Frederick Forsyth Presents is a series of British made-for-television films made by FremantleMedia for London Weekend Television on ITV, first broadcast between 2 December 1989 to 8 December 1990.
| Frederick Forsyth Presents | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Espionage Drama |
| Created by | Frederick Forsyth |
| Written by | Murray Smith |
| Directed by | Tom Clegg Lawrence Gordon Clark Ian Sharp James Cellan Jones |
| Starring | Alan Howard |
| Music by | Paul Chihara |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Nick Elliott Frederick Forsyth Murray Smith |
| Producer | Frederick Muller |
| Production locations | Middle East, North Africa, Europe, West Indies |
| Running time | 98 – 103 minutes |
| Production company | London Weekend Television in association with IFS Productions Ltd. |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 2 December 1989 – 8 December 1990 |
| Related | |
| The Deceiver (1991), a related book which followed production | |
Based on stories which were later published as the Forsyth novel The Deceiver, there are six films, most with the themes of espionage and war. An important character who appears in all six is Sam McCready, played by Alan Howard, a Secret Intelligence Service agent who has become an author but continues to work on SIS operations. He plays the lead in most of the films, but in A Little Piece of Sunshine he has more of a supporting role. Each of the stories are introduced on screen by Frederick Forsyth.
Outline
editSam McCready is an experienced SIS field agent who believes in his way of doing things, which is no longer welcome in some quarters. Set in areas of international tension around the world, including the Middle East, Berlin, and the West Indies, the films highlight a division in British espionage and government between those who favour a subservient British relationship with the American Central Intelligence Agency and those, including McCready, who want to see more independence of thought and action. There is also a tension between the protagonists of Signals intelligence, or Sigint, intelligence from electronic interception and satellite observation, and Human intelligence, or Humint, intelligence from agents in the field. The series mocks the subservient camp and those who are over-awed by technology, as well as more gently finding fault with the CIA.
Production
editIn 1988 Frederick Forsyth secured a contract with London Weekend Television for six thrillers under the headline name of Frederick Forsyth Presents, with a book to be linked to the series, which came out in 1991 as The Deceiver.[1]
The first three episodes were filmed, and the launch of the series was fixed for December 1989. In the run-up to that, the producers said they were hoping to attract eight million television viewers.[2]
Films
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Casualty of War | Tom Clegg | Murray Smith | 2 December 1989 | |
|
Libya is preparing to ship arms to the Provisional IRA, and McCready sends Tom Rowse, a former SAS officer who is now a novelist, to Libya under the cover of researching a book. Rowse makes contact with the Libyan arms dealer and adds an order to the shipment. The SIS can then identify the cargo ship, and McCready enlists the help of the Special Boat Service to intercept it. Monica, a woman Rowse is strongly attracted to, proves to be mixed up with the gun-runners and is shot dead when the ship is boarded. | |||||
| 2 | Just Another Secret | Lawrence Gordon Clark | Murray Smith | 9 December 1989 | |
|
An American intelligence agent investigates the sudden disappearance of a colleague who was stationed in East Berlin. He finds a conspiracy to murder a Soviet politician. | |||||
| 3 | Pride and Extreme Prejudice | Ian Sharp | Murray Smith | 16 December 1989 | |
|
A Soviet general offers the SIS important military documents, and a meeting is set up in East Germany, with McCready in charge of the operation. As the Soviets know him, he recruits his old friend Bruno Morenz, a BND agent, who has to break BND rules to enter East Germany, which he does as a favour to McCready. Morenz secures the documents, but his life is in chaos, as he has just accidentally killed a woman and her pimp boyfriend and is on the run from the police. McCready finds Morenz a hiding place and enters East Germany to join him. With the Stasi closing in on them, and Morenz unable to escape, McCready kills him with poison, takes the documents, and escapes to the West. | |||||
| 4 | A Little Piece of Sunshine | James Cellan Jones | Murray Smith | 17 November 1990 | |
|
Sunshine, an island in the British West Indies, is about to become independent, but shortly before the handover, in the middle of a bitterly fought presidential election campaign, the British governor is shot dead. Sam McCready of SIS sends in Desmond Hannah of Scotland Yard, but he can only go there unofficially. The governor's widow, Lady Beatrix Coltrane tells Hannah that most of the inhabitants are not looking forward to independence, trusting neither of the two presidential candidates and fearing for their future. One candidate, Tomson is said to have drug-running connections, while the other, Livingstone, has links with Cuba. Drake, the island's priest, is also against independence. Ernie Favaro, a police detective from Miami, arrives to investigate a murder ordered by the Medellín Cartel. Hannah and Favaro work together but are not welcomed by the island's chief constable. Someone shoots at them, and they catch him and find it is Drake, who wanted to create a sensation, not to hit them. The local police then arrest Hannah and Favaro for illegal possession of firearms. McCready arrives, deus ex machina, as the acting Governor of Sunshine Island and takes charge of the case. Lady Coltrane hints that she killed her husband herself. Favaro calls on Tomson and in his house sees a rare copy of Paradise Lost which leads back to the Medellín. McCready visits Tomson with Favaro, who steals the book, and inside it is a microfilm with the names and details of Medellín Cartel deals. Tomson tries to escape, and is shot. The presidential election is postponed until further notice, and McCready remains on the island as Governor. | |||||
| 5 | Death Has a Bad Reputation | Lawrence Gordon Clark | Murray Smith | 24 November 1990 | |
|
The French government expels dozens of Soviet diplomats, and Rodimstev, head of the KGB, forms an alliance with Carlos the Jackal to punish France. Sam McCready works to hinder them, going outside the law and the rules of his department. He has his own grudge match with Carlos, as his son Nick McCready was disabled in a terrorist attack.[3] | |||||
| 6 | The Price of the Bride | Tom Clegg | Murray Smith | 8 December 1990 | |
|
While on a Soviet Military Intelligence visit to Britain, a Russian contacts the CIA station in London, wishing to defect to the US, claiming to be Colonel Pyotr Orlov of the KGB. Orlov's information leads to the arrest of several Soviet spies around the world and also gives insights into the Soviets' military planning. But McCready senses that something is wrong, and the head of the KGB's London office, who works for McCready under the name of Keepsake, claims that Orlov is not a defector at all, but a KGB plant, the purpose being to falsely discredit a high-ranking CIA officer as a Soviet mole. The American and British sides refuse to believe each other's versions of events, and "Orlov" succeeds in bringing down the supposed CIA traitor. Keepsake then suddenly returns to Moscow, casting doubt on McCready's warnings. Aiming to prevent the disintegration of the CIA, McCready brings Keepsake back from Moscow, and Keepsake says he went there to get solid proof that the Orlov defection is a deception. However, a CIA agent then kills the man Orlov identified as a mole, and when Orlov is exposed, he accepts execution. | |||||
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Richard Joseph, Richard Joseph's Bestsellers (Summersdale, 1997), p. 222
- ^ Photoplay Volume 40, Issues 1-3 (1989), p. 104
- ^ "Rent Frederick Forsyth: Death Has a Bad Reputation (1990) film". CinemaParadiso.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
External links
edit- A Casualty of War at IMDb
- Just Another Secret at IMDb
- Pride and Extreme Prejudice at IMDb
- A Little Piece of Sunshine at IMDb
- Death Has a Bad Reputation at IMDb
- The Price of the Bride at IMDb
- Elizabeth Hurley in Death Has a Bad Reputation (1990) at YouTube