Whether a Bill Nighy fan or a David Hare follower, tune in to PBS, Masterpiece Contemporary, for Part II of The Worricker Trilogy. Turks & Caicos airs tonight at 9pm ET.

Military intelligence operative Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) was introduced in the TV crime thriller, Page Eight in 2011, after it made quite a splash as the Toronto Film Festival’s closing feature. Brainchild of writer/director David Hare, the project, initially, had challenges attracting financial support. There weren’t any over-the-top, visually exciting, action sequences; nor was he planning any. The project was about “human beings” Hare said at the time and about “the inner workings of MI5.”

[See Page Eight  related ]

In a workaround move, Hare executed a different production route. He gathered a cadre of talented colleagues and friends who lent their support and the piece was successfully brought in, for under 3 million, for television.

In Part I, after Worricker stumbles upon a piece of information that may have been the cause for the untimely death of his best friend, a dangerous game of intrigue ensues with combatants such as the Prime Minister (Ralph Feinnes) making unexpected moves. Being a spook of a different generation, Nighy falls back on the tried and true tools of espionage. Heightened spy sense, carefully placed dead drops, track covering and knowledgeable informants were the brick and mortar of the day and he puts those skills, (still solid, just not recently used) to the good.

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Helena Bonham Carter in The Worricker Trilogy (Courtesy of PBS)

A simple conversation here, with shaded meanings and hidden agendas, provokes more shallow breathing and chill moments than so many extreme scenes of violence. Worricker narrowly escapes a trap wherein he could have suffered an end the same as his friend and mentor. When last seen the dashing, polite, jazz and art-loving spy is striding down an airport terminal for parts unknown. We breath a sigh of delighted satisfaction. We like Johnny Warricker.

Page Eight could have stood on its own. It was, it appears, always planned as the first of three parts.

Written by

TVolution Founder and Managing Editor DARWYN CARSON completed a six-year stint as Managing Editor of Leonard Maltin’s Annual Movie Guide in 2015. She has been covering film since her early association with entertainment journalist Michael Symanski at Zap2It.com. She also covered film and restaurant news in her column Carson’s Corner for a variety of social publications. Her articles have appeared on Zap2It, Indiewire, leonardmaltin.com and, of course, The TVolution. Follow Darwyn @bnoirlikeme. Follow The TVolution @thetvolution. Please Like The TVolution on Facebook.

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