Mr. Palfrey of Westminster

The first thing you need to know is this is a well written and well acted series. If I was rating Mr Palfrey solely on its content, direction, and acting I would be joining everyone in the 8 to 9 category.

However, the broadcast on the Acorn Network is so annoying with the synch issue between audio and visual that it is a struggle to watch. Of course, we have been spoiled to expect the best when we watch our streaming networks. This series is almost 40 years old and obviously it was not archived well.

So take that warning of potential frustration and jump into the well-acted series that will have you remembering the Cold War days and questioning what all governments were up to allegedly to protect us but in the end perhaps they were all about themselves.

I think this was an underrated series, and a very brief one it was. The acting and writing are superior to outstanding, and much of the art of its craft comes from the use of language and the consummate acting and directing--in addition to the strong scripts. Alex McCowan as Mr. Palfrey is simply superior--every bit the equal of Alec Guinesses's performance in (was it?) "Smiley's People". Yet the supporting casts are strong too, and worthy of praise--it's just that McCowan's performance is so strong and "right on", regards the character's motivations and overall personality traits, just a few of which are quirky. If you can, take in every one of these--especially if you like a more challenging variety of writing rather than action-oriented material.

If you're a George Smiley fan I suggest you leave Mr Palfrey on the shelf.

I"m compelled to make that recommendation after reading a previous Reviewer's ill informed comparison between the two ("McCowan's performance simply superior to Guinesses's.")

Really ? I found the Palfrey character to be an obsequies, clever-by-half, prissy civil servant, who jumps whenever his politically-aware, domineering Coordinator tells him to. Rarely does he ever argue a position, even if he believes it to be wrong.

On the other hand, Smiley is the complete opposite, a composite MI6 veteran, dispassionate, cold, calculating &, when required, an utterly ruthless operator.

One can only imagine Smiley's reaction, compared to Palfrey's, to one of the lady's exuberant demands :- ...the spectacles would be removed, the lens cleaned with the bottom of the tie, there would be a clearing of the throat, the spectacles replaced with a very quiet, "Will that be all ?"

Where Smiley treats his enforcers as team players, the relationship between Palfrey & Blair is more that of master & servant.

I"m sorry, I don't think Palfrey would make the second interview in an application to join The Circus.

On the whole, the story lines are good & Blair lends authenticity to his role. McCowan successfully portrays Palfrey as written for him, but, please, no George Smiley comparisons.

This was an excellent series with a total of ten shows, released in 1984 and aired by PBS in the U.S. in the late 80s. They only ran the shows one time. Too bad! It was the last series written by George Markstein of Danger Man/Secret Agent fame. The situation is of a very small department under the indirect control of an unnamed English female prime minister (hmmmm, who could that be?). This department tackles Mission Impossible-style tasks that cannot be carried out by official means, but they do it with a staff of three (Mr. Palfrey, his secretary and his side-kick) and no high-tech gizmos or budget. How do they do it? Their "dirty tricks" are way more tricky than dirty. Both their subjects and their audience are taken on a ride, often with a surprise ending. My favorite episode was "Return to Sender" (I think that's the name, anyway) about a Russian double-agent who has decided he wants to return home. Mr. Palfrey assignment is to stop by any means necessary. Just when you think you're going to witness the agent's demise, Mr. Palfrey's mastery of psychology saves the day. I don't know how you're ever going to see the series, as repeated requests to the BBC to re-release it have gone nowhere, but if you get a chance, don't pass it up. - January 2005 Six years later: the DVD set is finally available from Acorn media. Well worth the purchase!

Somewhere in here there is a good series, but the cheap production values are distracting. The worst is that it is filmed on videotape - a classic drawback to many BBC productions in the 1970s and early 1980s (DVD boxes should come with warnings that the original content was shot on videotape...) Also, although the plots are not transparent, the next scene usually can be anticipated because the writing suffers from predictability and small scenes - intimate discussions between two people in a tiny sitting room or office. This series could be a great candidate for a remake - after a polishing of the script with the addition of a dash of humour to alleviate the drama. Originally filmed in 1984, it could be updated or set in 1984, but with more of an eye to 1984 culture and a tad more tension. If this were a meal I would say its good, but it needs salt and pepper.