An Affair with a Married Woman

This first episode of a spy miniseries was a huge disappointment for me, and very dull to watch. Sam Neill has been electrifying in other stuff (like POSSESSION) but he feels very stiff here and a lot of it is given over to rather cheesy torrid romantic scenes. The spying aspect is very talky which makes it all a bit of a bore.

It has been widely noted that the real life character of Sidney Reilly played by Sam Neill was probably the prototype for Ian Fleming's dashing hero James Bond. However, it is difficult from this first episode of RAOS to see a resemblance.. Bond was charming, sophisticated, charismatic and endlessly fun to watch. By comparison, Reilly is rather staid, stolid, genteel and somewhat bland. While both Reilly and Bond were attractive to women and visa versa, the energy level invested by each leading man into activities involving the opposite sex seems decidedly different. At times, it almost appears like Neill is just on the surface of his portrayal of Reilly in the first episode of the RAOS series. This observation is not intended in any way to disparage Neill's talents as an actor. After all, he did not write the script. It is interesting to note that notwithstanding the success of the RAOS series, its creators did not find a reasonable way to resurrect the Reilly character and continue depicting his future possible adventures. Could this be explained by referring to the old adage: "Why eat bread (Reilly) when you can have cake (Bond)?"

The producers of RAOS have assembled a talented cast of interesting actors to set the stage for our story, including such familiar players as John Rhys-Davies and Leo McKern. The locales and costumes seen in the first episode enhance the authentic period feel of the narrative and add to its credibility. As for Neill, while he may not be Sean Connery, in his own somewhat understated way------he created a character we could definitely accept as a believable spy who just might be On His Majesty's Secret Service.

This first episode of RAOS may not be one of its best, and unfortunately might have turned off some viewers from staying with the series. This is too bad, because several of RAOS's future escapades were much more interesting and entertaining. For a made for TV special series, RAOS was definitely a cut above the ordinary. While RAOS will not cause the viewer to abandon Bond for Reilly, it does offer a valid alternative when considering the matter.

Reilly: Ace of Spies was the big drama offering from ITV in 1983. It was based on the real life Sidney Reilly, reputed to be Russian born and an inspiration to the character of James Bond.

ITV gave the series plenty of hype and a big promotional push. We had every intention of watching the double episode premiere in 1983.

On the night we suddenly decided to watch the special television presentation of The Godfather films on BBC1 which they were going to show over five nights.

After that we never bothered with Reilly. We fell too far behind.

Almost 40 years later I finally got to watch the first episode. We made the right choice that night, it was no match for Francis Coppola's epic.

With a rising star in Sam Neill and foreign location shooting, Reilly: Ace of Spies looks like an epic. There is some very good art direction and sets.

The first episode sees Reilly going under the name of Sydney Rosenblum through Baku and taken off a train. He is suspected by the police for having important information about Russian oil surveys that he plans to take to Britain.

The fast thinking Reilly charms the young wife of an elderly vicar for his escape, which later causes her embarrassment.

It was all rather sedate and stodgy. Too much talking and not enough action. It goes along in a stately pace and even the end confrontation in a crypt with Zaharov held no surprises.

When I saw some notes that this was the character that James Bond ( zero zero seven) was based on I expected it to be fascinating and dramatic. Sadly it was unexpectedly dull. Although the locations were at time exotic, the characters moved around them without any apparent sense or urgency. The needs to escape at any cost was discussed but nothing supported it. The curmudgeonly clergyman and the put upon wife seemed two dimensional. And the agent suffered a doctor who like detachment and coolness. This may well be a requisite of secret agents, but it means that actions are undramatic as there is apparently no emotion involved.

Sam Neill is in his element as Sidney Reilly (Sigmund Rosenblum) during the Russian revolution. You are never sure for whom he is spying. He is a British spy that was responsible for gaining secrets that assured the Japanese success in their maritime war efforts with the Russians. He later became involved in the Bolshevik revolution. All the time he is making money, and we are never sure whether he is just a British spy or a double agent or just out for himself.

This season 1 episode 1 is the introduction to Sigmund Rosenblum; here his life's story and how he became a spy for the British. In this beginning episode, he is detained at Baku, but the reason is not clear. He must escape before the reason becomes clear to his capturers. He devisees a brilliantly simple scheme that includes passion and madness.

Original

Episode # Prod # Air Date Episode Title

1. 1- 1 5 Sep 83 An Affair with a Married Woman (90 min)