Les espions de la terreur

This is an excellent mini-series following French security services after terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice.

It's like a stand alone story from the brilliant French show The Bureau of Legends and a nice companion piece to the similar Spanish show La Unidad.

Unlike other shows and movies we're not seeing anyone actually under cover - with their legend - and there's little in the way of action, although there is some.

There are a couple of stakeouts and one character repeatedly flying off to other locations but mostly it's meetings and politics with a small p, and various agents carrying out their investigations and contacting their 'assets' for help.

Tension is maintained. The episodes are just short of an hour and whizzed by.

This was a fascinating insight into the world of those who attempt to foil indiscriminate attacks on French soil. On fact, it didn't varnish the truth but showed the tensions between the DGSI and the DGSE (the internal and external security services) and how their operational imperatives differed sometimes to the point of sabotaging each others' actions and contacts.

The series is written mostly from the point if view of the "goodies". There's very little airtime given to the baddies and their possible motivations and actions. And, as has been pointed out, the series is dialogue driven; there's very little action. That's not a flaw as it engaged the mind in an intelligent manner.

As a testament to the work of those who keep France safe it was a fitting tribute. I recommend it.

I'm sure this is a very worthy series, but unfortunately my enjoyment and comprehension was hindered by the appalling sub-titles. OK, my fault for not being fluent in French, even though I can generally understand and make myself understood conversationally, but why oh why oh why are the subtitles a) so small ( not everyone has a 65 inch TV in their living room), and also in white, when often broadcast against a light background so they are impossible to read. Maybe it was just the streaming network I was using to watch (ITVX in the UK), but if you go to the effort of producing subtitles, FFS at least make them legible! Here's a suggestion: if you're producing subtitles, why not use a contrasting colour as background, so they are legible against whatever colour is showing in the film? It's not exactly rocket science, just common sense, which is obviously not that common in this day and age.