Best movie ever!

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The BBC is well known for its attention to detail in its drama, and in the main The Secret Agent was also suitably well detailed. Sadly, this attention to detail did not extend to the railway scenes.I understand that the railway scenes were filmed at the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway in Scotland - close to the main filming location of the series. The setting of the drama is in the late 19th century and yet in all railway scenes inappropriate rolling stock was employed. The locomotive used in all the filming could clearly be seen to be 61272. This locomotive was not built until 1928 - over 30 years after the date setting of The Secret Agent. The number on the locomotive did not exist until the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948. The locomotive's tender showed the British Railways "lion & wheel" logo - also post 1948. The coaching stock was part of the Bo'ness & Kinneil's own Caledonian Railway carriages. Indeed, the carriages are stencilled CR. The carriages are also out of period, as these were not built until 1923! I doubt the Caledonian Railways carriages would have been seen on London to Southampton trains.I am disappointed with such poor attention to detail from a BBC production

The first episode does start out rather slow and it has a lighthearted feel to it. Seeing Toby Jones in this type of role for the first time takes a bit of time to get use to ,but He does come through and gives a great performance. A real stand out performance from Vicky McClure and the rest of the cast give a good performance too. By episode 2 it starts to get dark and much more enjoyable to watch.Episode 3 is really good ,it takes some really dark twists and holds your interest .The music really adds to the feel of it all, as does the great location scenes. I thought it well acted and produced, it leaves you wanting more.

This three part drama is centred on Mr. Verloc; a member of a group of anarchists living in London. For the most part they are an ineffectual bunch; they talk a lot but don't actually do anything. Verloc is actually a spy in the pay of Russia and Russia believes that Britain's response to the anarchists has been far too gentle. Hoping to force Britain to adopt a tougher position the Russian First Secretary pressures Verloc to take real action… he wants him to bomb the Greenwich Observatory. To this end Verloc works with fellow anarchist 'The Professor', who makes the bomb before heading out with his autistic brother-in-law on the mission that can only end in tragedy. Before the explosion the police, most notably Inspector Heat, think the anarchists are a bunch of harmless losers but afterwards they are determined to find out who was behind it and expose their backers.Having not read the book I can't say how this adaption compares but as a piece of television I found it rather enjoyable… if distinctly bleak. Toby Jones does a great job as Verloc; a distinctly unlikable protagonist who can't accept that he is to blame for the tragic event midway through the series. He is ably supported by Vicky McClure, who plays his wife, and excels in the final tragic episode. Stephen Graham impresses as Inspector Heat; the only authority figure who doesn't seem to be self-serving. The rest of the cast are pretty good too. Given the age of the original story this feels remarkably fresh; its themes of terrorist plots seem just as relevant today. The story is well told and thankfully the creators didn't decide to provide a happy ending. Overall this was a solid, if somewhat downbeat, story; it won't be for everybody but I rather enjoyed it.

It's a strange and unconvincing story, but it has its points of interest, as it deals with the murky late Victorian world of mysterious anarchists. Unfortunately, this BBC version is not very well done. The main problem is that it is too slow and does not flow. Stephen Graham has a difficult part as Inspector Heat, whose doings and motivations are often obscure. Why he further encumbers this with a heavy Scouse accent is one of the mysteries of the series (I know he's from Liverpool, but he's good at accents). As for Vicky McClure, what is her accent? It's unrelated to the speech of the rest of her screen family and also seems anachronistic to me (too many glottal stops and -d- for -t- in places). Is it that she is just using her own accent (and does she perhaps do so in every part she gets)?