This week on the Ambassador, the crisis strikes too close to home, as the Embassy is taken over and Jennifer is taken hostage by a grieving father. Knowing she cannot give in to terrorism, Harriet struggles to find the best way forward. And meanwhile, John struggles with his inability to rescue Jennifer.

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The fourth episode of series one of The Ambassador, ‘Cluster of Betrayals’, aired on the 25th January 1998 on BBC One. It was filmed on location in Ireland, and was a production of Ecosse Films & Irish Screen. Written by Tim Prager and directed by Syd Macartney, it stars Pauline Collins as ‘Harriet Smith’, Denis Lawson as ‘John Stone’, Owen Roe as ‘Kevin Flaherty’, William Chubb as ‘Stephen Tyler’ and Alison McKenna as ‘Jennifer’. Additional guest stars this episode include Dominic Mafham as ‘Julian Wadham’, Sean McGinley as ‘Joseph O’Connor’ and Jim Norton as ‘Tom Harnett.’

Lawson fans will recognise McGinley for his guest-star performance as a grieving father in Lawson’s first New Tricks episode. He plays a similar role here, but with a very different context. (They also starred in Bleak House together.)

Availability: Out on Region 2 DVD—currently in print from Simply Media as of 2016. Available digitally from Amazon in the United States—both series are included in Prime and are additionally available for purchase separately.

Continue reading “The Ambassador, Series One, Episode Four: Cluster of Betrayals”

This week, Harriet gets personally involved with the case of a young English woman arrested for drugs smuggling, only to discover her son is mixed up in it as well. Walking a fine line between personal motivation and her ambassadorial duty, Harriet struggles to know what the truth is. And John gets himself mixed up in it along the way.

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The third episode of series one of The Ambassador, ‘Nine Tenths of the Law’, aired on the 18th January 1998 on BBC One. It was filmed on location in Ireland, and was a production of Ecosse Films & Irish Screen. Written by Christopher Russell and directed by Ken Grieve, it stars Pauline Collins as ‘Harriet Smith’, Denis Lawson as ‘John Stone’, Owen Roe as ‘Kevin Flaherty’, William Chubb as ‘Stephen Tyler’ and Alison McKenna as ‘Jennifer’. Additional guest stars this episode include Dominic Mafham as ‘Julian Wadham’, Tim Matthews as ‘Nate Smith’, Martha Cope as ‘Emma’ and Pooky Quesnel as ‘Liz’.

Availability: Out on Region 2 DVD—currently in print from Simply Media as of 2016. Available digitally from Amazon in the United States—both series are included in Prime and are additionally available for purchase separately.

Continue reading “The Ambassador, Series One, Episode Three: Nine Tenths of the Law”

This week, there’s trouble brewing between Ireland and Saudi Arabia over the arrest of four young Irish nurses. While Harriet is counselled to stay out of it, she finds her judgement compromised when the wife of a top Saudi official visits the Embassy and asks for refuge. Faced between her principles and the good of British interests, Harriet tackles a tricky situation with grace.

Content warning: this episode deals with domestic violence and false allegations of the same. This review doesn’t dwell on those aspects of the episode, but doesn’t gloss over them either.

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The second episode of series one of The Ambassador, ‘Refuge’, aired on the 11th January 1998 on BBC One. It was filmed on location in Ireland, and was a production of Ecosse Films & Irish Screen. Written by Tim Prager and directed by Patrick Lau, it stars Pauline Collins as ‘Harriet Smith’, Denis Lawson as ‘John Stone’, Owen Roe as ‘Kevin Flaherty’, William Chubb as ‘Stephen Tyler’ and Alison McKenna as ‘Jennifer’. Additional guest stars this episode include Tom Connolly as ‘Sam Smith’, Dominic Mafham as ‘Julian Wadham’, Hassani Shapi as ‘Badr Hashem’ and Jessica Turner as ‘Christine Hashem’.

Availability: Out on Region 2 DVD—currently in print from Simply Media as of 2016. Available digitally from Amazon in the United States—both series are included in Prime and are additionally available for purchase separately.

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The Ambassador is a political thriller from the BBC, focusing on the newly appointed British Ambassador to Ireland. She has the unenviable job of trying to keep the peace between the two countries, with tensions still high from the Troubles. Denis Lawson plays her right-hand man John Stone, on hand to solve her every problem, no matter the skullduggery it takes. Engaging and politically savvy, The Ambassador is superbly acted and written, and is a truly wonderful hidden gem of a show.

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The first episode of series one of The Ambassador, ‘Innocent Passage’, aired on the 4th January 1998 on BBC One. It was filmed on location in Ireland, and was a production of Ecosse Films & Irish Screen. Written by Russell Lewis (series creator) and directed by Patrick Lau, it stars Pauline Collins as ‘Harriet Smith’, Denis Lawson as ‘John Stone’, Owen Roe as ‘Kevin Flaherty’ and William Chubb as ‘Stephen Tyler’. Guest starring this episode is Terence Harvey as ‘Commander Bracken’.

Availability: Out on Region 2 DVD—currently in print from Simply Media as of 2016. Available digitally from Amazon in the United States—both series are included in Prime and are additionally available for purchase separately.

Continue reading “The Ambassador, Series One, Episode One: Innocent Passage”