I need to put some heavy caveats on this post so will get them out of the way at the start. I may have got the wrong end of the stick, I may have completely misunderstood, there may have been a message explaining all which I have missed, and I may just be completely mistaken.
The subject is the 5-part BBC spy thriller, London Spy, which finished this week. To start with it was really good, gripping, exciting and an intriguing plot line with interesting twists. It included my favourite actor, Jim Broadbent, excellently cast as an elderly 'queen' Scottie, and Charlotte Rampling, who is not exactly bad either.
By the end though I was laughing, and then on reflection also somewhat disturbed. MI5, when not blackmailing various innocent relatives of the main protagonists, were murdering and torturing their own spies and former spies. For the second time in his life poor old Scottie was subject of a fake hanging at the hands of MI5, this time successfully, having been kidnapped by a fake taxi driver (presumably also in the employ of MI5). Oh and MI5 also ran an escort agency set up solely to seduce and blackmail both their own staff, rival spies and basically anyone else they fancied getting a hold over.
Needless to say various shadowy and not so shadowy members of the Establishment all thought this was a thoroughly good thing - 'needs must old chap.' A series of conspiracy theories even beyond Norman Baker's wildest imaginations.
The Times TV critic, Alex Hardy, got it right in his review on Tuesday; 'Perhaps the biggest lie told in London Spy was at the start, when it pretended to be really good.'
All this of course is fair enough. If the BBC want to commission a thriller as fanciful and ultimately dud as this turned out to be, then it is up to us viewers to suspend belief and enjoy it or give up and watch 'Escape to the Country' instead.
My problem is not with the absurd storyline. No, and this is where I must remind you of the caveats I began with, my difficulty is that the story - to start with at least - was obviously inspired by the real life 'body in the bag' case.
In London Spy, Alex (the MI5 spy of the title) was living in a flat in London whilst working at Thames House. He kept this secret from his boyfriend, Danny, the hero of the story. He also kept his sexuality secret from his employers.
After he went missing for a few days Danny discovered Alex's naked body trapped in a small box in the attic of Alex's flat, apparently having suffocated to death. The attic itself had been, unbeknown to Danny, converted into some kind of sado-masochistic room-in-the-roof.
In Monday's last episode we learnt that Alex was so clever that he had invented a secret formula which could discover by analysing the way a person spoke, whether they were lying or not. This of course was a terrible threat to the Establishment. As we all know all politicians are liars, and with this new tool it could be proved. A subtle dig at Tony Blair no doubt.
Fearing the consequences of his new discovery MI5 kidnapped poor old Alex and put him in a tiny wooden box. They tortured him and eventually persuaded his mum (Charlotte Rampling) to come along to his attic and speak with him through a small opening in the top of the box. This was all supervised and filmed by MI5 staff dressed in full forensic protective equipment, and watched over by senior MI5 bosses. In response to the pleas by his mum through the little hole in the box (watch it on iPlayer if you do not believe me) Alex agreed to give up his research, move to Canada and never say anything about all this again.
Unfortunately for Alex (and his mum) MI5 tested these pledges against his newly invented truth machine, proving he was lying. Indeed he didn't even (cruel twist this) really love his mum (although actually she was not really his mum but things are complicated enough so probably best not to go there).
Anyway the upshot was that MI5 knew they could not trust Alex. They therefore left him in the box (Box* leaves in him the box so to speak) to suffocate and die. His body was duly discovered by his boyfriend. MI5's plan was that the dim CID officers (a role ideally suited for me!) would then pin the blame on Danny. MI5 would cover up their dastardly deeds, leaving the nasty politicians free to carry on lying to us.
The ending came with Danny and Alex's mum getting together to carry on his investigations - perhaps setting up a second series where MI5 will try to bump them off in some bizarre way as well?
My concern with all this comes back to the point that the 'fictional' story was clearly in part based on a genuine true and tragic sudden death. In the real life 'body in a bag' the MI6 (in this case) IT expert (as opposed to spy) Gareth Williams's naked body was found zipped up inside a sports holdall in his bathroom. It seems Gareth was also secretly gay. The actor who played Alex, Edward Holcroft, even bears an uncanny resemblance to Mr Williams. Did Gareth's family approve of all of this nonsense? Were the BBC trying to suggest that MI5 may have murdered one of their own spies in this bizarre fashion?
I end by repeating the caveats again. I may have got this completely wrong. Maybe it is only me. But if I haven't, and it's not, then it all seems to be a bit insensitive and distasteful, and also absurd.
*Box, a term used by Special Branch officers, when referring to MI5
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