Full Circle

DVD, The Champions (Full Circle)

The title is a generous estimation of an episode that could just as well have been called 'Runaround' or 'Wild Goose Chase,' because, for all its circular narrative being accurately described as a full circle, it's also a summing up of its inconsequential nature. The lesser episodes are coming out now at the end of the DVD set, which is as good a place as any to hide them, and it's not as if these are bad episodes, every one has its moments, but it can't be ignored that few of the recent episodes have fired the way some earlier stories did. It's not even that they were actually the last to be filmed, this was another of the middle episodes, though around the last third of the series to be made, with some of the best episodes still to reach production, so the excuse can't be that they were tired by this time and were just bashing out any old idea to meet the total number of episodes they'd committed to. Or that the actors were fatigued with their roles, or the writers were lacking inspiration. Maybe it was just a bad patch, a slump as the production had hit seven or eight months and winter was approaching. Choices make a difference, and the way the cast were used varied from episode to episode. Sharron's barely in this one, and Nemesis must have a very attractive employee benefits package since the woman's always on leave! You could understand it if Bastedo was off filming scenes for a Sharron-heavy episode at the same time, but none of those made at this time were big on her character so there seems to be no rationale for excluding her.

This time Craig is the main, and almost sole, focus, being sent to HM Prison Birch Hill for smuggling if his 'fixer' characterisation as a prisoner is anything to go by - he brings in cigarettes, alcohol and matches to impress his target, the real reason he's behind bars: Paul Westerman, convicted of spying on the Embassy of The Colombrian States in London. I don't know whether the series was avoiding the use of a real nation so as not to affect sales to foreign countries, but it's obvious that it's supposed to be the Colombians, and in Tremayne's briefing to Craig and Richard he gestures to the northern region of South America, calling it a sensitive area, so it's not like they even disguise it. I don't think the name was ever spoken, and it's possible it could be a spelling mistake in the Embassy's wall plaque, but it seemed to be they were doing it deliberately. Another oddity is that, while they have the Ambassador speaking in a thick foreign accent, his security man looks and sounds British. You'd think they'd bring in their own security rather than hire locals! Then again, the crux of the story is that Westerman, ostensibly spying for British Intelligence or some undetermined third party, is actually a naturalised citizen of the Colombrian States, despite his English looks and accent, so perhaps they have a lot of British sympathisers (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the security man being a small role they didn't bother to cast as carefully as Garcian, but then his aide, who never utters a line, looks suitably ethnic, so…).

The pre-credits ends with Westerman caught trying to escape the scene of his break-in where it was heard he took photos of documents containing top secret instructions to the Colombrian ambassador about the new defence treaty with Britain - only there's no film in his camera! It's supposed to be a big deal - where could he have hidden it, why is he so smug, etc, but it's more perplexing than gripping, and the plan to keep tied to him by having Craig break out of prison and 'allow' his cellmate along for a price so he can stay on his tail until he presumably goes back to where he hid the film, was scanty and too convenient, especially when Garcian hires an external criminal, Alfred Booker, to get Westerman out. He must have been suspicious when two escape offers were made in quick succession, and although Craig does a good job of being surly and hard to make friends with, only agreeing to help on the mention of payment, it all feeds into the ultimate realisation that there was no film, it was all a setup to… um, get Britain and the Colombrians in a state of distrust so they could make a different treaty… or something… I didn't quite follow, mainly because it wasn't very absorbing, the setup of the story really only a setup to get Craig into some trouble. It's not like they even use their powers much, it's more like a traditional spy story from 'Mission: Impossible' - a man infiltrates a group to solve an international problem by posing as a different character and things go wrong somewhere along the line.

Another issue I had with the episode was the way it portrays Craig and Richard - Sharron was unaffected by dint of barely being seen, Richard actually sends her back to Geneva because he doesn't think there's anything she can contribute, not because she's useless, but due to it being so straightforward a mission. It was arbitrary to say the least, and actually, they could have done with an extra pair of hands, or more specifically, fists, since both look a bit useless: Richard gets beaten up by three men working for Booker. He captures the escaped convicts when they come to Richard's prearranged car. You'd think Richard would have been able to manage three thugs. Craig doesn't look quite as bad, and in fact manages to come off well when he's so confident in the escape plan while Westerman is terrified of heights on top of the wall. But although Craig notices Westerman sneaking his wallet into Craig's pocket so he can be mistaken for the man, he goes along with it and ends up being tortured with weights in a scene reminiscent of 'To Trap A Rat' where he was similarly stretched out (horizontally in that case). He can't have been in too much pain as neither Richard nor Sharron sense it. In the end, he survives longer than the contraption attached to the ceiling, which is pulled out of its sockets when so much weight is applied by Booker's sour-looking henchman, Mr. Poulton.

Where were the powers they've used so well before? It was too much like any old spies from any old series rather than using the uniqueness of itself to any great degree. Sure, there is evidence of their abilities along the way, but they were mostly small. Even the post-credits scene, which admittedly was appropriate for the episode since Sharron was supposed to be on leave and we see a repeat of the scene from 'The Mission' where she picks up a couple of hitchhikers that prove a bit of a handful and ends up giving them a whacking as she passes through a tunnel, but although it was slightly extended, I never like it when they recycle these scenes as they did on several occasions. That was the extent of Sharron's display of prowess, and the others don't fare much better: Craig uses his advanced hearing to listen in on Pickering's conversation with Westerman about getting him out - Pickering's the small time prison 'fixer' whom Craig's essentially in competition with as he's the man connected to the outside, passing on messages from Westerman's associates. There are moments it's not clear if the champions' skills are being used, or just their natural ability, as when Craig drills the bars loose, then pries them out with his strength - from Westerman's surprised look you could assume it's a feat, but when he had to use a drill to soften them up in the first place it doesn't look nearly as impressive. He lowers the panicky Westerman down the wall of the prison with ease, but any reasonably strong man could probably do the same, so it's really only his resistance to the torture that shows resilience beyond other humans.

He's quick to recover and takes Booker as a hostage, violently threatening to snap his neck, then takes great satisfaction in pummelling his torturer, Poulton, and dealing with Booker, too. Richard senses the slap Poulton gave him when he was still tied to the torture device, and that's the extent of the abilities he uses, unless you count getting into the prison in the guise of an Irish priest. Why he needed to have an accent I don't know, other than for the comedy value. It seemed like his involvement as the Nemesis liaison with the Colombrian Embassy would be a conflict of interests - he couldn't be more British in his outlook and accent, yet he's the one to fulfil the diplomatic role when it's his own country that has the issue with the Embassy. I suppose you can put it down to his extreme professionalism and the good name Nemesis carries. In fact, Carrington, the British Intelligence man that meets with Tremayne, sounds rather evasive and untrustworthy, the way he appeals to the head of Nemesis, though of course Tremayne remains neutral in his dealings. It turns out the inference that the intelligence service isn't to be trusted was only a blind to make viewers suspicious. Relations can't be broken off after all because the plot was uncovered, so it may as well all have been a dream for all the relevance paid to this sequence of events designed to put our champions in peril.

Even the ending is limp and forgettable, with Sharron not present it's just Craig and Richard meeting with Tremayne. Sometimes an episode ends so abruptly that you feel such a scene was necessary to round out the plot, but in this case it appeared an extraneous time-waster since the conclusion was reached in the previous scene, and if they weren't even going to have all the champions together… Mediocre is how best to describe the episode, with the only real interest being in so many sets being reused from other episodes: the staircase room looked to be there, though it was at a different angle so it may have been some other set rather than the usual one. Certainly the room Richard used at a hotel in 'Project Zero' was back as Booker's place, and the gym where Craig's tortured looks to be the same place they filmed the post-credits of Richard and Craig putting Dave Prowse to shame from 'The Invisible Man,' as well as places like the Embassy office we've seen a number of times. One view of interest was a shot from behind Tremayne's desk looking towards the main door, which was a different angle and a sign that on occasion they could try something different, only in this episode it was wasted.

I did wonder if they actually filmed in a real prison as the set certainly looked right and the corridor was much wider than the usual one they redressed for various sets, though it seems unlikely they'd go to all that trouble even if they did film around the outside of a real place, even going so far as to have someone wave a light in the window for when Pickering is signalling. I was confused at Poulton's bruised face, which is there before Craig punches him, but it may be that he was one of the three men that fought with Richard, it was just difficult to see in the gloom. There's one small mistake that is unavoidable, however: when Sarah, Booker's female accomplice, holds up Westerman's wallet you can see how it's laid out, and there even appears to be the top of a photograph inside, which would presumably be Westerman, though the shot changes to a closeup and the layout's different with no incriminating photo sticking out. It would be a pretty big blunder if they did mistakenly have a photo of the man when he's pretending to be Craig Sterling! The one other blooper is when Sharron stops to look at her map in the extended post-credits scene and you can see a member of the crew just standing there, reflected in her side window. Whoops.

Regarding the cast, there aren't too many questions around credits, although poor Poulton isn't afforded anything because he barely gets a line, even though he has a significant role as torturer and abetter of Booker, yet Sergeant Fairfax of Special Branch, a character that only has a couple of lines in the teaser, is credited! The vagaries of acting. I assume Garcian was the ambassador since there's no other credit that would account for him, though he wasn't called by name in the episode, and the only questionable credit is for 'Collins' - he could have been the man that ordered Richard out of his getaway car before he and two others gave him a drubbing. Except that I'm pretty sure that's Poulton. The most likely candidate must be one of the prison guards as he gets a few things to do, and this also explains Poulton's bruises. Mysteries all cleared up! Except for how Craig did that little trick with the tie, flipping it up and putting a knot in it with a flick of the wrist. The real mystery is why the characterisations of the guest cast are so limp. Westerman was fine, he at least had some interest to him because of his confidence, then his terror of heights, and his devious manner, but the others were very bland - Booker might have been a decent character except he didn't make much sense and they should have gone more into his double-crossing nature, plus Sarah was completely irrelevant and had nothing to contribute. It really makes a difference if you get a strong guest cast to play against so that was yet another point against this episode that was, ultimately, pointless.

**