Circles of Deceit (TV series)

Circles of Deceit is a British television thriller series, produced by Yorkshire Television, first broadcast on ITV on 16 October 1993.[1] The series stars Dennis Waterman as John Neil, a former serving officer in the Special Air Service, who works as a private investigator for the secret service. A total of four episodes were broadcast, including a single feature-length self-titled pilot in 1993,[2] and a series of three episodes, filmed in 1995, and broadcast between 1995 and 1996. Although broadcast as the final episode of the series, Sleeping Dogs is set chronologically after the events of the self-titled pilot (which was re-titled The Wolves are Howling for disambiguation reasons on repeat broadcasts and home video release).

Circles of Deceit
GenreThriller
Written byWesley Burrowes
John Brown
Ray Jenkins
Barry Appleton
Directed byGeoffrey Sax
Nicholas Laughland
Alan Grint
Peter Barber-Fleming
StarringDennis Waterman
Susan Jameson
Derek Jacobi
Dave Hill
Theme music composerBruce Broughton
Composer(s)Tim Souster
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of series2
No. of episodes4 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)David Reynolds
Andrew Benson (1994–1996)
Producer(s)Andrew Benson (1993)
Simon Lewis
CinematographyRobbie Greenberg
Alan Pyrah
Editor(s)Michael Brown
Neil Thompson
Alan Jones
Running time100 minutes
Production company(s)Yorkshire Television
DistributorITV Studios
Release
Original networkITV
Picture format16:9
Audio formatMono
Original release16 October 1993 (1993-10-16) –
23 December 1996 (1996-12-23)

Aside from Neil, the only other character to appear in all four films was the Controller. In the pilot, this role was assumed by Derek Jacobi (under the pseudonym of Randal). For the series, Jacobi was replaced by Susan Jameson. The only other recurring character throughout the series was Andy, a wheelchair-bound researcher and collator, played by Dave Hill. A VHS video of the self-titled pilot was released in the United States in 1994. The complete series was later released on Region 1 DVD in the United States by Acorn Media on 17 May 2011.[3] On 23 April 2018, nearly twenty-five years after the broadcast of the self-titled pilot, the complete series was released on Region 2 DVD in the United Kingdom by Strawberry Media.[4]

Cast

The Wolves are Howling

Sleeping Dogs

Dark Secret

Kalon

Episodes

Pilot (1993)
No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
11"The Wolves are Howling"Geoffrey SaxWesley Burrowes16 October 1993 (1993-10-16)
Randal (Derek Jacobi), a secret service agent investigating Irish Republican Army kingpin Liam Macaulay (Peter Vaughan), enlists the help of John Neil, a former SAS operative with a background in undercover work, to go undercover in Belfast posing as ex-pat Jackie O'Connell, the estranged brother of Father Fergal (Ian McElhinney), the Macaulay's parish priest. Neil's job is to get find out when and how Macaulay plans to bring in a new shipment of arms and ammunition. Neil succeeds in winning Macaulay's confidence, as well as the romantic attentions of his daughter Ellish (Clare Higgins) after saving her from an arson attack, but as suspicions about his true identity begin to mount, and Macaulay's right hand man watching his every move, Neil realises that must complete his mission before his cover is blown. Matters are further complicated when Neil discovers that Macaulay was responsible for a bomb that exploded in a circus tent in Germany two years ago - the same bomb which subsequently killed his wife and son.

Series (1995—1996)
No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
21"Sleeping Dogs"Alan GrintStory: Jill Arlon
Screenplay: John Brown		23 December 1996 (1996-12-23)

Neil is asked to meet with retired KGB officer Alexander Petrov (Leo McKern), who has approached the service claiming that he has highly classified information that he wishes to sell on to pay for a triple heart bypass. Petrov refuses to give in easily, but provides Neil with the names of two sleeper agents, Annie Shepherd (Frances Barber) and Bill Roper (Bill Armstrong) as an 'introductory offer'. But while Neil sets about tracking down Shepherd and Roper, Petrov is murdered after suffering a heart attack whilst being tortured, and Roper is later found dead having suffered a broken neck. Whilst trying to protect Annie, Neil finds he has become the target of a German hitman, Hans Schroder (Nicholas Jones), who believes him to have been responsible for Petrov's death. With Schroder's help, Neil's investigation leads him to uncover that two rogue members of the IRA are trying to recruit members of Petrov's former cell to carry out a targeted attack on a summit being attended by Ministers of the Soviet.

Although broadcast as the final episode of the series, "Sleeping Dogs" is chronologically set following the events of "The Wolves are Coming".
32"Dark Secret"Nick LaughlandStory: Jill Arlon
Screenplay: Barry Appleton		27 December 1995 (1995-12-27)
Neil is asked to monitor one of his former SAS colleagues, Jim Caine (Sean McGinley), whom the secret service suspect of involvement in a safety deposit box robbery. After learning that Caine is using information from documents stolen in the robbery to commit blackmail, the service have deemed him a threat to national security, and Neil's task is to find out who he is blackmailing. Neil uses Caine's partner Kate (Kate Buffery) to gain a way in, and discovers that Caine's target is none other than Harry Summers (Corin Redgrave), an ambitious member of Parliament who has a history of run-ins with the security services. Neil discovers that Summers' assistant Sarah Ellis (Holly Aird) has hired a South African hitman, Eugene Travis (Joe Montana) to target those who have become privy to the true identity of Summers' father, a wanted war criminal who eloped from Germany in 1949 and used false documents to obtain British citizenship. But before Neil can investigate further, he is ordered off the case by his superiors.
43"Kalon"Peter Barber-FlemingStory: Jill Arlon
Screenplay: Ray Jenkins		8 April 1996 (1996-04-08)
When Major Robert Turner (Nicholas Pritchard) is found shot through the head outside the army base where he was stationed, Neil's superiors task him to uncover the identity of the killer. Neil's investigations lead him to Jason Sturden (John Hannah), assistant to crooked merchant banker Brendan Rylands (Simon Cadell), the senior partner of Cottrill's, a highly lucrative private bank situated in the heart of London's financial district. Neil discovers that Rylands is the mastermind of a drug-smuggling and money-laundering ring involving Japanese banker Osuna (Jack Klaff), wealthy Hungarian property developer Paric (Constantine Gregory), and a serving officer in the Royal Air Force, Alec Dwyer (Struan Rodger). Neil struggles to work out how their operation is connected to Turner's death, but his main priority soon switches to the safety of Turner's girlfriend, Liz Baker (Saskia Wickham), a serving officer in the British Army, whose police protection has aroused the suspicions of Rylands and his associates.
gollark: Nothing could possibly go wrong.
gollark: Just take off all the stuff after that apostrophe (inclusive).
gollark: Idea: please no.
gollark: Idea:
gollark: Everyone assumes somebody else will do it.

References
  1. http://www.tv.com/shows/circles-of-deceit/episodes/
  2. BFI.org
  3. https://www.amazon.com/CIRCLES-DECEIT-Dennis-Waterman/dp/B004O0CJYM
  4. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Circles-Deceit-DVD-Dennis-Waterman/dp/B07B12HNJ8/
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