The interesting thing is that they do some location scenes, although most of the action takes place in the permanent sets of the SIS offices. Their biggest economy measure, so far as I could see, was to be quite ruthless about the number of characters, especially in the first series. They had seven or eight regular, recurring characters, and a very, very small number of guest stars per episode. (In the second episode, for instance, the plot concerns the rescue of a group of Norwegian technicians whose plane has crashed in Soviet territory; we actually see the technicians, but they have no dialogue, so they're represented by extras.) There a number of times when it's quite surprising. For example, Neil Burnside, the main character, was previously married, and his wife divorced him for being an insufferable workaholic (and generally insufferable). His ex-father-in-law, who's the Home Office permanent undersecretary, is a recurring character, and his ex-mother-in-law appears two or three times, but his ex-wife never appears in any form.
In a way, it adds to the realism of the atmosphere, because you get a clear sense of the way these life-or-death decisions are often made by a few people in great isolation, where they don't necessarily know what's happening on the ground. (The creator was an ex-SIS officer, and the reason the show ended in 1980 was that he mysteriously disappeared.)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 12:31 am (UTC)The interesting thing is that they do some location scenes, although most of the action takes place in the permanent sets of the SIS offices. Their biggest economy measure, so far as I could see, was to be quite ruthless about the number of characters, especially in the first series. They had seven or eight regular, recurring characters, and a very, very small number of guest stars per episode. (In the second episode, for instance, the plot concerns the rescue of a group of Norwegian technicians whose plane has crashed in Soviet territory; we actually see the technicians, but they have no dialogue, so they're represented by extras.) There a number of times when it's quite surprising. For example, Neil Burnside, the main character, was previously married, and his wife divorced him for being an insufferable workaholic (and generally insufferable). His ex-father-in-law, who's the Home Office permanent undersecretary, is a recurring character, and his ex-mother-in-law appears two or three times, but his ex-wife never appears in any form.
In a way, it adds to the realism of the atmosphere, because you get a clear sense of the way these life-or-death decisions are often made by a few people in great isolation, where they don't necessarily know what's happening on the ground. (The creator was an ex-SIS officer, and the reason the show ended in 1980 was that he mysteriously disappeared.)