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gervase_fenThe Network 40% off sale a few weeks ago prompted me to delve into the shelves of previous purchases -- along with a run of late night shifts which meant that I wouldn't be able to cuddle up on the sofa next to Mrs Fen for our usual evening viewing.
To whit, the pilot, two short series, and the pilot for an aborted spin-off from Mister Palfrey of Westminster, which records show that I've owned since 2010. Last time I picked up this particular DVD set I'd made it as far as the pilot and the first two episodes of the first series, one house move and one DVD player upgrade ago. Watching the series through it seems to me as if this is the Thames drama department's reaction to the BBC's recent success with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People. Alec McCowen's Palfrey is a crisper, more genial, more mannered spymaster than Sir Alec, with the same affinity for upmarket second hand bookshops in Chelsea and Kensington. Clive Wood, dialling down all the charm he will display in Press Gang and The Bill, is a blunt tool equivalent to Michael Jayston's Peter Guillam. Among the many pleasures the set offers is extensive location recording on OB video of Waterloo and the South Bank, looking as I remember it from my earliest train excursions to London (the Venetian blind timetable display, the W H Smith kiosk.) Briony McRoberts as Palfrey's secretary Caroline is perfectly Sloane-y, forever trying out new recipes on potential (and unseen) suitors. "Beef Bourguignon is for poppets", she declares at one point, a line of dialogue never heard before or since on prime time ITV.
The scripts tend to be tight and demand attention - "Music of a Dead Prophet" alone references Keesing's Contemporary Archives, includes two minutes or so of a history lecture on the Middle East (itself citing work by John Keegan), pivots on the distinction between Zoroaster and Zarathustra, and manages to persuade the viewer that brainwashing by classical music might actually be plausible (the director, The Macra Terror's John Davies, does have form for this sort of thing,)
The standout episode of the series for me is "Return to Sender", which asks -- what would the intelligence service have done if Philby had tried to defect back to the UK ? The Philby analogue is played by Leslie Philips who manages to be louche, charming and contemptible all at the same time. It's a joy to watch McCowen and Philips sparring with each other, Palfrey the velvet glove anead of Blair's iron fist.
To whit, the pilot, two short series, and the pilot for an aborted spin-off from Mister Palfrey of Westminster, which records show that I've owned since 2010. Last time I picked up this particular DVD set I'd made it as far as the pilot and the first two episodes of the first series, one house move and one DVD player upgrade ago. Watching the series through it seems to me as if this is the Thames drama department's reaction to the BBC's recent success with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People. Alec McCowen's Palfrey is a crisper, more genial, more mannered spymaster than Sir Alec, with the same affinity for upmarket second hand bookshops in Chelsea and Kensington. Clive Wood, dialling down all the charm he will display in Press Gang and The Bill, is a blunt tool equivalent to Michael Jayston's Peter Guillam. Among the many pleasures the set offers is extensive location recording on OB video of Waterloo and the South Bank, looking as I remember it from my earliest train excursions to London (the Venetian blind timetable display, the W H Smith kiosk.) Briony McRoberts as Palfrey's secretary Caroline is perfectly Sloane-y, forever trying out new recipes on potential (and unseen) suitors. "Beef Bourguignon is for poppets", she declares at one point, a line of dialogue never heard before or since on prime time ITV.
The scripts tend to be tight and demand attention - "Music of a Dead Prophet" alone references Keesing's Contemporary Archives, includes two minutes or so of a history lecture on the Middle East (itself citing work by John Keegan), pivots on the distinction between Zoroaster and Zarathustra, and manages to persuade the viewer that brainwashing by classical music might actually be plausible (the director, The Macra Terror's John Davies, does have form for this sort of thing,)
The standout episode of the series for me is "Return to Sender", which asks -- what would the intelligence service have done if Philby had tried to defect back to the UK ? The Philby analogue is played by Leslie Philips who manages to be louche, charming and contemptible all at the same time. It's a joy to watch McCowen and Philips sparring with each other, Palfrey the velvet glove anead of Blair's iron fist.
