I will use this opportunity as shout-out for the the best Cold War spy series ever, The Sandbaggers (1978-80, ITV).
It had the nerve to use a genuinely nasty P.O.S. as the main character, but because he is totally committed to the good fight - saving Queen and country from the machinations of the KGB - we sympathize with him. Because he is middle management - in Ian Fleming terms, he's James Bond's supervisor but subordinate to M - the conflict he encounters is constant bureaucratic arguments with stupid, cost-conscious, and CYA-obsessed superiors; the action is (often underhanded) maneuvering around them in order to keep his agents from getting hung out to dry. And the agents, by contrast, are all likeable, capable young men, which only ups the stakes for the bureaucratic fights.
Notice how it uses a low production budget as a strength? Nearly all of the "action" is cynical office politicking in drab government offices, with just an occasional bit of traditional "action" happening to the agents around the world (i.e. non-descript location shoots around London) to remind us the stakes are life and death for our ersatz James Bonds. All it takes is a writer with the talent to fill a 45-minte runtime with suitably cynical dialogue and bad ideas from superiors.
Sadly the show's creator and writer died after finishing half the scripts for season 3. They finished it with scripts from other people, then cancelled the show because it was clear no one else could do it the way he did.
If you'd like to check it out, the episodes are on youtube and while s1e1 is ok, e2 is better and works as a standalone story.
I will use this opportunity as shout-out for the the best Cold War spy series ever, The Sandbaggers (1978-80, ITV).
It had the nerve to use a genuinely nasty P.O.S. as the main character, but because he is totally committed to the good fight - saving Queen and country from the machinations of the KGB - we sympathize with him. Because he is middle management - in Ian Fleming terms, he's James Bond's supervisor but subordinate to M - the conflict he encounters is constant bureaucratic arguments with stupid, cost-conscious, and CYA-obsessed superiors; the action is (often underhanded) maneuvering around them in order to keep his agents from getting hung out to dry. And the agents, by contrast, are all likeable, capable young men, which only ups the stakes for the bureaucratic fights.
Notice how it uses a low production budget as a strength? Nearly all of the "action" is cynical office politicking in drab government offices, with just an occasional bit of traditional "action" happening to the agents around the world (i.e. non-descript location shoots around London) to remind us the stakes are life and death for our ersatz James Bonds. All it takes is a writer with the talent to fill a 45-minte runtime with suitably cynical dialogue and bad ideas from superiors.
Sadly the show's creator and writer died after finishing half the scripts for season 3. They finished it with scripts from other people, then cancelled the show because it was clear no one else could do it the way he did.
If you'd like to check it out, the episodes are on youtube and while s1e1 is ok, e2 is better and works as a standalone story.
Excellent! I’ve somehow never heard of this, thank you for the shout-out 🙌🏼
I've just learned I was wrong - the various location shots around the world were all filmed around Leeds, not London. Still, a great show.
Great in-depth piece! Thanks for sharing!
I learnt a lot from this. It’s so easy for me to get swept in the plot and premise. Great piece!
Awesome, I’m glad! It’s so easy to get swept up, we all need a reminder sometimes.