In this pre-war spy thriller, a mining engineer finds himself framed for murder and hunted across Scotland while trying to foil an assassination plot.
Richard Hannay (Rupert Penry-Jones), a mining engineer recently returned to London, finds his life upended when a freelance spy, Scudder (Eddie Marsan), is murdered in his flat. Now the prime suspect and pursued by both the police, led by Captain Kell (Alex Jennings), and a ring of German agents, Hannay flees to Scotland. His only lead is Scudder’s coded notebook, which contains cryptic references to “The 39 Steps” and an imminent plot to assassinate a Greek politician, destabilising Europe on the brink of war. Along the way, he enlists the reluctant help of Victoria Sinclair (Lydia Leonard), a suffragette who is initially suspicious of his story. Hannay must evade his pursuers and decipher the code to expose the German conspiracy, masterminded by the seemingly respectable Sir George Sinclair (David Haig).
This feature-length adaptation is a conscious departure from Alfred Hitchcock’s celebrated 1935 film, returning to John Buchan’s novel for its plot and darker, more serious tone. Screenwriter Lizzie Mickery restores the novel’s 1914 setting, grounding the story in the paranoia and political tension immediately preceding the First World War. The production makes extensive use of Scottish locations, creating a windswept, authentic landscape for the chase that is more faithful to the source than previous screen versions. Rupert Penry-Jones plays Hannay not as a debonair adventurer but as a capable everyman, whose military experience is put to the test by extraordinary circumstances.
Broadcast: BBC One, 1 Episode, Sunday, 28 December 2008
Written by: Lizzie Mickery
Director: James Hawes
Producer: Lynn Horsford
Executive Producers: Hilary Salmon, John Yorke
Music: Rob Lane
Main Cast: Rupert Penry-Jones (Richard Hannay), Lydia Leonard (Victoria Sinclair), David Haig (Sir George Sinclair), Patrick Malahide (Professor Fisher), Patrick Kennedy (Hellory Sinclair), Eddie Marsan (Scudder), Alex Jennings (Captain Kell), Werner Daehn (Ackerman), Steven Elder (Vicar)
