Simply Perfect

Just perfect...

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The BBC is well known for its attention to detail in its drama, and in the main The Secret Agent was also suitably well detailed. Sadly, this attention to detail did not extend to the railway scenes.I understand that the railway scenes were filmed at the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway in Scotland - close to the main filming location of the series. The setting of the drama is in the late 19th century and yet in all railway scenes inappropriate rolling stock was employed. The locomotive used in all the filming could clearly be seen to be 61272. This locomotive was not built until 1928 - over 30 years after the date setting of The Secret Agent. The number on the locomotive did not exist until the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948. The locomotive's tender showed the British Railways "lion & wheel" logo - also post 1948. The coaching stock was part of the Bo'ness & Kinneil's own Caledonian Railway carriages. Indeed, the carriages are stencilled CR. The carriages are also out of period, as these were not built until 1923! I doubt the Caledonian Railways carriages would have been seen on London to Southampton trains.I am disappointed with such poor attention to detail from a BBC production

The first episode does start out rather slow and it has a lighthearted feel to it. Seeing Toby Jones in this type of role for the first time takes a bit of time to get use to ,but He does come through and gives a great performance. A real stand out performance from Vicky McClure and the rest of the cast give a good performance too. By episode 2 it starts to get dark and much more enjoyable to watch.Episode 3 is really good ,it takes some really dark twists and holds your interest .The music really adds to the feel of it all, as does the great location scenes. I thought it well acted and produced, it leaves you wanting more.

This has only the vaguest connection to the book. The names are the same, just about everything else has been modified out of all recognition. Coincidentally I read the book a few weeks ago. It's a subtle & quite unnerving book, a black comedy really, with no heroes, just people enmeshed in a fallen world of deceit & corruption.There's very little dialogue, until near the end, when it all bursts like a suppurating boil. This obviously makes it difficult to adapt, but is no excuse for wholesale butchery; frankly if that's the best the adaptor can do he'd best just leave it. The acting was OK, but there was some poor casting. Overall a waste of everyone's time.

(Contains spoiler of first episode.!!)Toby Jones!! Excellent mystery era! Nice looking women! Spies and bowler hats! Sounds great huh? Well not for the first episode.So you're introduced to the life of a man who is a spy. His wife, her mother. an autistic young man. and the spy's contact. You're told that he is being basically blackmailed by his boss to not just be a spy that delivers info, but to cause commotion by planting a bomb in a public place. If he does not, he will be a target for anyone who would want the spies gone. By the will of his boss, publicly showing that He is on Their payroll...That's it. That's about the extent of interesting things. after this moment there is a odd mix of unexplained emotional outbursts, dull conversations, bickering between contacts, weird random naked photography in the shop, the mother moves out and the autistic boy is basically the only logical person in it.I had to drink two cups of coffee and entertain myself on my phone just to even hear this episode out.It's easy to point the finger and say its simply beyond me, its too deep or something. But the thing is, these kind of movies (preferrably far from the spoon-feeding American touch) is my kind of thing. But this here....? Verly poorly constructed. Its like it copied famous series and scenes, but didn't quite understand and grasp the reasoning behind their successes.