"Every government has its secret service branch.
America, CIA; France, Deuxième Bureau; England, MI5.
NATO also has its own.
A messy job? Well that's when they usually call on me or someone like me.
Oh yes, my name is Drake, John Drake."
And so we are introduced to one of NATO's foremost special agents; the ingenious but principled John Drake. Drake is an American agent (despite the show being British) who is frequently called in to deal with the most challenging or urgent cases of his unnamed employer.
Although Danger Man (AKA Secret Agent in the US) launched in 1960, a full two years before Sean Connery made "Bond, James Bond" a cultural touchstone, its main character has clearly been informed by Ian Fleming's creation ... though mostly in terms of what he isn't. Drake is not a womaniser - he meets plenty of attractive women, but he doesn't bed them - and while he might have authority to kill, he doesn't like to do it; to the point that in one early episode of the series, he initially refuses an assassination mission.
Drake's assignment also tend to considerably less extravagant than Bond's (movie) missions. That's partly a factor of time and budget, of course: each episode is only 25 minutes long, and probably cost less than 5% of Dr No's price tag. But I suspect it is also a deliberate choice of tone, with a grounded, 'realistic' (by TV standards) feel to it.
If you've an interest in Cold War espionage media, this is worth looking up.
No comments:
Post a Comment