> Ps Dave adds.....the Governments have been run by Public Servants since the
> beginning of Democracy. The "voted in representatives" are only figureheads,
> their only power being their signatures at the bottom of the page!!! This is
> highlighted in Episodes 1-6. In episode 2 "A Proper Function of Government",
> the life of an African Dictator was preserved whist the life of a possible
> defector was in question.
I'd like to nuance that statement a little bit... Shows like "Yes Minister" show
the power of bureaucrats, it's true. But The Sandbaggers is more of a tussle
between various levels of hierarchy. Sometimes the political level (or one of
its toadies) wins; sometimes it's circumvented by Neil. But neither side is
clean. Each pursues its own aims. In Episode 2, Neil and Wellingham are
presented as mirrors for each other (Remember that great shot where Neil (I
think) walks up the staircase into Wellingham's shadow?) In later, post-Laura
episodes, sometimes Neil acts out of guilt or bravado (trying to get himself
fired, as Jeff Ross so astutely notes). In "A Question of Justice" (details to
be preserved for those awaiting 7-20), Neil suddenly finds reason to believe in
'the system'. He was ready to assassinate without permission, but the sheer
pathos of the situation makes him think twice.
Oh how I envy those who are about to discover 7-20 for the first time...
Everything that follows hinges on Laura's death. Enjoy...
Mark