A spy story! The murky world of government! The machinations of the shady and the powerful! Yes, here we go again, and clearly Mr Hare's actor friends bombarded his phone line(s) to be in it. Can we believe that the British PM would collude with American agents of torture? Sadly yes, we can, and we're unable to throw a TWNH at it.
You can count cliches: jazz-loving hero is unlikely magnet for women, has estranged daughter and ruthless (female) colleague; deceased honourable man who knew too much etc. You can recall countless other dramas with similar themes ('Defence of the Realm' was made around a quarter of a century ago and remains depressingly pertinent). What made this so watchable was David Hare's dialogue: sharp, lyrical, revealing the difficult mix of cynicism and hope that dogs Worricker, and presumably Hare. It's the cry of someone who wants a better world, where honour and loyalty have meaning, although as Rollo, an undercover agent, points out, nothing has changed: the world is still run by the same people, and they are Worricker's own class. Unlike his fellows, he will not adapt, chameleon-like, with the times.
"It's the 21st Century.... Why do people keep saying that, as though it justifies everything?" I paraphrase, but it's a timely reminder that it isn't only spies who don't know whom to trust.
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