The Ambassador

My wife and I recently watched the first 3 episodes on Amazon Prime but were underwhelmed. While we found the premise very intriguing and the story lines promising, the ambassador did not come across as being anywhere near smart or savvy enough to have been appointed to a sensitive ambassadorial position, in Ireland or especially in her previous posting, Lebanon (where her husband died in a car bomb meant for her). We couldn't decide whether the actress playing the ambassador was miscast or the scripts made her seem stupid, but whichever it was we won't be watching any more episodes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this: it's a fascinating look at the sometimes contentious relationship between two neighboring countries, with a long and complicated history. The characters are, for the most part, relatable and believable but the brightest one is Pauline Collins. She shines in her role as Ambassador Harriett Smith who - on several occasions - has to walk the line between her personal and professional beliefs. I saw this as a child growing up in Ireland, and recently re-watched it on Prime Video and it was almost as good as I remember. Some of the stories are a bit far-fetched and a stretch, but others are very believable and relatable to today.

The lovely and able Pauline Collins does an excellent job in series 1 of portraying the ambassador in a set of interesting stories that raise a variety of issues and problems and are scripted very plausibly.

Of course, being modern TV, we can't just enjoy the drama of seeing the ambassador wrestle with the political and diplomatic challenges of each situation; we have to be subjected to the usual tedioius tropes about career woman torn between personal fulfillment as a woman in a man's world and the demands of motherhood as she tries to hold together her family in dealing with their personal tragedy but in series 1 this codswallop is kept in reasonable proportion to the proper drama.

In series 2 the whole thing goes to the dogs with Peter Egan introduced as a completely ludicrous character, the ambassador transformed from a convincingly thinking woman into an overgrown teenager, and plots that are not worthy of the name.

Pauline Collins continues to do her best but it is asking too much of her to rescue things; she deserves better than the rubbish she is saddled with in series 2.

As long as you put your cynical nature on hold it plays OK. It isn't great but no worse that many cop style or soapy series and better than some. Ms Collins although a good actress doesn't really fit here too well and adds to the implausiblilty of the show, not really her fault.

All this is not helped by the fact that the writers seem to have to make the Amassador some kind of super hero rather than rounding the 'team' into the show. Second series is even worse in terms of writing and drifts into 'personal relationships' like many soap operas do. Overall the issue is that it is so focused on one character (aka superhero) that it becomes steadily more unbelievable as time goes on. Shame really because the idea is quite good but the writers were really not clever enough to exploit the idea.

This is an excellent series. Pauline Collins plays Harriet Smith, the Ambassador, who has to maneuver through difficult political obstacles as she represents the British government in Ireland. This aired originally in 1998, so the situation in Ireland is probably quite different. Since it was not a period drama it's not that educational about Irish/British relations. It's more about the difficulty of diplomacy in a general sense.

Smith has to deal with both public and personal issues, which sometimes overlap. She has children who don't understand why her job has to take precedence over their needs. And she has assistants who don't always have her best interests at heart.

Things are never black-and-white in her world, and Smith is seldom foolish enough to think they are (although she has her moments). Surprisingly, her integrity is an asset, rather than a handicap--but not in a schmaltzy way. She succeeds, not because she's more ethical than her male counterparts, but because she's ethical *and* smart *and* tough-minded.

But I emphasize that things are not clear cut and even when Smith is right, she can also be wrong.

One of the pleasures in this series is the presence of Denis Lawson, who plays her political attaché. Although he is her loyal ally, he often has his own agenda.

All in all, a very thoughtful and intriguing drama.