Let's just get the name dropping out of the way straight away by me telling you why I watched this film as part of the BBC4 night of Russia-related films. Recently I had been to Russia for work and it had made me think that I know very little about this massive world power. Watching Stella's Rimington's presentation in this film didn't fill my head with facts and figures but what it did do was effectively present impressions of the country and how they had changed over the years.
We start this topic with the decision in 1830 by former British diplomatic Urquhart that Russia was set for world domination and had Britain in its pocket an idea taken up by Karl Marx, who believed that the British involvement in the Crimean War was just a trick to cover this relationship up! From here we follow through to modern times. Obviously over 150 years of relationship and interaction cannot be totally covered in a sixty minute documentary so instead it tries to give interesting nuggets while also presenting the main feelings and events.
It is not totally successful as many viewers will feel like they don't know a lot more than they did, but in regards what it is trying to do it does pull it off just about. Rimington herself is an authority on this subject and a good choice for the job of presenting; it is just a shame then that she is as bland and drab as you could have imagined. I suppose it comes with the profession, blending in, not standing out from the background in anyway qualities you need in a spook I guess but they hardly help in regards hosting a television programme! Overall though the approach works even without much help from her. The nuggets are mostly very interesting and what you lose in total historical learning you make up for with an overall impression and an engaging collection of stories and events. Not perfect but an interesting watch even if the use of Rimington works much, much better on paper than it does in reality.
