Dave-J7 A good old-fashioned Cold-war thriller that resembles Len Deighton more than John LeCarre (especially as one of Deighton's books was entitled Berlin Game.) It certainly has the slow pace of the masters in order to facilitate character development as the personalities of the people that play the game are intrinsic to the plot. It's beautifully shot and the scenery is very 1970, although there are far too few cars in shot for it to resemble central London. Still, can't complain as these things cost the cash that the Beeb is usually strapped for.A few anomalies in the script could have been avoided, though. Why did the KGB pretend to kill Julia instead of making Joe do their wicked will by pressing a gun to her head? Why wasn't Joe chief suspect from the start? But these pale into insignificance beside the scene in the last part where Sarah meets her husband in the safe-house without thinking that the room is certain to be bugged. Beans spilled all over the show after 25 years of great care to ensure against such mishaps. In the annals of great TV dramas, this rates as a schoolboy-howler.Still an enjoyable, pleasingly-retro, thriller. Those of us who enjoyed LeCarre and Deighton will have a nice glow of nostalgia whilst watching this one and the youngsters can learn how TV drama should be done.

lewilewis1997 I'm a Cold War spy thriller fan, so I might as well say John Le Carre fan as he was and is the master of all that he surveys. So imagine my excitement that this was coming to my screen courtesy of the delectable Auntie Beeb? I hoped that it was 'in the style of...' and immediately hoped for a Smiley or two and I'm not talking about emoticons at the end of an email. It has all of the classic ingredients and some very canny actors. There is intrigue, cross and double cross, moles, double agents, mysterious and deadly bad guys, vulnerable good guys who actually believe in 'Queen And Country' blah, blah, blah. The look and feel are excellent, the attention to detail and resurrecting the crazy strike happy hyper inflationary IRA infested 70's is spot on. BUT ONE THING IS BUGGING ME MORE AND MORE AND IS MAKING THIS UNWATCHABLE...The terrible trade craft. What a bunch of amateurs! If you, like me, have devoured pretty much every Le Carre book going you will know a few tricks of the trade as well. My biggest bug bear is that the defector's handlers are also used for covert and mobile surveillance - this would never happen. Not then, not now. 'Watchers' are specially trained experts and would never be known to the 'target'. It doesn't seem to matter in this. Despite the high risk of discovery and blowing the operation they follow a defecting KGB double agent on more than one occasion. They don't even change their appearance like doff/remove a hat/glasses or change a jacket or the way they walk. Come on guys?! You get it so right, then blow it on minor details like this? Was it budgetary constraints? Not enough money for the extra's? You can fill the streets of London with a myriad of period dressed extra's and rare cars in mint condition but can't afford a few nefarious looking types like ex-safe crackers, burglars and pick pockets or plain Janes as MI5 did for these kind of jobs?Which brings me on to the question of the KGB Colonel, defecting for love, and to save the world. The KGB were very good at what they did. They knew how to dodge, dive, duck and disappear. This guy doesn't have a clue despite having a lot to hide. On a long drive through the country on a minor 'A' road he doesn't once double back, fake a breakdown to force followers to pass by or notice his own handler following 100 yards behind him in his own car with none in between?! Don't you at least change your number plates? Not in this apparently. And the Special Met Police fire arms guys? Hanging out of open windows in plain sight with Lee Enfield rifles despite the surveillance on this occasion being aimed at trapping the main bad guy; a top KGB assassin? Surely the first thing he would do is turn up early and check for traps and anything untoward on a chilly day. Wide open windows when it's cold would stand out a mile. How do we know it's a wee bit chilly? Extras dressed for an autumn day in macs and scarves are a clue. Shouldn't they have been a bit more professional and left the windows shut to hide behind the reflections and blend in with the others closed against the cold? Bullets take no notice of a flimsy glass barrier, so why open the windows and telegraph your positions?ENOUGH! Despite this being quite a classy production with actors that are definitely a cut above, these stupid mistakes are making it unwatchable. I will keep trying, but I think my neighbours are getting hacked off with me shouting at the telly in an angry fashion every Thursday night.This review will self destruct in five, four, three, two.............

pmendham The Game is an absolutely first rate Cold War mini-series from the BBC set in the 1970's. The 70's feel is palpably conveyed through the authentic use of the fashions, hairstyles, vehicles and music from that decade. The plot is complex and intelligent with lots of twists and turns and will appeal to Le Carré fans. The acting is absolutely superb all round. The scenes inside the Security Service show that most of the people working there are paper shufflers rather than James Bond action types which is probably a more realistic portrayal. My only gripe is that it was only 6 episodes but as is often the case with the BBC, quality trumps quantity. If I could only have one station on my pay TV service it would definitely be the BBC. The quality of British productions in recent times, both on the big screen (e.g. Tinker Tailor, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything) and small screen (The Game, Peaky Blinders, The Honourable Woman), has been absolutely outstanding.

Major Kalas First of all - the acting is great. But: If you're a John LeCarre fan looking for something like "Tinker Tailor...", you might end up seriously dissatisfied. That was exactly my problem when I began to watch the first episode. I felt betrayed by the writers: The character Joe Lamme looks almost like Peter Guillam played by Benedict Cumberbatch. The chief of MI5 is called Daddy and nobody knows his real name (like Control in "Tinker Tailor..."). His wife probably doesn't know he's working for MI5 (Control used to have a wife who thought he works as a postman - it's one little sentence in one of LeCarre's books). The evil KGB guy is called Odin (not Karla) and nobody knows his real name. DC Jim Fenchurch is basically Smiley's right hand man Mendel. Joe and Jim try to figure out who the mole is - they pull cards as a symbol for each of their colleagues. There is a mole. This alone would not be upsetting, but then there are goofs like: Joe tells Jim that he will use a workname - aloud, behind the suspect's door. Wendy is shaking all the time, I wonder how she passed the job interview. One scene is almost an exact remake of a scene from the first X-Files movie. I could go on. But it's really pointless, because obviously this series were not made for LeCarre fans. It's simply a well-made spy thriller that uses visual language of Thomas Alfredson's movie and borrows elements from genre classics.