SANDBAGGERS (tv show of film quality)
m.r.leeper
commented to me that he had seen part of a pretty good war film on
Canadian TV the previous day (Sunday). It had been about prisoners of
war trying to escape from Germany. He had only seen part and he wanted
to know if I could tell him something about the film. The first thing
I told him was that it was on every week. "The same film?" No, it
isn't a theatrical film at all. It was a British TV series called
COLDITZ. If it seemed good enough to be a theatrical film it was
because British TV is often very good. Some series are good enough
that most episodes measure well against films made in the same genre.
I saw the first episode of British series called SANDBAGGERS, about
British intelligence. A local PBS station (Channel 21, New York)
picked it up and is showing it. I expected to watch one episode, but
to decide it was not that good. The first hour has to rank as one of
the best spy films I have seen. "First Principles" concerned a request
from Norwegian intelligence to have British intelligence rescue a
Norwegian spy plane that crashed just inside the Russian border.
British intelligence refuses so the Norwegians do some economic
arm-twisting. That is the first 10 minutes of the story, I won't tell
more, but it gives you the feel that we are not talking about a James
Bond sort of spy story. If anything it is closer to LeCarre or
Deighton. In fact, I would say I like it moves a little better than
LeCarre does, but without sacrificing the feel of authenticity. If you
like spy films, watch to see if your local PBS station carries
SANDBAGGERS.
Mark Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper