A former British Intelligence agent is blackmailed into one last mission after his wife is kidnapped by political extremists.
Mark Fraser (Malcolm Stoddard), a retired British Intelligence officer, lives a quiet life in a small village with his wife Jill (Mary Tamm). His retirement is shattered when Jill is abducted by a terrorist group, an offshoot of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. The kidnappers’ demand is simple: Fraser must assassinate a prominent Spanish political figure, or his wife will be killed. Forced back into the world of espionage, Fraser finds himself entangled in a convoluted plot involving rival agencies, including the KGB agent Grigor (Sandor Eles), as he resolves to secure his wife’s release on his own terms.
This three-part serial was the second in an unofficial trilogy of thrillers from producer Bob McIntosh, following Running Blind (1979) and preceding the direct sequel, The Treachery Game (1981). Written by Jack Gerson, the production’s tone is a hybrid of domestic suspense and international intrigue, grounding its spy-thriller mechanics in the tangible jeopardy of its protagonist. Malcolm Stoddard anchors the story with a performance of grim determination, playing Fraser as an uncompromising figure whose single-minded focus is the recovery of his wife. The narrative machinery is typical of the genre, full of crosses and double-crosses between competing intelligence services.
Broadcast: BBC One, 3 Episodes, Fridays, 4 January – 18 January 1980
Writer: Jack Gerson
Director: Ken Hannam
Producer: Bob McIntosh
Music: John Scott
Main Cast: Malcolm Stoddard (Mark Fraser), Mary Tamm (Jill Fraser), Sandor Eles (Vladimir Ilyich Grigor), Leon Sinden (Bartlett), James Drake (Sir James Mackieson), Ben Aris (Frank Lloyd), Seymour Matthews (Rolf), Jenny Lipman (Elisa), Philip Bowen (Jurgen)
