Diagonaldi Very well executed

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

michelbullock I thought this series was a great show and want to know when or if you are making another. I enjoyed watching how the characters were built and unfolded and trying to work out who was what (baddie or goodie) in the characters. Also enjoyed the slower pace of the story as opposed to one and a half hour movies that squeeze as much out of the time as possible without portraying the 'real life' pace and how in 'real life' it is the bringing together of lots of small pieces of information that result in collating the whole picture/story. Hope you make another one.

framesps As always ; the mood, atmosphere and production are top notch, as you would expect from the bbc. Brilliant character acting, good story (as you would expect) and amazing effects, camera work and editing. The impact is immediate and realism of the sets and effect grip the senses.. That is until a feeling of disappointment takes over. I would like to make a bold attempt to explain the slight dissatisfaction that comes up within some of the other reviews . Firstly; the bbc no longer really exists. Instead; programs are made by independent companies from a huge list, vetted by a managing body, chosen, kept and classified within certain 'standards'. This is why there seems to be a regularity to all new production. 'The game' is a good example of why the 'direction' of new production is becoming more disappointing. For anything to be exceptional, there needs to be a bit of genius. Sometimes wild. (as an example of what I mean - the group 'Pink Floyd' eventually lamented the loss of Syd Barrett ). And pure inspiration cannot be replaced by gimmick, style, effect or wackiness. What 'the Game' has is let down by what is missing. The bbc system may well be run by people with little creative interest and production made within limitation , simply because they don't know. The attempts a\t humour and being different , in 'the game' make me think of the kind of people with the ambition to work for advertising agencies. In fact, the production values are also similar and some people may well say, 'what's wrong with that'. Which could well be an indication of what has gone wrong with the system and of the way it is going. Were there was once rebellion against the system, it is now the goal , with larger audience, more programs, less range and tighter control. Ambition is a poor substitute for innovation.

dcurrie623 I'm usually a sucker for these British spy stories so when I saw the good reviews and started watching (tho not expecting another Tinker Tailor) I was expecting to be entertained on at least some level.Oh dear. 'disappointment' would be too kind a word.First of all, not too many minutes in, it becomes apparent that the lead actor has no qualities whatsoever. A blank. Well I take that back, he has boyish good looks which is totally out of place for his character. He might be a good actor, but one would never know it from this series. However the bad (or non) acting is not restricted to him. This aspect is spread pretty evenly throughout the cast who all are vying for top honors in this department with the exception being Brian Cox and a couple of the minor characters.The stupid and uninspired script shows that however talented the writer was on other projects, this kind of story is not up his street. Ridiculous plot development and inane, clichéd dialog does not help the actors who undoubtedly are shown to poor advantage. As someone else pointed out, if the 'tradecraft' of these amateur hour intelligence folks was used in real life (whatever that is), the West would have gone under along time ago. However, the director should not be held blameless when all else is so bad. Aren't directors supposed to make silk purses...On a happier note, the photography of the series is very goodBelieve me, I hate to dump on all these people as I know they tried to make something good. Unfortunately it did not work out.

Tweekums Set in the early 1970s MI5 operative Joe Lambe is given the task of overseeing the defection and debriefing of Soviet agent Arkady. He quickly learns that the Soviets have a major operation planned, 'Operation Glass', but Arkady doesn't know the details. If MI5 is to thwart the KGB's plan they will have to uncover who is behind Operation Glass as well as its eventual aim. Matters are complicated when Joe learns that one of the KGB men behind the operation is 'Odin' the man responsible for the death of his girlfriend before the events of the series. A further complication is the revelation that a mole within MI5 has been leaking details of their counter-operation to the Soviets.This gripping cold war thriller nicely captures the feeling of the 1970s and more importantly the sense of paranoia within the Security Services as agents wonder who they can trust; they don't even know if Glass is real or just a ploy to make Arkady's defects seem real. The cast does a fine job making us believe in the characters while still wondering whether or not they are the traitor. The only big name in the cast is Brian Cox, who is great as MI5 head 'Daddy', however the rest of the cast more than hold their own; most notably Tom Hughes who plays Joe and Shaun Dooley, who plays DC Jim Fenchurch, a policeman brought into assist MI5. These spies certainly aren't in the James Bond or even the 'Spooks' mould; they are almost bland in their ordinariness; something that suits the story perfectly. As the series approaches its end the tension mounts nicely as we learn just how dangerous Operation Glass is. Overall I'd say this is well worth watching and hope BBC2 continues to provide us with more quality drama like this in the future.