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70 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"If you want James Bond, go to a library.", August 27, 2001
This review is from: The Sandbaggers Collection Set 1 (DVD)
So speaks Neil Burnside (Roy Marsden, "Inspector Dalglish"), the steely D-Ops of THE SANDBAGGERS, a covert three-man team of spies operating at the height of the Cold War. It's an appropriate comment to describe the entire series. Created and Written by former British Intelligence officer Ian MacKintosh, any given episode is more likely to spend time discussing a mission than showing the mission itself... it's several episodes in before a Sandbagger is even armed. Emphasis is on the politics and pressures of a life lived in shadows, trading gunfights and explosions for cracking dialogue and fascinating characters. It's an approach that fans of HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET will more than appreciate. But it's Marsden who carries the series. As Neil Burnside, he is a man whose job has consumed every aspect of his life. He smoothly alternates between tart humor and devious ambition, able to hurl abuse at anyone who irritates him (which is everyone at some point or another) one moment, fight to prevent sending his men on a foolhardy mission behind the Iron Curtain the next, and plan an unsanctioned Assassination the next. Even at his most cold-blooded, Marsden's deft performance never lets us fully hate Burnside... but rather, pity him. It's more than likely you'll never find a more accurate account of the Intelligence community outside a documentary - it's rumored to be a favorite inside the CIA. A Sandbagger may spend most of his time "shuffling paper from in-tray to out-tray," but once in the field on assignment it often proves to be an ugly - and ultimately deadly - job. Gritty and compelling to the end, THE SANDBAGGERS is sophisticated entertainment, not for everyone. But those who invest their time and minds in this oft-forgotten series will not regret it... or forget it. This first set is low on Extras, and even begins with a written warning about the quality of the DVD image. However, it does beat third-generation VHS copies taped off PBS back in the 80's (the "traditional" SANDBAGGERS medium for years), and is more than adequate for the material. The package includes both a glossary of the omnipresent governmental abbreviations which even long-time fans will find useful, and the pivotal seventh episode "Special Relationship," inexplicably left out of the BFS's two VHS collections. The three-disk set includes the first seven episodes; 1. First Principles 2. A Proper Function of Government 3. Is Your Journey Really Necessary? 4. The Most Suitable Person 5. Always Glad to Help 6. A Feasible Solution 7. Special Relationship and Bonus: A Guide to Sandbaggers Abbreviations
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Battles of wits with the Whitehall wallahs, February 21, 2004
This review is from: The Sandbaggers Collection Set 1 (DVD)
The excellence of the BBC's THE SANDBAGGERS overcomes any quaintness of plotting that pits Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service against the machinations of the Evil Empire's KGB and its minions. Considering the menace of today's shadowy terrorist groups unaligned with any particular nation state, a return to the Cold War seems almost like the Good Old Days. The "hero" of this television miniseries that aired in 1978 and 1980 is Neil Burnside (Roy Marsden), the wily, lonely, ruthless, testy, and driven Director of Operations, who works out of MI6's London headquarters in Century House. More specifically, Burnside oversees the "Sandbaggers", a trio of special agents available for covert operations against foreign enemies in the world's hotspots. If you're expecting to see feats of derring-do reminiscent of 007, or even the Avengers, look elsewhere. Indeed, it's when the camera occasionally follows Neil's agents on their oversees exploits that the action gets clunky and amateurish. The essence of each episode's script lies back in London as we watch Burnside match wits with his immediate boss, SIS Deputy Chief Peele (Jerome Willis), and the agency's Director General (Richard Vernon), otherwise known as "C", both of whom Neil scornfully regards as bumbling incompetents, as well as with the meddling political wallahs in the Ministry of Defense and the Foreign Office. Who needs enemies with friends like these? And there's Neil's awkward relationship with Sir Geoffrey Wellingham (Alan MacNaughton), the urbane Permanent Undersecretary of State and the father of Burnside's estranged wife. Perhaps the best episode in Set 1 is number 7, "Special Relationship", in which Neil dispatches Sandbagger Laura Dickens (Diane Keen) to East Berlin to retrieve some photographic intelligence from an agent-in-place. The mission turns into a personal disaster for Burnside in which the viewer first sees a human side to the Director. THE SANDBAGGERS series nowhere approaches the superb BBC's productions of John Le Carre's TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY and SMILEY'S PEOPLE, both starring Alec Guinness. But, THE SANBAGGERS is an intriguing and intelligent depiction of the politics and backstage maneuvering of spycraft.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still Champ, January 25, 2004
This review is from: The Sandbaggers Collection Set 1 (DVD)
Two ways to guess Sandbaggers' age, or mine. One: it is the last series in my experience that features telephone cords. No cellulars, no wrist radios; indeed none of that high-tech gadgetry that figures to prominently in another spy series best left unnamed. Two: this is the last series for which my wife and I used to leave parties early. That is to say, the last before we got a VCR, and what a delight it is to find that this best of all TV dramas has moved on to videotape, and now to DVD. When I say best, I mean it. I'm picky about my TV. I do like a few of the big intricate series numbers: Hill Street Blues, and then Northern Exposure and then -- well actually, then not a lot until the Sopranos. Sandbaggers is the only one that I willingly go back and re-watch again and again (for the Sopranos, we'll have to wait and see). For diehards, there is a serviceable fan site (maybe the only one I've ever checked in on): see www.opsroom.org. A recent post by (producer) Ian Mackintosh's brother recalls how the series ended abruptly with Macintosh's disappearance in a small plane over Alaska -- and raises the possibility that it might have been more than just a simple misfortune.
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