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.

About

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.

Innocent Passage

The episode starts straight away with its central conflict; an Irish fishing vessel (The Cora) gets into trouble and ends up shipwrecked, costing the lives of all her crew. Most pressing is the discovery of a British ‘Indicator Buoy’ at the site of the shipwreck, suggesting the involvement of a British submarine in some way. While the British Embassy stringently denies this, the Irish government is disinclined to trust this—with good reason, considering the state of affairs between the two countries at the time. (Airing in 1998, this series was made before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought about peace in Northern Ireland.)

Meanwhile, the new British Ambassador is touching down in Dublin. The first thing we see of Harriet Smith, our central character, is that she’s caring and conscientious, helping another woman off the flight safely. This contrasts to the introduction of Stephen Tyler—who as chargé d’affaires in her absence has taken full advantage of his temporary privileges—where we are greeted with a man who is solidly establishment, and full of ambition. Harriet demonstrates immediately that she has a fine grip on the nitty-gritty details of policy, and she’s incredibly sharp; she knows she’s in charge and she won’t let anyone boss her around.

Kevin Flaherty, Minister for External Affairs for the Irish Government, demands an explanation from the British representatives about the indicator buoy. In deference to Harriet’s recent arrival, he gives her forty-eight hours to come up with a satisfactory account of affairs. It’s also revealed that his stake in the disaster is personal; the sailors are from his constituency, and he went to school with the skipper.

“Yes, it’s true my remit here is to protect Britain’s interests. But that includes protecting her reputation as a just and honourable nation.”

Harriet arrives at the Embassy and is introduced to the various Embassy staff. She quizzes the Naval Attaché about whether the Ministry of Defense had a submarine in the area: he issues a denial, but will continue to look into it. Of particular note here is her introduction to the Commercial Attaché, John Stone. As soon as they’re alone, she greets him fondly, in this exchange:

“Hello H.”

“Hello Spook.”

It’s obvious that they have a history together, even though it’s been at least four years since they last saw each other. There’s a real sense of affection and intimacy between them—she continues to refer to him as ‘Spook’ throughout the series. Later in the episode, there’s a scene when they put their feet up together, casual as anything. She’s even got the drink he likes on hand for him.

Harriet tasks John with investigating, so off he goes to the local community where the sailors are from. He doesn’t have a lot of luck getting information out of anyone, but he does return and remarks that it’s very odd that the wreckage and bodies have so far been found by one man: the owner of the Cora. The last body is found by a Royal Fisheries Protection Vessel though, who note that they found it a distance from the Cora’s reported last coordinates, and that it was found very close to a protected fishing area (that the Cora shouldn’t have been in.)

John finally makes a breakthrough with one of the locals and discovers that the Cora’s navigation was prone to faults. He informs Harriet of this, who is talking with the wife of one of the lost sailors, and the owner of the boat. When confronted, he admits the navigation fault, and that the Cora was fishing in the protected area.

With half the puzzle solved, Harriet returns to the Embassy to clarify matters with the Naval Attaché. It turns out that there was a British Submarine in the waters that was involved in a collision; it was unable to surface, but sent up the buoy to call for help. But the buoy malfunctioned. The collision has been known to the MoD and the Naval Attaché for two days. Harriet, no impressed with the fact he didn’t see fit to pass on this information, fires him.

Harriet rushes to speak to Flaherty to clear up the situation before he speaks to the press. She admits British responsibility for the collision, but points out that the MoD was providing accurate information, in a way—there was no submarine at the given position. Flaherty seems satisfied enough with this conclusion, and pleasantly surprised by Harriet’s co-operation.

As if the main plot didn’t provide enough intrigue and drama, there are a couple of secondary issues that the episode also tackles.

A decision is being made by the Japanese Sakai Corporation over where to situate their European base of operations. Ireland and Britain are both courting them. Harriet seems to be making good progress with them—she even speaks a little Japanese—but ultimately, her attention is caught by the plight of the sailors and she neglects—possibly intentionally—to give the affair her complete attention. Stephen, slightly lacking in diplomatic skill but desperate to prove his worth, makes a bit of a mess of things. It ends up for the best, as interest in their decision helps push Britain’s involvement in the shipwreck to the second page.

Harriet’s eldest son, Nate, is also determined to cause problems. Already studying at Trinity College, he doesn’t take kindly to the arrival of his mother in the country, or the threat it poses. He’s abrasive, unwilling to give her the benefit of the doubt, and adamant that he doesn’t require protection officers. We later find out that Harriet’s husband (and Nate’s father) was killed in a car bombing in the middle east that was targeted at Harriet, and therefore, the subject of protection is intensely personal for her.

Verdict

I said in my introductory post that this series was one of my favourites, and this episode reminds me of just why that is. It’s not just that Lawson is as impeccably excellent as always; it’s the entire show. Pauline Collins is incredible in this, honestly. It’s rare for British political shows to be so earnestly positive about what they’re portraying. Harriet refuses to sink to the usual political machinations, keeping her head above it all, looking for truth and wanting in all cases to be honest. She knows that she’s stepped into a sticky situation. When the show airs, in early 1998, the Troubles are still a going concern (though progress is steadily moving towards peace), and the Good Friday Agreement—which provided the framework for peace in Northern Ireland—is still being debated. Given that this is all contemporary as of the show, not a lot of time is spent on the background, but several of the issues are raised across the course of the show. Harriet handles all of this deftly.

The Ambassador knows it’s talking about weighty subject matter, and it doesn’t pull any punches, despite the good-hearted nature. The shipwreck we see at the beginning of the episode? It’s brutal. Visceral in a way that I wouldn’t expect from a BBC political drama, which tend towards being brutal with words, rather than what they put on screen. (This is not a fluke in this episode to start the series, either, they continue this.)

The heart of the show is very much Harriet, and her relationships with those around her. This episode hints at the complicated relationship she has with her sons, and that’ll be expanded upon as the series progresses. Here, though, they really cement the relationship between Harriet and John as being central. Maybe I’m biased—I probably am, because I love Lawson and also this relationship built on duty is catnip to me—but this show is at its best when it leans into that. I can’t speak warmly enough of the “Hello H,” “Hello Spook,” exchange; it’s perfect.

John Stone is still very much a mystery in this episode. He is very obviously not engaged in the work of being the commercial attaché—there are trade negotiations in this episode and he has nothing to do with them! There are various insinuations that he’s a spy of some kind, and Harriet definitely puts him to use in this capacity. (It is in no way a spoiler to say that he’s actually an active MI6 officer: the DVD text mentions it, as does the summary for the first episode, despite it not being made explicit in the episode.)

Lawson is as delightful as ever, but given that this episode is very much about Harriet, he doesn’t do anything of particular note. Wardrobe wise, they play it pretty safe with him here—later, they’ll display a penchant for him in blue. But his suits are spiffy, and the battered, oversized leather jacket is a great choice. Fittingly for his shadowy persona, he spends a lot of time lurking in the shadows within the episode, but that does clear up as he stops keeping so many secrets.

Next time

Harriet settles into her new post, but a diplomatic crisis emerges when she offers refuge to a British woman fleeing her Saudi diplomat husband. Plus, there’s a personal issue; the arrival of her youngest son, Sam, in Dublin. All that and more in The Ambassador: Refuge.