London Spy: new BBC2 spy thriller

[Lurcio]

Nothing says 'autumnal drama' better than a bit of 'man-on-man' action

 

[Reno]

Nothing says 'autumnal drama' better than a bit of 'man-on-man' action

I have autumnal drama all year round !

 

[Spymaster]

Excellent.

Shame it's only 5 episodes.

 

[trabuquera]

another thing nagging away at me - if the Powers That Be want to frame our hero for the murder, then how come he gets 'interrogated' ... and then LET GO? Bail surely not that easy to get for people accused of grisly dungeon killings?

 

[JimW]

another thing nagging away at me - if the Powers That Be want to frame our hero for the murder, then how come he gets 'interrogated' ... and then LET GO? Bail surely not that easy to get for people accused of grisly dungeon killings?

They seemed to have framed the accusation as some sort of negligence don't they? Him too gone to open the trunk when he was supposed to rather than being deliberate. Still leaves us with why do it that way if I haven't just got it round my neck (non-auto-erotically of course).

 

[oneunder]

This and Fargo made a shit evening pretty good eh . Creepy.

 

[editor]

I think it's great so far.

 

[porp]

Ah you see for me it got (very slightly) mannered and over the top in that take. Ben W was brilliant but it smacked a bit of "look at me, here. Acting. Still Acting. Look at my drama skillz".
It's only about 5% too slow for my taste, it does work, conjures a great spell. Mark Gatiss made my skin crawl (because of his characterisation obvs.)

I'd be after an anonymous HIV retest at some other facility asap in our man's place - wouldn't it be the ultimate mindgame if he'd not been positive after all and the doc was also working for the men in the shadows?

Maybe I'm too mannered and OTT myself, but I thought that was a great scene.He comes to a a realisation that his blood is no longer just, well, his blood, but now something strange and bearing risk. Very moving, I thought. And there was no need to stress or even mention the 2dots in the retest - it had that sickening feeling of distanced inevitability that can happen in these kind of situations.

 

[Dan U]

All gone a bit Adam Curtis now

Like it.

 

[JimW]

I didn't like the bit with the escort (couldn't believe in it) and the big secret seemed implausible too but still on board.

 

[Spymaster]

The bit with the escort annoyed me. What was the deal with making him go to the hotel and get into the bath?

 

[JimW]

The bit with the escort annoyed me. What was the deal with making him go to the hotel and get into the bath?

Then he was wading in the sea later. The writer is married to a dry cleaner.

 

[susie12]

I was a bit disappointed by the McGuffin - a lie detector? Really?

 

[Santino]

The bit with the escort annoyed me. What was the deal with making him go to the hotel and get into the bath?

To ruin any listening devices he may have been carrying.

 

[Spymaster]

To ruin any listening devices he may have been carrying.

He could have just taken them off.

 

[JimW]

To ruin any listening devices he may have been carrying.

That makes sense.

 

[peterkro]

He could have just taken them off.

Or even they could have been above his chest (he was only immersed to nipple level).Any spook worth the title could come up with a listening device which would survive a quick dip.

 

[JimW]

Or even they could have been above his chest (he was only immersed to nipple level).Any spook worth the title could come up with a listening device which would survive a quick dip.

Nipple-cam!

 

[DrRingDing]

Good but yea, very insensitive to the family of that bloke killed in a bathtub.

 

[DrRingDing]

Lie detector is fairly naff.

Building a proper quantum computer to crack the worlds encryption would be more believable.

 

[ringo]

Loved Scottie's Jensen CV8

 

[DaveCinzano]

Overall I like it, in particular how it goes with the impressionistic, how it is more interested in seeing with cones instead of rods - in contrast, say, to the straightforward ersatz Tinker, Tailorisms of The Game - and it has mostly brought to mind for me the later, more bizarre elements of Edge Of Darkness than that series' earlier, nuts-and-bolts secret conspiracy elements.

But E4's 'get the gang together' bit, and the Macguffin, just felt distracting and out of place. The escort I didn't mind so much.

 

[Larry O'Hara]

Slightly surprised (though maybe I shouldn't be...) at how little space (two pages) devoted to this show here, was expecting many more. Last week I thought the Lie Detector McGuffin a bit weak, but the way it was used to condemn Alex superb here. I am following this (when I barely watch TV aside from Everton and the odd documentary/Newsnight to see the ex-Guardianista editor flush it down the toilet) because I am knee deep in updating my research on the Gareth Williams case with which I cannot but help compare this frequently. Given how shit the BBC is generally this is really good, and photography of London fantastic. I think the show was a bit unfair on the Jackie Sebire and Fiona Wilcox equivalents and I cannot see Gareth's family liking it at all...I know it is not as such a documentary on Williams but that story is the essential core of this show, really. Thought the end slightly implausible but empowering too, so certainly fair enough. A qualified 8/10 from me!

 

[editor]

Yep. I enjoyed that. Nicely filmed, some magnificent acting and a pretty compelling plot. I'm going to miss it next Monday night.

 

[zoooo]

I made the slight mistake of only watching the final episode.
Maybe they'll repeat it...

Nothing says 'autumnal drama' better than a bit of 'man-on-man' action

I'm extra sad I missed it now.

 

[Spymaster]

Maybe they'll repeat it...

They're all on iPlayer but you'll have to be quick because episode 1 expires tomorrow.

 

[RubyBlue]

.

 

[trabuquera]

Nah, sorry - it all went to pieces in the end, for me. Just sort of disintegrated. IMHO it should have been a slightly less self indulgent 4 x 60 mins. But beautifully, beautifully filmed, some top-drawer acting and intriguingly original in many ways.

 

[zoooo]

They're all on iPlayer but you'll have to be quick because episode 1 expires tomorrow.

Argh. Thanks!

 

[ringo]

Nah, sorry - it all went to pieces in the end, for me. Just sort of disintegrated. IME it should have been a slightly less self indulgent 4 x 60 mins. But beautifully, beautifully filmed, some top-drawer acting and intriguingly original in many ways.

Yep, I thought the end was a bit of a mess, trying to be a bit too clever. Nice to see something well made and trying to be clever instead of formulaic though, loved it.