Reilly: Ace of Spies was the big drama offering from ITV in 1983. It was based on the real life Sidney Reilly, reputed to be Russian born and an inspiration to the character of James Bond.
ITV gave the series plenty of hype and a big promotional push. We had every intention of watching the double episode premiere in 1983.
On the night we suddenly decided to watch the special television presentation of The Godfather films on BBC1 which they were going to show over five nights.
After that we never bothered with Reilly. We fell too far behind.
Almost 40 years later I finally got to watch the first episode. We made the right choice that night, it was no match for Francis Coppola's epic.
With a rising star in Sam Neill and foreign location shooting, Reilly: Ace of Spies looks like an epic. There is some very good art direction and sets.
The first episode sees Reilly going under the name of Sydney Rosenblum through Baku and taken off a train. He is suspected by the police for having important information about Russian oil surveys that he plans to take to Britain.
The fast thinking Reilly charms the young wife of an elderly vicar for his escape, which later causes her embarrassment.
It was all rather sedate and stodgy. Too much talking and not enough action. It goes along in a stately pace and even the end confrontation in a crypt with Zaharov held no surprises.