made such a great espionage movie, not simply telling me it is great and then showing me Orson Welles. They mentioned war films at length, and referenced Alistair MacLean (Where Eagles Dare, The Guns of Navarone) specifically because his war novels feature betrayals - the film clip from Navarone is entirely unrelated to MacLean's version, which shows very little familiarity with his books. They also completely omitted MacLean's great espionage novels. I will keep watching, but for me, the series is clumping along and no more.
Just one episode left of series 5 of Slow Horses….its not as good as the other 4 series but its still better than most shows out there…and Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) just keeps getting better 🤣
Spymasters clashes with Simon Schama's History of Britain repeats, which are brilliant, so I keep missing - though it's repeated on Saturday about 4pm I think, but they didn't promote that much so I missed that too.
Anyone watching The Capture? Utter hogwash but gripping all the same, all about deep fake and who gets to exploit it. This is its third series, I hadn't seen the others. This series is nearly over, though.
Slow Horses has never been shown on terrestrial TV, I've completely missed out on that.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Seasons 1-4, especially 4, are all excellent. It's hit or miss after that, and unfortunately the series finale in S8 does not stick the landing.
The good news is that the follow up series (DEXTER: NEW BLOOD and DEXTER: RESURRECTION) are both really good. Indeed, RESURRECTION is one of the strongest seasons of the entire franchise and sets up an intriguing hook for additional seasons.
Stared watching THE COPENHAGEN TEST which is a just-future set espionage tale about bio-hacking. Like all modern spy stuff, this quickly dove-tailed into a stupid high-kicking fight sequence that blows everyone's cover. The plot is quite intricate but the writers keep giving away the answers to the questions too quickly, so it lacks genuine intrigue. I already have my eyes on a prize, as it were, and am wondering if I may be right.
We loved season 4 and liking season 5 very much. What is good is that each season presents a different set of problems and obstacles for Dexter to surmount instead of just aping previous seasons.
FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER - 6 Seasons 2011 - 2020
Two youngish adult children arrive for the weekly Friday night dinner at their parents house. Set in north London the Goodmans are a Jewish family and each dinner is interrupted by creepy neighbour Jim. The two boys haven’t really grown up and prank each other constantly, the father is weird and mother tries to keep things together. Full of comedy situations this is a delightful series, even if some of the situations become absurdly unbelievable. Other characters turn up on a semi regular basis. Recommended.
Hi, just Passing and had to add my enjoyment of Friday Night Dinner, very funny and a Bonus for Bond fans is the
Dad being played by the late Paul Ritter, ( Guy Haines from QOS ) Dexter is another brilliant show.
That's a shame then. Thanks for the review of the series so far, @chrisno1. I had forgotten to watch out for this series but perhaps I'm not missing much? If it was meant to be about spy fiction literature then that's what it should be about really and not something else entirely. I have noticed the tendency to use clips from film versions when talking about books. It's a pity too as there are never many programmes looking at historical spy fiction so to screw up a chance like this is criminal. It's reflective of the general dumbing down of the approach to books and culture I suppose. The lowest common denominator is what they're aiming for.