Turks & Caicos

Having fled the UK after the events of 'Page Eight', ex MI5 agent Nighy is spotted by CIA agent Walken who is looking into an illegal American / British fund / land deal. Agreeing to help, Nighy calls on friends in the UK plus engages with the mysterious Winona Ryder.

Perhaps not quite as slick or thrilling as Page Eight, it is pretty damn close. Nighy is so cool and is once again given a razor sharp script and a very impressive supporting cast. Part 3 - Salting the Battlefield - follows.

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.

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.

I had not seen the original Worricker film 'Page Eight' but having enjoyed Bill Nighy's work in other things I decided to give this a go.

As a well crafted piece of television drama this is as good as it gets. From the tight script to the almost dream cast you don't see everyday in television drama's this is quality in amongst a schedule full of rubbish. It's a crying shame this got buried on a Thursday night on BBC 2.

Nighy as ever is brilliant. If you thought you'd seen every sort of spy then watch this because Nighy is so at ease in this role.

The only negative point is that if you want a big explosion heavy spy thriller then look somewhere else because this is not that. Here people talk about the state of the world, go for walks, talk a bit and then talk some more. The action is minimal.

I admire many aspects of this drama but I feel that 90 minutes of build up to a very small amount of action unfufilling. I enjoyed the follow up 'Salting The Battlefield' far more.