2) CALLAN may well have a touch of the burlesque about it (mind you, DOES
it? I don't know any spies!), but it is a DRAMA series..and a damn fine one.
Not to engage in "series bashing" (a petty and futile business), but I do
honestly think that CALLAN was better than THE SANDBAGGERS. I have not seen
a single bad episode of CALLAN, and every one holds my attention from start
to end...unfortunately, I watched a few episodes of SB after an early shift
at work (5am start!), and I'm afraid to say..they SENT ME TO SLEEP! An
unfair criticism, I know (because I was tired), but the point I'm making is
that unless I'm in the mood for SB, it can be like watching paint dry. The
plots often require major concentration..the characters are not immediately
accessible...Callan on the other hand is incredibly entertaining whilst
remaining entirely credible (to my mind at least)...the characters are SOO
well drawn..there is a rich vein of black humour there...the plots are
always edge-of-the-seat stuff. All this is also borne out by the fact that
CALLAN was immensely popular with the public, and SB...well...wasn't. On top
of this, the writing, directing, and especially acting was first class. So I
suppose what I'm saying , in a nutshell, is that while I do like SB very
much, I prefer CALLAN because it is so much more entertaining...overboard,
maybe, but damn fine, quality entertainment. And as for the plots: indeed,
most lack the complexity of SB plots, but several episodes of SB I simply
did not follow. Convoluted was NOT the word!! Maybe they will become clearer
with repeated viewings... By the way, I am NOT thick ( I have 2 degrees)!
:-)
3) A different subject: somebody else mentioned MAN IN A SUITCASE...I love
this show! It's a completely different kettle of fish, shot on 35mm film
for the mid-Atlantic market, but excellent stuff! Don't know how a die-hard
Sandbagger fan would rate it though....but personally speaking another one
of my favourites!
Regards,
Marcus.
----------
From: eehrlich@shani.net
To: sandbaggers@skylee.com; Payne, Marcus
Subject: Callan
Date: 04 October 1997 22:59
Marcus wrote:
>Honestly, CALLAN is better than THE SANDBAGGERS...heresy to many of you,
>I'm
>sure...but I think many people would agree. THE SANDBAGGERS is excellent,
>whereas CALLAN is a masterpiece..I really do urge all of you to track it
>down: I promise you you won't be disappointed.
Almost all of the better British spy drama is based on the same principle.
Basically moral men are forced to by extraordinary circumstances to engage
in immoral acts - and feel very guilty about it. Both the episodes of the
Sandbaggers and the novels of John LeCarre are full of lies, violence and
betrayal - and this is by the good guys.
Callan is almost a parody of the British spy genre. If Burnside
occasionaly has to do something really nasty (like sending the woman he
loves to her death) then Callan will do something worse. If we see the
ugliness of humanity in the Sandbaggers we'll something REALLY gross in
Callan.
In other words, although I enjoyed Callan a great deal (if "enjoy" is the
correct word), the whole thing was more than a bit overboard. Also, Callan
generally lacked the plot complexity of the Sandbaggers. I don't think
anything outside of some of the more complex LeCarre works had the
complexity of the episode "All In A Good Cause".
Although both Callan and the Sandbaggers have similiaritys, I enjoy both
for different reasons.
Ed Ehrlich <eehrlich@shani.net>