Chessgame

I caught five episodes of this on first release, back in 1983, and it remains with me to this day.

I'm a huge fan of Terence Stamp, so that was a major plus, and I loved the complex machinations and layers of intrigue.

Until now I've had to rewatch the series in the three 'movie' versions, one of them on VHS, so it was great to be able to buy the DVD in the original 6-episode format.

Still one of my all-time favourites.

I like the books that this series was based on, and the series has some good qualities, but the problem is that Terence Stamp is the same dull, boring piece of wood that he is in everything else that I've seen him in.

Given the relatively slow pacing of some of these productions the actor playing Audley needs to lift the story up, and Stamp's lifeless, wooden performance drags them down. Which is a shame because the rest of the cast are good, with the under-rated Carmen Du Sautoy on fine form.

Worth a watch if you like slower paced spy fiction but could have been great with a leading actor who could actually act.

Terence Stamp is brilliant in this series, he has his tongue planted firmly in cheek, and Carmen Du Sautoy is as beautiful as she is talented, and sadly she is under used in this series.

If I have a complaint; each of the 3 stories from Anthony Price's novels, are a little too rushed, they should have made 3 episodes per story, then we would have had more of the character and plot development, as in the novels.