The Secret Adversary: Part 3
- Episode aired Aug 9, 2015
- 54m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
254
YOUR RATING
The Beresfords' search for Jane Finn comes to a close as they finally uncover the identity of Mr. Brown.The Beresfords' search for Jane Finn comes to a close as they finally uncover the identity of Mr. Brown.The Beresfords' search for Jane Finn comes to a close as they finally uncover the identity of Mr. Brown.
Photos
Camilla Beeput
- Jane Finn
- (as Camilla Marie Beeput)
Richard Banks
- MI5 Agent
- (uncredited)
Jd Roth-round
- Whittington's Gun Man
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Zinnie Harris
- Agatha Christie(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsWhen Tommy and Tuppence are looking for a railway station, we see a steam engine and tender with British Rail emblem. The date of the story is 1952, four years after the establishment of British Railways; it wasn't renamed to British Rail until 1965.
Featured review
S1: The Secret Adversary: Gentle broad fun, but lacking tightness and genuine mystery, while feeling a touch too pleased with itself
I may pretend I am above Sunday evening light entertainment television, and I do tend to avoid a lot of it, but Agatha Christie's name is usually enough to get my interest. I guess the logic is that the material is coming down to a level of light entertainment, rather than being written up to that bar, so perhaps it will be better, but regardless I did look forward to Partners in Crime.
The first season is two mysteries, three episodes each. The first is The Secret Adversary. In terms of narrative it does have quite a lot of coincidence and convenience in the way the plot plays out, but I was fine to go along with this. Mostly the drama plays out in a broadly quite fun way, with perhaps just enough menace and risk built is so that we care, but never so much that it risks being too challenging on a Sunday night. The same could be said of the mystery; there is just about enough to it to keep the interest, but not so much that you will be picking away at the details trying to work out the solution. Indeed in terms of mystery this serial seems happy not to worry too much about the details and instead keeps it broadly moving on the surface.
This approach works reasonably well, but it does give the story a rather self-satisfied feeling – not quite smugness, but certainly something approaching that. The pacing also feels rather too at ease with having Sunday nights to fill, so it never seems in a rush to do much and again this takes away some element of urgency from the mystery; in terms of narrative there is really no reason this story could not have worked better as a two-hour special as opposed to three one-hour long episodes. The performances are fine, at least they fit the tone of the show, even if there is a certain discomfort in some of them as to how to play things. Walliams in particular never seems to work out if his character is a buffoon, a hero, a sharp mind, or a put-upon husband; and as a result his performance and character changes by the scene. Raines is not great, but seems more at ease with her character and gets a better balance of who she is. In terms of design the show commits to the 1950's setting and it all has the polished look and feel that one expects to come from a Sunday night period piece of light entertainment.
Watched as a piece of fluff, the first story in the season is perfectly fine; it never challenges, it doesn't go deep enough to cause you to ask too many questions, and it moves along with a general broad smile that eases the weekend to a close. Viewed as a Christie mystery though, it really doesn't deliver much in the way of actual intrigue, tension, or thrills – and the whole thing lacks a sharpness that could have benefited it, even if it feels perfectly happy with that situation.
The first season is two mysteries, three episodes each. The first is The Secret Adversary. In terms of narrative it does have quite a lot of coincidence and convenience in the way the plot plays out, but I was fine to go along with this. Mostly the drama plays out in a broadly quite fun way, with perhaps just enough menace and risk built is so that we care, but never so much that it risks being too challenging on a Sunday night. The same could be said of the mystery; there is just about enough to it to keep the interest, but not so much that you will be picking away at the details trying to work out the solution. Indeed in terms of mystery this serial seems happy not to worry too much about the details and instead keeps it broadly moving on the surface.
This approach works reasonably well, but it does give the story a rather self-satisfied feeling – not quite smugness, but certainly something approaching that. The pacing also feels rather too at ease with having Sunday nights to fill, so it never seems in a rush to do much and again this takes away some element of urgency from the mystery; in terms of narrative there is really no reason this story could not have worked better as a two-hour special as opposed to three one-hour long episodes. The performances are fine, at least they fit the tone of the show, even if there is a certain discomfort in some of them as to how to play things. Walliams in particular never seems to work out if his character is a buffoon, a hero, a sharp mind, or a put-upon husband; and as a result his performance and character changes by the scene. Raines is not great, but seems more at ease with her character and gets a better balance of who she is. In terms of design the show commits to the 1950's setting and it all has the polished look and feel that one expects to come from a Sunday night period piece of light entertainment.
Watched as a piece of fluff, the first story in the season is perfectly fine; it never challenges, it doesn't go deep enough to cause you to ask too many questions, and it moves along with a general broad smile that eases the weekend to a close. Viewed as a Christie mystery though, it really doesn't deliver much in the way of actual intrigue, tension, or thrills – and the whole thing lacks a sharpness that could have benefited it, even if it feels perfectly happy with that situation.
helpful•52
- bob the moo
- Aug 29, 2015
Details
- Runtime54 minutes
- Color
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content