gilesadhamilton

Unfortunately almost all the reviews here are written by those with no idea of how the source novel came to be written. Waugh's deserted him for his best friend which left him utterly distraught and bitter at the world around him. As a fledgling and quite brilliant comic writer he took his revenge the best way he knew how which was to write a book portraying the world around him as cynically as is imaginable. Women were especially cold and duplicitous. It is a work of genius and Waugh's finest. And suffice to say it is perfectly realised here with every portrayal absolutely spot on especially ice maiden Kristen Scott Thomas.

This is a truly visceral and brutal look at the period of greatest African decolonisation in the early 60s. There is death and destruction. At the time it was taken as a warning of a bleak future for these benighted countries and was certainly taken to heart in white South Africa. Unfortunately its warnings were incredibly prescient as the continents succumbed to the basket case we see today.

If there is any criticism it is the way its chapters jump about with no sense of clear continuity as if it is edited together randomly.

We were warned. It happened. And now the people are poorer and more abused than before.

The real heart of darkness.

This is high brow, intellectual television that allows the story to unfold rather than hurry it along as in the film. This is a highly believable fiction based loosely on the Philby affair.

Unfortunately many of the reviews here are written by the infantilised modern viewer who demands instant gratification and constant action. Anyone who cannot appreciate this modern classic that features many of the great actors of their generation must be of the lowest of intellects.

On a minor point as I have to increase the length of this review for some inexplicable reason it is worth studying the transformative effect of Smiley's spectacles; surely one of the greatest nuances in modern TV drama.