The Secret Agent: Episode 1 (1992)

 

While I’ve never seen this PC project before, I have seen the story in another adaptation.  Based on a Joseph Conrad novel, The Secret Agent was made into a movie in 1996, with one of the supporting roles played by a young Christian Bale.    This work, though, is a miniseries, and IMDb was actually rather tight-lipped on how many of the episodes PC appears in.  It’s only three parts, so I’ll watch the whole thing, but I can’t say whether or not you’ll see me reviewing any more installments of it.

 

The secret agent in question is Mr. Verloc, a member of an anarchist cell in Victorian London.  Unbeknownst to his fellow revolutionaries, however, Verloc is an agent provocateur for a foreign embassy.  The miniseries kicks off with him getting dressed down for shirking his duties; the time has come, he is informed, to act.

 

This decree comes from PC’s Mr. Vladimir, one of the higher-ups at the embassy.  He feels the British government has grown too lax in its policing of terrorism, and something explosive (literally) is needed to shake them out of their complacency.  He’s utterly unimpressed with what he’s seen from Verloc so far, and he makes it clear that full compliance is required.

 

Although his ultimate goal appears to be combating terrorism, Mr. Vladimir isn’t what you’d call a warm and cuddly character.    Obviously, his methods allow for wide collateral damage, and he lets Verloc know that his continued safety depends on this operation’s success.  Plus, one can’t overlook his soul patch o’ evil.  Clearly a man not to be trusted.

 

Also appearing in The Secret Agent (starring in it, in fact) is David Suchet, probably best recognized for playing the lead in Masterpiece’s Poirot series.    Actually, this miniseries was made just a couple years after PC guest-starred on Poirot – gotta love the teeny tiny British acting community.

 

Accent Watch

 

RP.  It’s funny – it doesn’t sound particularly RP (lots of Scottish vowels bleeding through,) but it seems very RP.  Very crisp and clipped.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Maybe.  It’s a decent yarn, and it’s interesting to see a story about terrorism that’s so far removed from the current climate.

 

PC-wise – I think so.  It’s a good performance – PC is fantastically cold, and does well to seem intimidating against the older, larger Suchet.

 

Warnings

 

Thematic elements, a little sexual content, and talk of seditious activities.