A Perfect Spy *** (1987, Peter Egan, Ray McAnally, Peggy Ashcroft, Sarah Badel, Jane Booker, Alan Howard, Benedict Taylor, Rüdiger Weigang) – Classic Movie Review 11,906

Director Peter Smith’s 1987 mini-series A Perfect Spy finds Peter Egan starring as British MI6 spy Magnus Pym in the third and final part of the BBC’s classic dramatisation of John le Carré’s famous spy yarns. It follows the story of Magnus Pym and his career in British intelligence and as a double agent, and the mystery behind the agent’s disappearance.

The ambitious, if slightly déjà-vu plot follows the career of the Magnus Pym from childhood with his con-man father (Ray McAnally), his days as a schoolboy and university student, and his encounters with Czech spy Axel (Rüdiger Weigang), to his disappearance as a suspected agent of the Czech secret service.

This one is a mite less satisfying than before, because the story seems a little bit more routine and less fresh, but again the polished acting (especially Peter Egan and Ray McAnally) and production keep you watching and admiring.

However, A Perfect Spy is still an engrossing, civilized pleasure, and a must for all the many fans.

It was shown in seven episodes on BBC2 from 4 November to 16 December 1987 and runs 374 minutes.

It follows Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s People.

The cast are Peter Egan as Magnus Pym, Benedict Taylor as Young Magnus Pym, Jonathan and Nicholas Haley as Magnus Pym, Ray McAnally as Rick Pym, Rüdiger Weigang as Axel, Alan Howard as Jack Brotherhood, Jane Booker as Mary Pym, Tim Healy as Syd Lemon, Peggy Ashcroft as Miss Dubber, Sarah Badel as Baroness Weber, Ian McNeice as Sefton Boyd, Julian Firth as Young Sefton Boyd, Garrick Hagon as Grant Lederer, Alan Howard, Sarah Neville, Andy De La Tour, Iain Cuthbertson, Rosamund Greenwood, John Nettleton, Paul Daneman, and Patrick Godfrey.

Ray McAnally (30 March 1926 – 15 June 1989).

Irish actor Ray McAnally (30 March 1926 – 15 June 1989) won four BAFTA Awards: two BAFTA Film Awards for Best Supporting Actor (for The Mission in 1986 and My Left Foot in 1989), and two BAFTA Television Awards for Best Actor (for A Perfect Spy and Scout in 1988 and A Very British Coup in 1989).

Films of John le Carré’s works; The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965), The Deadly Affair (1966), The Looking Glass War (1969), The Little Drummer Girl (1984), The Russia House (1990), The Tailor of Panama (2001), The Constant Gardener (2005), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), A Most Wanted Man (2014), and Our Kind of Traitor (2016).

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,906

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