The One Game (1988) (TV)

Director:

Mike Vardy

Writers:

Tony Benet (concept)
John Brown (writer)

Release Date:

4 June 1988 (UK)

Genre:

Thriller

Cast

Gillian Andrews	...	Lady In Church
Tomasz Borkowy	...	Polish Student (as Tomeg Bork)
Chris Chering	...	Punk 1
Terry Coates	...	Servant
Kevin Corley	...	Bus Driver
James Coyle	...	Beggar
Stephen Dillane	...	Nicolas Thorne
David English	...	Chat Show Host
Paul Farla	...	Taxi Driver
Sarah-Jane Fenton	...	Graphics Artist
Elaine Ford	...	Girl of White Dress
Ian Halcrow	...	Punk 2
Pippa Haywood	...	Jenny Thorne
Derek Hockridge	...	Financial Backer 1
Peter Howell	...	Professor
Andrew Keir	...	Lord Maine
Symond Lawes	...	Punk 3
Ralph Lawton	...	King
Patrick Malahide	...	Magnus
David Mallinson	...	Tom Darke
Choy-Ling Man	...	Student
Kate McKenzie	...	Fay
Tim Meats	...	Vicar
Jared Morgan	...	Waiter
Alex Norton	...	Conjuror
Ann Pennington	...	Dr. Vogler
Raad Rawi	...	Dr. Kashfi
Peter Sadler	...	Guard
Rick Stone	...	Hacker
John Wast	...	Financial Backer 2
Gavin Watson	...	Punk 4

Runtime:

50 min (4 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Central Independent Television

A lost gem of a miniseries

Of course, there's no proof that the writers of the Michael Douglas film "The Game" ever saw this miniseries, (unlikely, as it was only ever shown once in a small region of the UK) but the two are sufficiently similar you can get a feel for what you're in for when you watch the One Game by comparing. The One Game, of course, came 10 years earlier, on a fraction of the budget, and seemingly disappeared having never been rerun since its original broadcast. As such it's a bit of a "lost gem" of a miniseries.

Like "The Game", it centers around a main character who is trapped in a "reality game", where there are no rules, only seemingly lethal obstacles, and not much of a hint of what the final prize, or the motivation for playing (beyond survival), really is. The two main stars turn in good performances: Stephen Dillane appears in 2004's "Arthur" in the role of Merlin, Patrick Malahide has been in a load of things including "The Long Kiss Goodnight". The twists and turns in the plot keep you guessing till the very last scene; like "The Game" you never really know what side any of the "players" are on, or how the puzzles come together, but unlike "The Game" the payoff actually makes a lot more sense, with a lot fewer plot holes having been reached along the way.

OK, it's not all good: like any cult film, particularly of that era, there's a fair amount of cheese, and some definite B-movie acting from the B-characters, such as Thorne's girlfriend, and his business partner, and an awful comic-book style "recap" before each of the 4 episodes. The sub-plot around Thorne's business doesn't quite work except in the context of exposition, which could have been done better another way. It shows its age with the computer puzzles, but then that's 1988: if you're into cult TV you'd just as easy eat all of that up and enjoy it.

On the whole though it's an enjoyable watch that deserves more attention than it got, and the good news is, it's finally been released on DVD, so maybe a few more people will get to see it now. For those interested, it's released by Contender under their Kult-TV label and can be ordered online