Turks & Caicos

I had no idea this was a follow up to the movie "Page Eight". But I did remember that I had seen a movie with Bill Nighy in a similar role. Well it's actually the same role (there's also a follow up to this movie, though I haven't seen this and cannot comment on who's in that one obviously). I really liked Page Eight and I like this one too, though apparently not as much as the first one.

It's spy business but also a very tricky, who's who, who's doing what to who and why'd they do it? It may sound more complicated than it actually is. The pace is nice and it's really refreshing to see Wynona Ryder in a good role (doesn't seem to have changed a lot). Actually all the actors involved do a great job. More than decent entertaining than ...

I was thrilled by the first episode and expected a lot from the second. And got it.

The acting was impeccable. It was so good I missed it the first time I saw it. It seemed so natural.

The pace was slow, steady and intriguing but there were little hints as to the plot, pointers if you will, all the way through. Don't miss a second.

I watched it alone last night - my wife was babysitting grandchildren - and I was so fascinated that I saw it again with her tonight. It is even better the second time around. She actually clapped at the end.

Nighy is brilliant, giving more information in a look that Skippy ever did. Yet he never answers a question.

My wife and I talked it over for about an hour afterward.

The third episode is awaited with some anticipation. Page 8 was brilliant and T&C has kept up the quality.

Well done to everyone involved.

David Hare's 'Turcs and Caicos' is a low key drama about international intelligence, dodgy businessmen and corrupt politicians. Bill Nighy plays a renegade gentleman spy who is strangely irresistible to women half his age; Helena Bonham Cater, meanwhile, is simply too glamorous to be serious in her role. Almost all of the key plot developments occur off-screen, and, as with most of Hare's work, there's a lot of talking around the subject that never quite gets to the point. What saves it is the quality of that talk: it's theatrical, but there's a beautiful rhythm to it. To compare it to the work of another playwright named David, namely David Mamet, the dialogue is a lot less stylised, but easier on the ear, almost poetic in places. And this is enough to make the piece stand out from the vast majority of contemporary drama.

Whilst spending his retirement in The Turks and Caicos, Johnny Worricker encounters a group of businessmen, one of them, Curtis Pellisier, he believes is a CIA agent.

It's quite an engrossing watch, for me this is what I would class as a typical BBC2 drama, typical as in very good, slightly more high brow, but one with a superb cast.

If you're expecting a fast paced, action packed affair, you may be disappointed, this is a wonderfully engrossing mystery, the story develops at a moderate pace, but the characters are so deep, so rich that the journey is well worth it.

Here you see just how brilliant Bill Nighy is, for me he's one of Britain's best, he thrives opposite the likes of Winona Ryder and Christopher Walken, the acting is quite something. Throw in Rupert Graves and Helena Bonham Carter, and you have something special.

The visuals are also a key feature, the sea, beaches and greenery are just magical.

It's an engrossing watch, 8/10.

T&C is one of those rare things on British TV these days, quality story line with brilliant actors. I really enjoyed the pace and tone of the whole film, with each actor bringing a different feel to each scene. Bill Nighy plays the suave MI5 agent with aplomb and combined with Christopher Walken playing a CIA stooge (excellently may I add) made this a winner in my eyes. Excellent setting with superb production. For a TV film, I cant rate it highly enough. My only critique of the film is the sometimes jerky delivery of the lines, I mean, Bill Nighy isn't really associated with long flowing diatribe but sometimes it seemed as if all the different actors were fighting for screen time. Almost an embarrassment of riches in some respect but still this doesn't take the sheen of what is in essence an excellent TV film and well worth the licence fee.