Storyboard - The Traitor (1983)

Secret Service agent Michael Fawkes has been given the job of tailing a man called Slade, a scientist who has recently defected from Russia who is suspected of being a Russian spy. But when Fawkes reports back to his boss, Palfrey, he informs him that nothing happened. Has the suspect been warned? British Intelligence thinks so and suspect a spy in their ranks. Quite who it is could be closer than they think, with each man suspecting the other... Starring Alec Cowan, Tim Piggott-Smith, Antony Brown, Gary Watson, Keith Edwards, Georgine Anderson, Ian Barrett, John Quarmby, Michael Sheard, David Gillies, Simon Watkins, Philip Ettington and Walter Henry. This comes from the anthology series Storyboard and was originally broadcast on August 23rd 1983. This was a series that tried out one off dramas with the prospect of a potential series and this proved to be the 2nd of three dramas that would gain a series from it. This thriller is intriguing in itself, not least because both Alec Cowan and Tim Piggott-Smith often play shifty and untrustworthy characters in their career so well. For those who know what the series was that spawned from this, the culprit might not be so hard to spot, but for the uninitiated it's an intriguing 50 mins. Enjoy.