THE SANDBAGGERS "A Proper Function of Government" 1978
The SANDBAGGERS was a UK series set during the Cold War. The series follows a small unit of the SIS, which deals with various intelligence gathering problems. (Or eliminating said problems) The cast includes Roy Marsden, Ray Lonnen, David Glyder, Liz Bennett, Richard Vernon, Bob Sherman and Jerome Willis. The series ran for 20 episodes between 1978 and 1980.This is the second episode of the production run.
Roy Marsden is in charge of a covert action section of the UK Secret Service, the SIS.
The lead man at Vienna station, reports that a top UK science type has been sighted in town. Alarm bells go off as the scientist, Laurence Payne, is thought to be in Scotland on a fishing holiday. Is it a possible defection? Marsden reports up the chain of command about Payne.
The Government types refuse to believe that Payne could be defecting. "He plays golf with the Prime Minister." and such is their response. Marsden now finds out that there is also a top Soviet agent in Vienna. The Soviet is known as an expert in helping defectors make it into the Eastern Bloc.
While all this is going on, there is an incident in East Africa. A tin pot dictator has killed a British journalist and claimed afterwards that he was a spy for the UK. The dictator is in Marsden's bad books for an incident years before. The dictator was responsible for the murder of a SIS man.
Marsden asks for permission to send some men to collect the scientist. At the same time, he asks for an okay to eliminate the East African swine. Permission is granted on the first, but the second request is refused. The PM's office wants nothing to do with assassination etc.
Marsden points out that he has permission to rub out the science type, Payne, if needed. His defection could bring down the Government and make the PM look bad Marsden is told. But they are willing to ignore the East African swine killing UK citizens. Marsden is annoyed with the ruling, but he follows orders. The Vienna job goes off without a hitch and Payne is returned for a "forced retirement".
This is an excellent bit of television. The Brits seem able to produce these types of series and films better than anyone else. The stories are never over the top, and the violence is usually implied, rather than shown. Good writing and top acting abound here. The writer, Ian Mackintosh, was a former officer in the Royal Navy.
Michael Ferguson again directs. Ferguson worked on series like, DR WHO, Z-CARS, COLDITZ and THE BILL.
The SANDBAGGERS was a UK series set during the Cold War. The series follows a small unit of the SIS, which deals with various intelligence gathering problems. (Or eliminating said problems) The cast includes Roy Marsden, Ray Lonnen, David Glyder, Liz Bennett, Richard Vernon, Bob Sherman and Jerome Willis. The series ran for 20 episodes between 1978 and 1980.This is the second episode of the production run.
Roy Marsden is in charge of a covert action section of the UK Secret Service, the SIS.
The lead man at Vienna station, reports that a top UK science type has been sighted in town. Alarm bells go off as the scientist, Laurence Payne, is thought to be in Scotland on a fishing holiday. Is it a possible defection? Marsden reports up the chain of command about Payne.
The Government types refuse to believe that Payne could be defecting. "He plays golf with the Prime Minister." and such is their response. Marsden now finds out that there is also a top Soviet agent in Vienna. The Soviet is known as an expert in helping defectors make it into the Eastern Bloc.
While all this is going on, there is an incident in East Africa. A tin pot dictator has killed a British journalist and claimed afterwards that he was a spy for the UK. The dictator is in Marsden's bad books for an incident years before. The dictator was responsible for the murder of a SIS man.
Marsden asks for permission to send some men to collect the scientist. At the same time, he asks for an okay to eliminate the East African swine. Permission is granted on the first, but the second request is refused. The PM's office wants nothing to do with assassination etc.
Marsden points out that he has permission to rub out the science type, Payne, if needed. His defection could bring down the Government and make the PM look bad Marsden is told. But they are willing to ignore the East African swine killing UK citizens. Marsden is annoyed with the ruling, but he follows orders. The Vienna job goes off without a hitch and Payne is returned for a "forced retirement".
This is an excellent bit of television. The Brits seem able to produce these types of series and films better than anyone else. The stories are never over the top, and the violence is usually implied, rather than shown. Good writing and top acting abound here. The writer, Ian Mackintosh, was a former officer in the Royal Navy.
Michael Ferguson again directs. Ferguson worked on series like, DR WHO, Z-CARS, COLDITZ and THE BILL.
