Original subtitles

Gets worse and worse every morning.

I didn't expect you until lunchtime.

Why not?

Ops room said you left the building at five o'clock this morning.

I did.

It's all the rubbish I put in my briefcase.

The operation was a failure?

It wasn't an operation, it was a disaster.

That idiot in Singapore couldn't run a kids' playground,

let alone a foreign station.

You want the bad news?

I want a cup of coffee.

I ran into the deputy chief just now.

He knows about the Iranian job.

What does he know?

That Jake's gone out to Tabriz.

What exactly did he say?

He asked me if I knew why Sandbagger two was in Iran.

And?

Simple secretary, aren't I?

I said I thought it was a request from Tehran station.

All right, I can worm my way out of that.

One day, you're going to get caught.

Then you'll be setting up a station on your own

in the Brazilian jungle.

At least I'd get plenty of coffee.

Good day, boss.

Good day, boss's slave.

Slave is right.

Dear me, for a man who doesn't drink, you look like

you've got a hell of a hangover.

Willie, if this a social call, leave your card

on the silver server outside and push off, will you?

The charm school closed before he finished the course.

And you can leave that, Diane.

I know you don't like doing it, but you would please

make me some coffee?

Right.

Have you seen this from Vienna station.

What precedence is it?

Routine.

I haven't got past the immediates yet.

Oh, well, the station number two --

Ramsey?

yup, was having a drink in the Hotel de France last night.

He staggered out into the foyer, not unusual,

and he saw a man he thought he recognized,

but he wasn't sure from where.

Go on.

So the man who handed his passport

in the usual way in a foreign hotel.

I have stayed in foreign hotels.

Ramsey managed to get a look at it.

He said the man was Sir Donald Hopkins.

So Ramsey asked us who he is.

Sir Donald Hopkins?

Yeah, do you know him?

Met him.

He was a mourner at my wedding.

According to our reply, chief scientific adviser

in the Cabinet Office.

That's right.

But Vienna station weren't notified?

That is why, as they say,

I'm bringing it to your attention.

Right, who's got the Ops room?

Sam Morse.

Duty office officer.

Sam?

D. Ops, have you seen an exchange of signals

with Vienna station about Sir Donald Hopkins?

[Sam] Yes, sir, came in this morning.

Okay, Sam, get on to the FCO desk,

ask them for me to blow up the Cabinet Office.

We must be informed if there is brass on station.

And Sam, I don't expect to hear this kind of thing

from Sandbagger One.

I'm sorry, sir.

You've been on watch for less than an hour.

You should still be awake.

Yes, sir.

Burnside, one of his fire and brimstone days.

Ah yes, he was up all night, wasn't he?

Probably needs his breakfast.

He's just had it.

Chewed my head off.

No it isn't it, it's incompetence.

You really are a bundle of laughs today.

You should have tried me when I called Singapore station,

five o'clock this morning.

Post office may do me for an obscene phone call.

Yeah, I heard about that.

Oh yes.

And the deputy chief has heard about the Iranian caper.

How?

Oddly enough, the one thing you can't keep

in this place is a secret.

How much does he know?

I hope no more than that Jake's out there.

Are you going to get clearance for Jake finally?

Look, Willie, I don't know.

If I do apply, they might turn it down.

And I can't afford to break promises to the CIA.

If they get to hear about this upstairs.

Willie, shut up, will you?

If I wanna be nagged, I'll get married again.

Those who complain about lack of coffee

ought to pay what they owe in coffee money.

Thank you.

The Poland pack has to be cleared by 10:30.

God, I think I would rather be married.

Excuse me, sir.

Sam, what are you doing out of the Ops room?

I'm covered, sir.

I thought I better come and report personally.

Well?

The Hopkins thing, sir.

Yes?

Well the FCO desk has been on to the Cabinet Office.

Well, as you know, sir, the FCO people are more tactful than us.

Point taken, Sam.

Well, they merely inquired politely

if Sir Donald was on leave.

The Cabinet Officer said, yes,

he's on a week's fishing holiday in Scotland, on his own.

Do we know what address he gave in his leave application?

Gave his car registration,

contactable through the AA or the RAC.

Touring between Perth and Inverness.

FCO desk didn't alert the Cabinet Office, did they?

No, sir.

Just said thanks very much and referred back to me.

All right, Sam, I'll take it.

[Sam] Thank you, sir.

Sam?

Yes, sir.

Sorry I savaged you on the phone.

Yes, sir.

Unless it turned out you thoroughly deserved it.

Yes, sir.

Nothing to do with us, really, it's MI5.

Moot point.

Yes if it's a civil servant gone bananas.

No if you wanna claim jurisdiction because he's abroad.

I don't wanna claim anything, I've got enough to do.

Pass it on to Five.

Except as you say, he is outside the UK.

We do have jurisdiction.

That won't worry Five, they grab at anything.

Make a change for them.

Make a change from attending communist party barbecues.

I suppose I better tell the deputy chief.

He's paranoic about Five.

He's paranoic about the CIA,

you, me, the entire Ops division.

Morning.

Yes, good morning, sir, it's Burnside.

Could I come up and see you a moment?

Yes, yes you may.

Thank you, I'm on my way.

I suppose it could all be above board,

changed his mind about where he was going.

Forgot to change his leave address.

Could be, but we can't ignore it.

He's a big wheel.

Constant and regular access to top-secret material,

Cabinet Office business.

So what are you proposing?

Hand it to Five.

They'd want to go to Vienna.

Sir, if they did, they'd work under our head of station.

But if we allow them to go to Austria today,

how long before they'll be going all over the world.

As far as I know, we're still on the same side.

Not in matters of departmental survival.

MI5 would dearly like to take us over,

and the Home Office supports the idea.

The Foreign Office opposes it.

That's been going on for years.

The answer is no.

We handle it.

All right.

Suppose I'd better find out what Hopkins is doing.

Right.

I'll tell Vienna station to put him under surveillance.

You're not sending a Sandbagger?

That would upset the station.

We'd be saying they can't cope with a simple surveillance job.

A job which could prove to be extremely sensitive.

Well if it does, we'll reclassify it as a special op and send a Sandbagger.

But let's find out before I do.

You've got three Sandbaggers.

To cover the world.

And one of them's abroad already.

So I believe.

Landy's in the north of Iran?

Yes, didn't I mention it?

No you didn't.

Your perennial amnesia, I suspect.

Oh, I'm sorry.

We had a tip-off from the CIA,

activity on the Armenian border, north of Tabriz.

They can't take it themselves, offered it to us.

Border surveillance?

Yes.

A simple surveillance job, but you sent a Sandbagger.

Won't the station be upset?

The CIA gave it to us on the condition

that we treated it as a special op.

Hence, one Sandbagger.

You're very friendly with the CIA, of course.

To our advantage, sir.

Very well, better attend to Hopkins.

Yes, sir.

You will inform the Cabinet Secretary.

Well I thought I might go through Wellingham

in the first instance.

Keeping it in the family?

Are you approaching Sir Geoffrey in his capacity

as P.U.S.S. of the Foreign Office, or as your former father-in-law?

In his capacity as a friend of Hopkins.

Are they friends?

They must be.

Someone invited Hopkins to my wedding.

All right, but make sure that Wellingham

passes the word, Cabinet Office and Downing Street.

About how clever we are?

If there are points to be scored, Neill,

let's make sure they go on the right scoreboard.

Hello, Neil.

Not inconvenient?

Well you saved my life.

If you hadn't rung,

it would have been lunch with the legal adviser.

Very dry.

I did try to get an appointment.

Oh no chance.

You're only SIS.

It comes somewhere between the Forestry Commission

and the Waterways Board.

By the way, Belinda's camping out

with us for a couple of weeks.

Oh, how is she?

Like any woman after a broken marriage.

It broke three years ago, and Belinda broke it.

You should have had children.

You know Sir Donald Hopkins, don't you?

Donald?

Yes, what about him?

Did I meet him at the wedding?

I expect so, he was there.

Still friendly?

Yes, as a matter of fact I spoke to his wife last night.

Last night?

Wanted him to come fishing on Sunday.

But he's beaten me to it.

He's gone off already, the Highlands.

His wife told you that?

Yes.

Why the sudden interest in Donald Hopkins?

Oh nothing like that, she loathes fishing,

and he's even more fanatical about it than I am.

He goes to Scotland every year.

Not this year.

What?

He's in Vienna.

Do you think?

We don't know what to think.

Vienna station have him under surveillance.

And?

Nothing so far.

Not a woman then?

Unless she hasn't arrived yet.

It can't be.

He's 53, I think, his wife's 34 or 35.

He dotes on her. Can't believe his luck.

In that case--

No, I'm sure of it, not Donald Hopkins.

He's,

well I mean. he's --

What is it?

Last year.

Some time in the summer.

He went with a trade delegation to Moscow.

If it only started last year, I'm almost relieved.

It could have started 30 years ago.

Oh for God sake, don't even think it.

Chief scientific adviser in the Cabinet Office,

knighted, feted.

Why if that broke, it could bring down the government.

And my, his wife.

If she's not in on it too.

You're sure then?

This morning, I was willing to believe

it was a woman, a wrong leave address.

And now?

There could still be other explanations.

Neil, forget that he's my friend.

Tell me what you really think.

Why is Donald Hopkins in Austria?

To get snow on his boots.

And I don't mean skiing.

So what now?

With his rank, Prime Minister's approval to lift him.

Special section.

Special section?

Oh yes, we'll have to send a Sandbagger.

Willie?

Hmm?

Have you thought of anything yet?

Sorry.

For Sally's birthday.

Ah, electric train set.

Pair of football boots?

I know what I'd like to give your Sally.

Oh, yeah, in a gift-wrapped matchbox.

Have you keen looking at my medical file again?

(laughter)

Oh no, dear, this is the hutch.

Ladies' loo, straight down the corridor.

Somewhat larger and better appointed.

Something wrong?

I cut off these to Africa desk.

The Boss is still at lunch.

I thought you'd better see it.

President Lutara just added another notch to his gun.

The journalist, Tealing?

Yeah, executed this morning.

As an agent of the British secret service.

He wasn't working for us, was he?

No, he wrote that article about the president.

Got chucked in jail the same day.

So what's this?

fifth Brit killed this year?

Sixth.

According to the Intelligence Directorate,

Lutara's 42nd or 43rd murder this year.

Official murder, of course.

Isn't there a submission on Lutara

doing the rounds, a new one?

Yes, Foreign Secretary called for it

when Tealing was arrested, full brief.

Covering what?

Local politics, British business interests out there,

economic sanctions.

Good good, find out where it is,

withdraw it and have it on the boss's desk

by the time he gets back.

Right.

Thanks, Willie.

It's intelligence, isn't it?

No operational input.

About three and a half years ago,

the boss was Sandbagger One, I was Number Two.

And Sandbagger Three was a lad called Bob Judd.

He was younger-than you are.

It was the last time we lost a Sandbagger,

so we do remember it quite well.

What happened to him?

He died in East Africa.

One of Lutara's jails?

One of Lutara's anthills.

He was alive when they put him on top of it,

but they cut his stomach open.

And the ants found the cut.

And there was nothing we could do about that.

Not even Neil Burnside could go for a head of state

without permission.

Well, we might get approval now.

Well if we do, let's get one thing clear.

The job goes to me.

(siren blaring)

Come in, Diane.

Where was this pack on President Lutara?

With the deputy chief.

It has to go to C for approval by close of play today.

Just in time, then.

Sorry?

Send someone out to the nearest jewellers.

Get a silver bracelet.

For a girl?

My male friends prefer beads.

Big girl, little girl,

medium size girl?

Belinda Wellingham.

Right.

(phone ringing)

PA to D. Ops.

He's on his way.

C is back in the building.

About time.

It's what I describe as the Philby syndrome.

They find it hard to accept

that Hopkins might abandon his wife, home, job, status.

I heard that from Wellingham,

though there is some excuse there.

Hopkins and Wellingham are friends.

So I discovered are Hopkins and the Prime Minister.

What else do they think he's doing, sir?

They can't say.

But as the Cabinet Secretary was quick to point out,

Hopkins' only offence

is failure to give a correct leave address.

Meaning that if we brought him back now,

they'd rap his knuckles but leave him in his job.

Exactly that.

All we can do for the moment is continue the surveillance.

Yes, I'd like to put special section effort

on station, sir, just in case it's needed in a hurry.

I suggested so, this morning.

Yes, but now the situation merits it.

His wife confirms the Scotland cover story.

He was in Moscow last year,

and he's behaving very oddly in Vienna.

[C] And tipping a few miles from the Czech and Hungarian borders.

The KGB could be in and out with him in a couple of hours.

Very well, send your Sandbagger.

Yes, sir, I'll send two of them,

Caine and Denson.

Why?

If we lose Hopkins, MI5'll crucify us.

Willie?

Yeah?

How are things between the boss and Belinda?

No change, as far as I know.

It's been a state of armed neutrality

for 18 months, why?

Oh, passing thought. They might get together again.

No chance of that.

He's not the kind to forgive and forget.

No.

Come in, Willie.

Has the Lutara pack gone back to Peele?

Not yet, I was about to take it up to him.

With a recommendation to knock over the president?

Stop mind reading.

No mind reading, you feel the way I do.

I'd give a year's pay for a crack at Lutara.

Well it's not been approved yet.

Meanwhile, you're on your bike.

Where?

Vienna.

Hopkins.

We're going to lift him?

We can't get permission.

You'll be running the surveillance.

Denson can do that.

I'm sending him with you.

Why? It needs one Sandbagger and the station Number Two.

This could be big,

so I want you to handle it personally, and I want

Denson to work with you to get the experience.

Denson does not need experience.

He could handle it himself.

My decision, Willie.

Do you realize you're going to have

all three Sandbaggers out of the country?

It's happened before.

Never when we've had a political assassination in the offing.

What about the Lutara job?

May never happen.

But if it does?

Well, it can wait til you get back.

Lutara's not going anywhere.

If am going to get the Lutara job, aren't I?

Listen, sit down, Willie.

Hopkins is the first priority.

He's a senior civil servant

with immense classified knowledge, possibly defecting.

I want it blocked.

You're not clearing us out, are you?

What?

All three of us,

so you can take the Lutara operation for yourself.

Why should I do a Sandbagger's job?

You're up to something, I know the signs.

You're as bad as Peele.

I know the signs.

[Neill] Go and get briefed for Vienna.

All right.

But why both of us?

Because that's what the boss wants.

But I could deal with a simple--

That's enough.

He could be right.

If Hopkins does jump, heads are gonna be rolling all round Westminster.

Look, I'll do the briefing.

You go out and do what you have to do to Sally.

Oh, right.

Will you nip over to my place?

Just turn off the heating

and empty the bin in the kitchen, will you?

How long have I got?

Not long enough, so take that gleam out of your eye.

In that case, I'll finish my minute.

(phone ringing)

Yes.

Lutara's arrested Tealing's family.

He had a wife and two children.

How old are the children?

Boy 13, girl 16. So far they haven't been charged with anything.

Right.

Do you want me to tell the deputy chief?

No, I'll tell him.

(door knocking)

Come.

Yes, Neil?

That journalist who was executed, Tealing.

Yes.

Lutara's now arrested his wife and two children.

What charges?

None so far, but he can hardly claim

a 13-year-old boy is working for us.

Who knows what he'll claim.

The other one's a 16-year-old girl.

Well, nasty.

That's the Lutara pack.

Excellent paper, isn't it?

Should be, half the intelligence directorate's been working on it.

And they conclude categorically that Lutara should go,

by one means or another.

We'd get the old line.

You can't condemn a man for being a murderer

if you're gonna propose to kill him yourself.

Take one life to save hundreds.

Assassination's gone out of style, way out.

It's just a matter of timing.

And today Lutara has murdered a British journalist.

Arrested his family.

What does Wellingham say?

I didn't get the pack until after he'd seen it.

Wanna try it on him?

Why?

Because if the Foreign Office isn't likely to be

sympathetic, I'd rather we didn't make fools of ourselves.

Would it save time in future if I went to the Foreign Office first

and told you about it afterwards?

You're already quite good at doing things first

and telling me afterwards.

I wouldn't extend the practice any further if I were you.

Look, sir, that paper has gotta be

at the Foreign Office by tomorrow morning.

If we had a recommendation to assassinate,

it will look like a logical conclusion

to a logical set of arguments.

But if we delay, if we have to put the recommendation

separately, it'll be too crude.

It won't stand a hope in hell.

There is a lot of British money

tied up out there, commercially.

If there wasn't, Lutara would have gone

years ago through economic sanctions.

It's the sort of--

But if we carry it on, if we prove the value

to the government of a covert capability,

it'll do SIS a lot of good too.

Alright.

I'll talk to C.

(phone ringing)

Peele here.

Yes, he's here.

Thank you.

Yes.

The station have reported they've lost Hopkins.

When and how?

There's not many details now, sir.

I'm coming down.

I'll be in the Ops room.

A flap?

A panic, Vienna station have lost Hopkins.

How the hell should I know?

You were supposed to be mission planning.

When are the flights to Vienna?

Just checking, sir.

Okay, what happened here?

[Sam] Hopkins went for a walk.

Station Number Two was front tailing.

Hopkins disappeared.

Where?

In the street off the open ring, crowded at the time.

All right, let's shut the stable door,

hope the horse hasn't bolted.

If he has, he'll be in Bratislava by now

on his fourth vodka.

Next possible flight?

That was the airline, sir, leaving Heathrow 19:25.

That's too late.

Get on to the MOD, ask for an HS125 at Northholt,

stood by immediate departure to Vienna.

You still want both of us to go?

Yes. -Essentials only, Sam.

Right.

With local control on arrival,

with London approval for overt move against Hopkins.

Telephone and open code if required.

Station personnel?

Stuart Cartwright is head of station.

Johnny Ramsey is Number Two.

And they're all right with Sandbaggers, aren't they?

If they weren't before, they will be now.

Okay, Ramsey's managed to bribe the switchboard

of Hopkins' hotel, get details of his calls.

Right up to the time he disappeared,

he hasn't made or received any.

He didn't take his luggage for a walk?

Well no, it should still--

(phone ringing)

Duty ops officer.

Right, thanks.

Chief wants to see you, sir.

I'm sure he does.

Good luck.

Not very clever, is it?

Ramsey was unlucky, I don't blame him.

I'm blaming you.

If you'd done what the deputy chief suggested this morning,

sent a Sandbagger, backed up the station.

Well if we're into the business of yardarm clearing, sir--

That's enough.

You'd do well to listen in future.

To whom?

There's no one else here with my experience of operations,

and as far as I--

Your experience hasn't stood you

in very great stead today, has it?

The Foreign Secretary is somewhat less than amused.

You haven't told him?

What were we supposed to do,

pretend that nothing's happened?

For the moment, yes.

At this stage we don't know what has happened.

(phone ringing)

Yes.

Is Mr. Burnside there, sir?

Hold on.

For you.

Thank you.

Yes.

Hopkins just walked back into his hotel.

Alright. Action as before, both Sandbaggers.

Hopkins has just walked back into his hotel.

What?

Cartwright overheard a conversation with the desk clerk.

They were discussing a film.

He's been at the cinema?

Yes, sir.

So you've told the Foreign Office

that Hopkins might be defecting.

Now you'll have to tell them that he hasn't.

Anytime now, we'll press to lift him,

claim that we're sure he's defecting,

and they'll say, how can you be sure?

You were wrong last time.

One has to act on the information available

at any given moment.

Exactly, sir.

And that's why I didn't send a Sandbagger this morning.

Because the information I received this morning didn't warrant it.

There's no need to get hysterical now.

I'm not hysterical. I'm just tired

of not being able to run my own department without interference.

I trust that doesn't mean without supervision.

No, sir, of course it doesn't.

But neither of you has an operational background.

Therefore, I feel I should be consulted

before you inform the Foreign Office about my operations.

Well happily that situation doesn't appear

to arise over President Lutara.

Sir?

I agree wholeheartedly with your measure.

Long thought there was no other way

of protecting British nationals out there and this paper convinces me.

Let's get it to the Foreign Office tonight. /

If it's approved, Caine will carry it out?

No, I shall.

You?

You?

Why?

My Sandbaggers are all committed elsewhere.

Well, we'll wait for them to come back.

Anyway, Director of Operations,

your head full of every top secret plan in existence.

That's why I need the Foreign Secretary's

written approval, which you can fix for me.

But I won't.

You had seven years at special operations, Neil.

Leave it at that.

I shall, after this one.

It isn't sensible for the Director of Operations

to go on missions.

You wouldn't want us to fail on this, would you?

Meaning?

Three or four years ago, Lutara killed a Sandbagger.

Boy called Judd.

And?

And Caine was in the section, he wants revenge.

Landy replaced Judd, feels it's his duty to go.

And Denson is too inexperienced for political assassination.

So none of them would approach the job properly?

Just that.

You're a liar.

Why should I lie?

I don't know.

But I do know what you demand of your Sandbaggers.

If any one of them wasn't capable of doing that job,

wasn't capable of putting aside personal considerations,

when it came to the crunch,

you would have him out on his ear.

Don't insult my intelligence, Neil.

I may know you rather better than you know yourself.

It's not too much to ask, is it?

It is.

And I'm sorry.

I'll support the submission if you want me to.

But I won't allow you to do the job.

I've done you a lot of favours in my time.

And I'm doing you one.

I'm probably saving your life.

Give that to Belinda --

with my love.

What is it?

Just a bracelet.

And what are you saying?

If the Lutara submission is approved,

and I'm permitted to carry out the job.

Yes?

I'm not making any promises.

Belinda may want you back, but she wouldn't want

to be bought and sold for favours to SIS.

The favour is to me, from you.

I'd better go and check the Vienna situation.

You'd start again with Belinda for the job?

The way you married for money.

What do you mean?

I mean there are very good reasons why you know me so well.

Must be like looking in a mirror.

Just suppose it is a midweek pickup.

Hopkins'd still have his problems.

He'd have to take a week's leave,

Monday to Monday, to avoid suspicion.

Evening, sir.

Why are you two still on watch?

[Sam] We're just leaving, sir.

And just discussing the Hopkins job, sir.

Trying to make sense of why he's been left to kick his heels.

Yes, that's been bothering me, thanks.

He can't hang about in London, in case he ran

into somebody who knew he should be in Scotland.

Then it was the safest thing.

Get the hell to Vienna and wait.

Safest thing would be a Monday pickup.

Perhaps they're as pushed as we are, sir.

Except we know they're not.

Sir?

Well I hope it breaks before Thursday.

Why?

I've 48 hours off, sir.

I'd hate to miss the excitement.

48 hours?

Does that ring a bell?

No, sir, should it?

Most KGB agents do as we do.

Fast pickup, expose the defector

for the least possible time.

Yes, but if we'd done that, lifted Hopkins

at the airport, Johnny Ramsey wouldn't have had the chance to spot him.

There's another argument.

Suppose you get in at the same time as the defector,

but you leave him for 48 hours.

First day, you take a look at the geography,

decide how and where you're gonna do the pickup.

The second day, you check out all the angles,

make sure it's not a setup of any kind.

And the third, day, you do the pickup.

Now there's only one man we know who used to do that.

Alex Bunin.

But Bunin isn't active any more.

He was promoted about two years ago.

But if Hopkins is the most important defector

you've had since Philby.

Well, if it is Bunin,

or somebody using the Bunin method.

Day Two's tomorrow, they'll try and flush Willie.

Right.

Ring Vienna.

Get a message to Willie that Bunin may be there.

Tell him to stick with Hopkins, split the surveillance

with Ramsey and to put Denson on to looking for Bunin.

That's a gamble, sir.

Right, either Denson flushes Bunin

or Bunin flushes Willie.

It's the old rule, Sam.

Do unto the other guy as he'd do unto you.

But do it first.

Oh, right.

It must be a world record, getting a submission

through the Foreign Office in 24 hours.

It's what happens to it in Downing Street that matters.

Nothing from Vienna?

No.

I rang him before we left the Foreign Office.

Not a thing.

You're convinced it's Bunin?

I won't be convinced til somebody sees him.

But it would fit.

And it would make Hopkins very important to him.

Yes, worrying that.

I'm still nervous about not telling MI5.

I see no reason to involve Five at all.

Our people in station discovered Hopkins.

We have him under surveillance.

He's in a foreign country.

But if he is defecting, we'll have to hand him

over to MI5 for interrogation.

When we've brought him back.

When there'll be a hell of a row.

You're not normally afraid of rows.

I've been summoned to Downing Street.

Any indication which way it's going, sir?

Act your age, Neil,

it gets more reaction from the speaking clock.

(car starting)

Comrade Alexei Bunin,

master of the vanishing trick.

It's a tall order for Denson, sir.

Bunin could be holed up anywhere,

may not be there at all.

But if he is, Willie's in trouble.

The 48 hours are up tonight.

Which means if Bunin sticks to his old routine,

he'll lift tomorrow.

Then surely, sir, we've got to lift tonight.

Leaving us with what?

No evidence of a KGB agent in Vienna,

no attempt on Hopkins' part to make a rendezvous.

Oh yes, we could lift him,

but the Prime Minister would never

allow him to be interrogated.

Not without some evidence.

Well, if Hopkins slips Willie

and we don't know where Bunin is.

Bunin doesn't give second chances.

Poor Willie.

Hi, Neil.

Sit if you want to.

As you know, the Foreign Secretary took the Lutara

submission personally to Downing Street this evening.

I was summoned shortly afterwards.

And I received the biggest dressing down

I've had since I was at school.

The Prime Minister will not approve the submission.

Moreover, he wishes to make clear to us all

that political assassination will never

be approved during his administration.

Never?

The taking of human life is abhorrent

to the Prime Minister.

It's abhorrent to us all, sir, but that doesn't mean

that it can't be justified.

I did make that point.

The Prime Minister replied that it would be difficult

to envisage such a circumstance.

And that the case of President Lutara was not one.

But he can't deny that Lutara

is murdering Britons.

He doesn't deny any of it.

But he does not consider assassination to be

a proper function of government.

Did you talk about Hopkins?

Briefly.

As you predicted, they quoted our overreacting

to Hopkins' cinema visit.

The Prime Minister feels that if Hopkins

was going to defect, the Russians would have

made contact by now.

I did try to advance your thought about Bunin,

but it fell on somewhat stony ground as no one's seen him.

They won't accept that all agents have behaviour patterns?

They won't accept that Hopkins may be a traitor.

He plays golf with the Prime Minister,

fishes with Wellingham.

He's godfather to the Foreign Secretary's eldest.

The old-school tie again?

Yes.

Let's hope that this time it doesn't hang the government.

(phone ringing)

Burnside.

Ron Milton, sir.

Our friend Hopkins had a phone call about an hour ago.

It was from another hotel,

and the two switchboards had a few words together.

Got Ramsey's tip that it was from the Hotel Kumar.

Has Denson been there?

Yes, sir.

He couldn't see anyone, but he went down

the road to another hotel.

They've rounded him on a guided tour of Vienna?

No, sir.

The result was that Denson spotted him.

It's Bunin himself.

Right.

Tell the chief and Wellingham.

Alert Downing Street and the FCO.

And impress upon them that a decision

tomorrow will be too late.

Well of course I'm coming in.

Where do you think I'm going, on holiday?

Help yourself.

Thank you, sir.

Wellingham will bring over the answer himself.

There is only one answer.

Hopkins is on his way to Moscow.

We must lift him.

Agreed.

But I told you, they don't want to believe it.

And now that they must, it's panic time.

In what respect?

The Prime Minister is absolutely insistent

that none of this must ever come to light.

I'm sure he is.

If he and Hopkins are friends, a major political scandal.

I bet they can see an election staring them in the face

A vote of no confidence, that's for certain.

Which they know they mightn't survive.

This fellow Bunin, he's really that good?

He was the head of their executive action section.

Ah, Geoffrey, come sit down.

Coffee's still hot.

Thank you, James, hello, Neil.

Sir.

You've got a green light.

Pick him up and bring him back.

Yes of course.

But with a total blanket on the whole thing.

Not one rumour, not one whisper.

I can't give a guarantee.

No, that's appreciated.

Neil,

the Prime Minister made a good point.

He feels that there's a risk that Hopkins

might start shouting on the way back,

say as he's going through immigration and customs.

Declare himself for what he is and tell the world

he's being forced out of Austria by the secret service.

There's always that risk.

You have to rely on the shock

of discovery to keep them quiet.

But it would be almost as damaging to the government

as if he actually defected.

Yes but it's absolutely vital we bring him back.

Have him interrogated, find out what he's passed on,

how long he's been doing it.

Indeed.

If he'll come quietly.

And if he won't?

You have authority to kill him.

Fake an accident or suicide.

But I have the Prime Minister's word.

The taking of human life is abhorrent to him.

Perhaps you've misunderstood, sir.

We can't knock over a lunatic who's murdering every day,

but a man who threatens the government's future,

or the jobs and the perks that go with it,

not only authority to assassinate, but instant authority.

Only if he can't be returned quietly.

Which brings me to the next question.

Who'll make the decision on whether or not to risk it?

Caine.

He's the only person who can assess the risk.

Caine?

He's the Sandbagger on the spot.

Yes, but I wonder,

if the KGB have brought Bunin out of retirement

for this one,

the Prime Minister is most anxious

that we should send our best available officer.

That's Caine.

He's the head of the special operations section.

A very experienced and highly intelligent agent.

Not as experienced as Neil.

An RAF aircraft could fly you out there tonight.

No, sir.

Neil, if you've got it in for the Prime Minister,

I can understand, do it as a favour to me.

I'm sorry, sir, I am not undermining

Caine's authority on station.

He's there now, he must be allowed to take charge.

Do you realize the serious consequences

for the government if this goes wrong?

There's no reason why it should go wrong.

I've got complete faith in Caine.

Sir Donald Hopkins is an extremely clever,

extremely able man, and Caine is,

well, what was he before?

He was a sergeant in the Paras.

(door knocking)

It may interest you to know, Neil,

that for various reasons, which don't concern you,

I want this government to stay in power.

Yes.

Which means that I want the Hopkins

operation to go smoothly and quietly.

So do I.

Then don't you think you should have

agreed to go to Vienna?

No, Caine is good enough.

As good as you?

I'm no longer an agent.

So,

you won't bend the rules for me or the government,

but you were prepared to bend them

for your own glorification, weren't you?

It was a different set of circumstances.

Oh indeed, political assassinations are very rare,

very important.

A successful one in your time as Director of Operations

would have been a real feather in your cap.

But of course, your chief rival for promotion

is the intelligence director.

And he'd already had his cap feathered.

He'd done his bit faultlessly.

He wrote a very good paper.

Quite.

So you had to think up something better.

Well it would have been a real career boost.

Not only they would say did Neil Burnside

initiate and plan the assassination,

he also carried it out.

Because strangely enough, his Sandbaggers weren't available.

What do you want, a signed confession?

No just an answer.

You could have been killed on that mission.

Is your career worth your life?

Didn't Belinda constantly complain

that my career is my life?

Not exactly.

She said that nothing ever came before SIS.

Not even ambition.

It doesn't.

I could have done the job as well as Caine,

and the result to SIS would be exactly the same.

But you'd have done yourself

a bit of good in the process.

Caine doesn't want promotion, I do.

And now?

As it turns out, the Hopkins affair is even more important

than the Lutara one, certainly more vital to the government.

Clearly.

If you fail on this, it'll be the black mark of all time.

The irony hasn't escaped me.

I gave you the chance upstairs

to go and handle it yourself.

If I replace Caine in Vienna,

it will be around every station in the world

by Friday morning?

So?

Caine deserves more than that.

And what do I deserve?

I granted you a favour, asked one of my own.

I'm sorry.

In other words, I have no trump card to play,

like flirting with a girl's future.

So I'll flirt with yours.

If you fail in this operation,

I'll have you out of this office in a week.

And if we are mirror images, you'll know that I mean it.

Two, this is one.

He's checking out.

(whistling)

Surprise, surprise, so is my baby.

Two, one.

I'm on my way.

Roger, so am I.

(tires squealing)

(horn blowing)

(horn wailing)

Sir Donald?

Oh, yes.

I'm an SIS officer, Sir Donald.

I require you to return to England with me.

What?

Shall we go?

You can't.

Sir?

You can't arrest me.

You're secret service.

You have no powers of arrest, have you?

I'm not arresting you, sir, I'm escorting you.

But why?

What have I done?

That's for someone else to say.

My instructions are to return you to England.

No.

I'm sorry, I won't.

I won't go back.

I do have alternative instructions, sir.

If you won't cooperate, I'm to kill you.

Kill me?

That's right, sir.

I wouldn't advise you to bolt.

I could run a lot faster than you.

I'm too tired to run.

My name's Willie, by the way.

Thank you.

You didn't give it to her then?

Why should I raise her hopes?

Perhaps sometime

you'll want to give it to yourself.

I wouldn't count on it.

I don't.

We'll talk about that on another occasion.

You did well on Hopkins.

We were trying to find out where he is.

The Cabinet Office will announce his nervous breakdown.

Overworked, devoted servant.

The wife?

If she was in it, too, be simple enough

to put the house up for sale.

They had no children.

Caine liked him.

Yes, he was a nice chap.