Defence of the Realm

THE SPYING GAME: BRITISH CINEMA AND THE SECRET STATE

Director: David Drury. Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott.

UK, 1985. 96 mins.

A thriller that stands out for its superb sense of time and place (a 1980s London, in particular Fleet Street, on the brink of radical change, and the arrival of the US nuclear bases in the Fens), with an impressive debut from Gabriel Byrne and particularly effective performance from Denholm Elliot as a veteran political correspondent. A precursor to the BBC's recent STATE OF PLAY.