Codename: Kyril

Confession. I like anything with Edward Woodward. His is not the central role - that is the remit of the late Ian Charleson and he plays the part well. So many great actors in this but some of them are not at their best. In particular, Richard E Grant is miscast and awful. I can't figure out whether he was still honing his skills or just had a lousy script. Indeed, his role seems pointless. Peter Vaughan is deliciously OTT as a Soviet big wig and Denholm Elliot is, as always, quite marvellous. However, the plot just doesn't seem right - it's not that it doesn't make sense like a John Le Carré script until the end, it just doesn't make sense. As a product of its time (1987, before the collapse of the Soviet Union), it is a curiosity that is overshadowed by Smiley and the Circus, and by Len Deighton's Game Set and Match. It could have been so much better but just enjoy it for the many fine actors, some of whom are no longer with us.