I remember watching the first episode quite by accident - it was not something I would have normally chosen to watch, but within a few minutes of the start I was completely hooked. What a fantastic story, beautifully filmed and even now I am sure it would stand up against the best of the best thrillers shown since. Not long afterwards I saw the book on sale in WH Smiths and bought it. I had always previously found that to see a film or series and then to read the book is bitterly disappointing, even more so the other way round, but with the images of the characters from the series in my head, reading the Desmond Bagley book was an absolute delight from cover to cover. Even now, some 27 years later the book still gets read about once a year (though I almost know it word for word). Unfortunately my memories of the series are fading badly which is one reason I would be delighted should the BBC ever decide to release it on DVD. Surely it is only a matter of time. A highly recommended series to watch should you ever get the chance and a wonderful book to read.
12 Reviews
smashing Cold War drama
sharron-714 August 2005
This is one of the best examples of Cold War dramas. At the very least, it's got Vladek Sheybal, who is (should be) adored by all who are in their mid 40's. It was a cracking story, identical to the book (always a bonus) and has Stuart Wilson, who is gorgeous! Unusually for such a drama, it has a real human story at its heart, and it is wholly believable.
The story cracks along at a brilliant pace. Its setting is unusual, to say the least. I cannot remember another drama set in Iceland.
For those people who are my age, we grew up with Cold War dramas, even if it's just Harry Palmer.
I would love to have this on DVD. It's up there with any John Le Carre.
The story cracks along at a brilliant pace. Its setting is unusual, to say the least. I cannot remember another drama set in Iceland.
For those people who are my age, we grew up with Cold War dramas, even if it's just Harry Palmer.
I would love to have this on DVD. It's up there with any John Le Carre.
A retired British agent is recalled to service for a delivery in Iceland.
gordon-12513 March 2006
"Running Blind" is a wonderful movie. Its plot has several twists and turns, and the cast are more than good. I especially like the Icelandic female lead.
It concerns a retired British agent recalled to service for a delivery, and how, accompanied by his Icelandic girlfriend, he works at evading enemy pursuit.
This film's Icelandic location made it doubly interesting. Iceland is a beautiful country, but its landscape is very different from any other place I have seen, either in person or on film.
I hope that this film will be released in either VHS or DVD in the NTSC format, so that we in the United States can enjoy it once again.
It concerns a retired British agent recalled to service for a delivery, and how, accompanied by his Icelandic girlfriend, he works at evading enemy pursuit.
This film's Icelandic location made it doubly interesting. Iceland is a beautiful country, but its landscape is very different from any other place I have seen, either in person or on film.
I hope that this film will be released in either VHS or DVD in the NTSC format, so that we in the United States can enjoy it once again.
taut thriller
carolyn-8828 October 2004
It is now 2005 and I have clear memories of viewing this film on the BBC when it was originally broadcast. By definition that means it must have some special quality. Running Blind is a taut thriller,with a strong cast, and beautifully shot in Iceland (the scenery is as much a character as the main participants). A spy who thinks he has retired is asked to do a simple delivery job - but there is no such thing as a simple job in the world of espionage. A little dated perhaps - but as an example of cold-war double dealing and the treachery which is the life of a spook, it is highly recommended. I'd like to put in a plea for its release on video/DVD too.
Lavishly filmed Icelandic thriller
nc-359 October 2006
I had already read and enjoyed Desmond Bagley's thriller when this was screened and I feared a TV mini-series would not be able to do it justice. I was very pleasantly surprised: it was an excellent series, beautifully filmed in some of the most breathtaking scenery on earth and the thrill-quotient was admirably fulfilled. I therefore find it mystifying why it has apparently sunk without trace since its original BBC transmission - I have not even been aware of satellite and cable re-runs. Surely if it still exists it deserves dusting down and releasing on DVD? It was vastly superior to a lot of stuff that is currently commercially available!
1979 Thriller
crumpytv5 December 2022
I downloaded this from YouTube and the quality is not the best.
It runs at 2 hours, but was originally screened in 3 episodes and there are some references made to events that I think have been edited out for some reason.
Anyway, for the time (1979) it is good.
I can recall at the time it was groundbreaking for the location filming in Iceland and there is a lot of scenery, although to be honest it is pretty barren and stark.
The lead character is not particularly likeable, which is probably how he was meant to be portrayed. He was not in a very likeable line of work.
It is a good fast paced adventure with not much in the way of irrelevant sub-plots.
Adapted from the book by Desmond Bagley.
It runs at 2 hours, but was originally screened in 3 episodes and there are some references made to events that I think have been edited out for some reason.
Anyway, for the time (1979) it is good.
I can recall at the time it was groundbreaking for the location filming in Iceland and there is a lot of scenery, although to be honest it is pretty barren and stark.
The lead character is not particularly likeable, which is probably how he was meant to be portrayed. He was not in a very likeable line of work.
It is a good fast paced adventure with not much in the way of irrelevant sub-plots.
Adapted from the book by Desmond Bagley.
Very good thriller based in Iceland
cookrp6 November 2001
I can remember seeing this film back in the late 1970's. It has always stuck in my mind. The film is a little dated now but still in its own right is a very good thriller. A "retired" British agent is brought back into service for one more "simple" mission. Very quickly this simple task becomes more complex and dangerous than planned. It's not long before the Agent is forced to flee across the interior of Iceland in a Land Rover. It has a good story with an incredible setting, Iceland. This film is worth watching for the scenery alone. The fact that it has a good story makes it a classic. Please can it be released on DVD?
Running Blind
CinemaSerf5 June 2023
I saw this only very recently again, after more than forty years since it was screened in the UK by the BBC. It is based on the eponymous Desmond Bagley thriller and features Stuart Wilson as "Alan Stewart", co-opted (reluctantly) by former boss "Slade" (George Sewell) to carry out the simple delivery of a package to a character in Iceland. Yeah, right - well that was what was supposed to happen, but before long he is on the run from former Bond villain Vladek Sheybal ("Kennikin"). Originally spread over three episodes, "Stewart" must keep ahead of his pursuing nemesis, discover just what "Slade" is up to, and - of course - keep himself and the young "Elin" (Ragnheiõur Steindórsdóttir) from being captured and maybe worse. The pacing is good, the sense of peril and the suspense build well across the episodes and pretty much right until the end we are unsure of just what exactly is going on... The BBC made some wonderful dramas in the 1970s; many to much broader acclaim than this one - but this, though certainly dated, very much emphasises a quality of production and acting that still makes for an intriguing thriller to watch. The volcanic scenery lends greatly to the look of the film, too.
One of the best thriller series ever made
tonythekingfisher6 February 2023
The BBC have made several brilliant mini series and Edge of Darkness may be the finest of all, but Running Blind is very close behind.
Based on Desmond Bagley's book, the series is tense, beautifully acted and the stunning Icelandic scenery forms a magnificent backdrop. It's also pretty faithful to the book.
The drama is very much set in its time, which is the Cold War. What seemed initially to be a simple job for retired spy Alan Stewart of delivering a parcel for his former secret service boss, played by George Sewell, soon morphs into a life of death chase across the Icelandic landscape. The villain is Kennikin, Stewart's old nemesis and a man with a serious grudge against: hardly surprising when you find out what Stewart did to him.
There are unexpected twists and betrayals in the plot and it keeps you riveted until the end.
Stuart Wilson plays the hard-bitten ex spy superbly and his Icelandic girlfriend is portrayed by the lovely Ragnheiður Steindórsdóttir.
Hugely recommended. Why it has never been repeated baffles me.
Based on Desmond Bagley's book, the series is tense, beautifully acted and the stunning Icelandic scenery forms a magnificent backdrop. It's also pretty faithful to the book.
The drama is very much set in its time, which is the Cold War. What seemed initially to be a simple job for retired spy Alan Stewart of delivering a parcel for his former secret service boss, played by George Sewell, soon morphs into a life of death chase across the Icelandic landscape. The villain is Kennikin, Stewart's old nemesis and a man with a serious grudge against: hardly surprising when you find out what Stewart did to him.
There are unexpected twists and betrayals in the plot and it keeps you riveted until the end.
Stuart Wilson plays the hard-bitten ex spy superbly and his Icelandic girlfriend is portrayed by the lovely Ragnheiður Steindórsdóttir.
Hugely recommended. Why it has never been repeated baffles me.
Cold War spies in unintentional comedy set in Iceland
adrianovasconcelos19 May 2023
This TV production's best things are a wonderful Land Rover jeep that goes over all manner of landscape in Iceland until some CIA marksman punctures its front left tire; and lovely Ragnheiður Steindórsdóttir.
That the aim is to stop British agent Stuart Wilson à la James Bond is only briefly baffling (why bring the CIA to Iceland to ice an MI 5 operative?) because by then even a dimwit sees that this story makes no sense at all, that these special agents, spies, gadget couriers et al amount to the most useless motley assortment any taxpayer unwittingly financing these operations can imagine.
There is one exception: Ragnheiður Steindórsdóttir. She amounts to much more than Stuart Wilson's pretty and curvaceous girlfriend - she changes tires, disobeys him, wants no one shot dead, but in the end fires off her rifle until nothing moves in a house full of Russian agents.
RUNNING BLIND is a most inappropriate title: Wilson has a clear sight of everything on Iceland's lunar-like flat expanses, and he has the telescopic sights and cross hairs to improve his vision when he needs it. Plus he can spot George Sewell as the rotten egg the moment the latter tries to have him killed by the first of many useless hitmen in this spy and counterspy saga.
I found myself laughing at all the tomato sauce passing for bleeding wounds, poor Ragnheiður getting shot in the arm and leg and still soldiering on, Wilson shot in the hand and still firing off his rifle, poor Kennekin sexually incapacitated, and planes and helicopters announcing the enemy's presence.
This unintentional comedy wastes you 2 priceless hours: a proper MacGuffin through and through, as Hitch would put it.
That the aim is to stop British agent Stuart Wilson à la James Bond is only briefly baffling (why bring the CIA to Iceland to ice an MI 5 operative?) because by then even a dimwit sees that this story makes no sense at all, that these special agents, spies, gadget couriers et al amount to the most useless motley assortment any taxpayer unwittingly financing these operations can imagine.
There is one exception: Ragnheiður Steindórsdóttir. She amounts to much more than Stuart Wilson's pretty and curvaceous girlfriend - she changes tires, disobeys him, wants no one shot dead, but in the end fires off her rifle until nothing moves in a house full of Russian agents.
RUNNING BLIND is a most inappropriate title: Wilson has a clear sight of everything on Iceland's lunar-like flat expanses, and he has the telescopic sights and cross hairs to improve his vision when he needs it. Plus he can spot George Sewell as the rotten egg the moment the latter tries to have him killed by the first of many useless hitmen in this spy and counterspy saga.
I found myself laughing at all the tomato sauce passing for bleeding wounds, poor Ragnheiður getting shot in the arm and leg and still soldiering on, Wilson shot in the hand and still firing off his rifle, poor Kennekin sexually incapacitated, and planes and helicopters announcing the enemy's presence.
This unintentional comedy wastes you 2 priceless hours: a proper MacGuffin through and through, as Hitch would put it.
True to the book
thomaswraae27 November 2019
First class thriller
hazells51822 December 2002
I first saw this film coming up on WETA, a US PBS station in the mid '80's and couldn't wait as the book had been my absolute favourite from the early '70's. I was not disappointed.
Filmed entirely on location in Iceland, this BBC Scotland production, released January 1979, is a first class action adventure.
Former British agent Alan Stewart is blackmailed by his former boss Slade into delivering a package. It seems a simple messenger boy's job but things soon take a dramatic turn, and Stewart finds himself being chased across the ruggedly beautiful volcanic landscape, pursued by his nemesis, Kennikin (character actor Vladek Sheybal).
Excellent characterisation and performance by versatile and under-rated actor Stuart Wilson (1994 DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, several PRIME SUSPECTS and the 1998 MASK OF ZORRO ) as Alan Stewart, as well as 3 former U.F.O. series cast members (Sewell/Bishop/Sheybal) this is a taut and well told drama. Wilson's hairstyle and '70's tight flares are a bit dated, but Icelandic actress Heida Steindorrsdottir is flawless as Stewart's girlfriend, in what appears to be her only acting role to date.
There is strangely no concession to subtitling for the Russian and Icelandic dialogue nor for the written signs and one revealing newspaper article but these are minimal. The actors also seem to be doing most of their own stunts.
Based on the novel by Desmond Bagley, RUNNING BLIND has proved by far the truest adaptation of many of Bagley's stories. Five have been done - 3 are rubbish and the 4th, MACKINTOSH MAN, is a muddled Hollywood adaptation of THE FREEDOM TRAP which should have been far better than it was, given the likes of Paul Newman/James Mason, and John Huston directing. Filmed earlier (1973) MACKINTOSH MAN is incidentally the effective sequel to the story of Slade from RUNNING BLIND, where Sewell replaces veteran actor Ian Bannen as Slade.
Overall vote: 9 out of 10. This is a great adventure story and should be released on VHS/DVD. Please, BBC ??
Filmed entirely on location in Iceland, this BBC Scotland production, released January 1979, is a first class action adventure.
Former British agent Alan Stewart is blackmailed by his former boss Slade into delivering a package. It seems a simple messenger boy's job but things soon take a dramatic turn, and Stewart finds himself being chased across the ruggedly beautiful volcanic landscape, pursued by his nemesis, Kennikin (character actor Vladek Sheybal).
Excellent characterisation and performance by versatile and under-rated actor Stuart Wilson (1994 DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, several PRIME SUSPECTS and the 1998 MASK OF ZORRO ) as Alan Stewart, as well as 3 former U.F.O. series cast members (Sewell/Bishop/Sheybal) this is a taut and well told drama. Wilson's hairstyle and '70's tight flares are a bit dated, but Icelandic actress Heida Steindorrsdottir is flawless as Stewart's girlfriend, in what appears to be her only acting role to date.
There is strangely no concession to subtitling for the Russian and Icelandic dialogue nor for the written signs and one revealing newspaper article but these are minimal. The actors also seem to be doing most of their own stunts.
Based on the novel by Desmond Bagley, RUNNING BLIND has proved by far the truest adaptation of many of Bagley's stories. Five have been done - 3 are rubbish and the 4th, MACKINTOSH MAN, is a muddled Hollywood adaptation of THE FREEDOM TRAP which should have been far better than it was, given the likes of Paul Newman/James Mason, and John Huston directing. Filmed earlier (1973) MACKINTOSH MAN is incidentally the effective sequel to the story of Slade from RUNNING BLIND, where Sewell replaces veteran actor Ian Bannen as Slade.
Overall vote: 9 out of 10. This is a great adventure story and should be released on VHS/DVD. Please, BBC ??
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
