Customer Reviews

Sandbaggers, The Complete Collection

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's hard to describe this show to anyone. It is about an elite group of specialists who perform the physical jobs of espionage: extracting defectors, assassinations, action in foreign countries and the like. For all that, there is very little true action. Most of the action is off screen and most of the show consists of people talking on the phone or talking in offices.

Yet, each show is so densely packed that it draws the viewer in. I like to think that it provides a more realistic look at espionage: the politics, double-dealing, questionable morality, and office drudgery. At the same time, the office politics are in relation to real action in the field.

The show illustrates some uncomfortable parts of espionage. Sometimes agents die...badly. There are no graceful or dramatic deaths. In one case, an agent is actually killed on the orders of the lead character in order to solve some other problems. One agent even dies after a dramatic story as he walks to work and is struck by a car in an ordinary pedestrian accident.

A lot of attention is required to watch this show. A lot of forgiveness is required as well. The sets are obviously that: sets. The exterior scenes are mostly shot in England and it's pretty obvious, even when they claim to be in a foreign country. The only exception I saw was Malta. The action in the show is fast and ends before you realize how poor the special effects were.

Nevertheless, the stories and most of the acting are so good that the viewer doesn't notice the faults.

I've enjoyed British spy dramas on TV from "The Professionals" to "Spooks". This series aired after "The Professionals" and is much darker and closer to a Le Carre mood. Indeed, the series ended when its creator, Ian Mackintosh, vanished under mysterious circumstances - almost a selling point, were it not tragic.

The Sandbaggers are an exclusive branch of British intelligence (presumably MI6), but if you expect a glamourous and high-budget group of Double-O agents, forget it. They are underfunded. The government is just waiting to close them down. The nominal team strength of four is hardly ever reached, and generally they manage on two, often due to deaths. The one who most resembles 007 hates carrying a gun and is inclined to throw up if he has to actually kill someone. There's no gadgets or fast cars, and they often rely on the CIA to help them stretch their budget-based limitations.

But their jobs include espionage, extraction of defectors, bodyguards and assassination. Their leader, Neil Burnside, is capable of ordering team members to their death, except of course he can't get replacements. The stress shows.

A typical British production, it doesn't even try to "dumb down" complex situations, or magically resolve them with firepower and gadgets. Think of it as 'Smiley's Circus' meets 'Yes, Minister', then take away the laughs.

I really liked these shows. First off, though, they are dated - the women are all "girls", even the professionals. Everyone smokes like a chimney. But the acting is very different from what we see today, as is the dialog, and the sensibilities of the writers. One episode ended with a long, inspirational speech about how precious our freedoms are, and what happens if we loose them, and it was not being campy or insipid, it was very serious.

That's a word I would use about this series - serious. Everyone is very ernest. Even in their double-dealings and duplicity. It's actually more about office politics than it is about spying and espionage. But in a world of spycraft, that's a key part.

Everyone's acting is pretty good, too. I especially like the lead character. It's not often you can almost *feel* someone thinking. I got a sense that I was watching a real person, not an actor hamming it up. And the episode on the JFK assassination was probably the edgiest thing I've seen on broadcast TV. No wonder it didn't air in the US!

The digital remaster has made the picture clearer, but introduced artifacts such as white squares at the corners of some scenes and occasional white lines. I returned the first set and am now on my second, but the artifacts are still there. Since these aren't present in the original DVDs I rented, I assume they were introduced during a sloppy remastering. Too bad, I enjoy this series.