Following a successful career as a journalist Frederick Forsyth branched out into writing spy thrillers. His first booker The Day of the Jackal, about a plot to kill the French president, shot him into international fame. Subsequently the book became a successful movie, as did adaptations of The Odessa File (1974), The Dogs of War (1980) and The Fourth Protocol (1987). Given the success of the novels and films ITV commissioned six made for television movies based on Forsyth’s stories which were introduced by the man himself.

I don’t know if it’s the age of the print, but the picture is very soft almost as if it had been converted from an American copy, either that or the original was recorded on video and not celluloid. All the shows have the options for English subtitles, but there are no extras. The shows are presented in their original aspect ratio of 4:3 with a Dolby 2.0 audio track.

The set is aimed at Forsyth fans, of which I’m not one; I prefer my spy thrillers to have a little fantasy thrown in. Forsyth is a meticulous researcher; his stories weave real life elements into his narrative making them appear worryingly plausible. There is a lot less of Ian Fleming’s flamboyant James Bond in his characters, and in his attempt to place his characters in the real world his stories are more akin to Len Deighton’s work, especially The IPCRESS File (1962) and Funeral in Berlin (1964), though generally his characters have a faith in their work and so don’t sink to the depths of the paranoid TV series Callan (1967-1974).

Each of the TV movies is presented on its own disc.

A Casualty of War (1 hr, 35 min, 51 sec), adapted by Murray Smith - who adapted them all - and directed by Tom Clegg. Following the attack on Libya, Colonel Gaddafi, determines to revenge himself on the American and the British, from when the planes were dispatched, by supplying the IRA with a large cache of weapons. Tom Rowse, a former agent who retired to become a writer, is persuaded by his ex-boss to travel to Libya to uncover the conspiracy. He is arrested at the airport, but advised to try Cyprus where he meets Monica (Shelley Hack), whom he suspects is somehow involved.

The film starred David Threlfall as the tortured Rowse, who is forever being place in danger and manipulated by his old boss Sam McCready (Alan Howard). The film benefits from location shooting to give it a sense of scope, though to be honest it felt a bit lopsided. Thelfall plays the troubled ex-agent well enough, but Howard dominates almost every scene he is in and seemed to be a much more interesting character. I ended up wanting to see more of him than the main plot.

Just another Secret (1 hr, 40 min, 13 sec) was directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. A complete cell of the CIA has disappeared in East Germany and Jack Grant (Beau Bridges) is sent over the wall to find out what happened. What he finds is a conspiracy to assassinate Mikhail Gorbachev. Given that the world is on the brink of another war Bridges plays a very languid character, which does little to add to the sense of urgency for his mission. Once again it’s odd that some of the supporting characters are much more interesting, especially Kenneth Cranham as the honest and taciturn police officer who also smell a rat regarding Gorbachev’s visit.

Prime and Extreme Prejudice (1 hr, 37 min, 09 sec) was directed by Ian Sharp. Bruno Morenz (Brian Dennehy) works for British Intelligence on a part time basis, but Bruno has a weakness, he has fallen in love with the prostitute he was supposed to be keeping under surveillance. When he discovers that she has been running her own surveillance he kills her and her pimp, now even his own side is after him. It’s another well execute story, this time with an unexpected twist in the tale.

A Little Piece of Sunshine (1 hr, 36 min, 35 sec) was directed by James Cellan Jones and with its exotic location and the inclusion of Lauren Bacall (Beatrix Coltrane) this story takes a few tentative steps into Ian Fleming territory.

When the British Governor of the Caribbean island of Sunshine is killed, it seems that the murder is connected to organised crime. Sam McCready requests that Desmond Hannah (Larry Lamb) of Scotland Yard take charge of the case, when he gets out he discovers that both candidates are corrupt and the islanders are not looking forward to being independently ruled by either of them. Under the constant threat of arrest by the corrupt local chief of police Hannah and McCready have to discover the identity of the killer before the elections.

Watching the films back to back it’s easy to see the formula which Forsyth is using, that said, the stories are well scripted and the acting is mostly pretty good for a television film, especially Alan Howard.

Death Has a Bad Reputation (1 hr, 38 min, 04 sec) was directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark and Forsyth returns to a previously used character, Carlos the Jackal (Tony Lo Bianco) who, following the assassination of Donatini, worked for the US State Department. The chase is on to catch, driven by two characters who are motivated by guilt and revenge. This particular story is noteworthy for an early appearance of Elizabeth Hurley as journalist Julia Latham, who gets caught up in McCready’s schemes. This is probably the weakest of the films with variable acting.

The Price of the Bride (1 hr, 38 min, 18 sec) was directed by Tom Clegg and Forsyth tackles the thorny question of attribution when a Soviet agent, Orlov (Robert Foxworth), defects to the West. But is he all he seems? Is he even the real agent? It’s a plot that has been used before, notably in Who? (1973). Here it gets the usual Forsyth’s touch of reality.

Even given some of the rare faults in acting, this is a pretty good set for fans of Forsyth’s work. All the stories are tightly scripted, which goes a long way to balance up the soft picture. Effectively, your getting six films for a pretty good price. The stories are a product of their time, and though the cold war has almost disappeared, you still get the feeling that these stories are still not that far removed from reality.

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Charles Packer