Air Date: Mar. 26, 1969. Written by: William Emms. Directed by: Jim Goddard. Produced by: Reginald Collin.
MISSING, PRESUMED WIPED. This review is based on the camera and rehearsal scripts, available in the .pdf archive on Disc Three of the Callan: This Man Alone DVD set.
THE PLOT:
Hunter assigns Callan to infiltrate a Fascist group run by Ronald Holder ((Terence Rigby), who has staged regular demonstrations outside the Chinese embassy. The British government believes that Holder plans to do something to respond to Chinese aggression against British embassy workers in Peking - and if they are right, then that will create the very type of incident Chinese diplomats such as Tao Tsung (Burt Kwouk) are seeking to justify more drastic measures against the British in their territory.
Callan presses Lonely to break into Holder's safe, and to photograph the contents. The thief brings back photos of several documents, among them a list of names. A list that includes Tao Tsung's name, beside which is a single word:
"Kill."
CHARACTERS:
Callan: When sent undercover into Holder's group, he deliberately sabotages himself by being "overeager." He spooks Holder's second in command, Henry, when he says he's thought of taking his gun out and "goin' up west, and doin' somethin' about" the Chinese. He loses his tenuous place on the outskirts of the organization, but Henry's panic confirms that he's on point, and Lonely is able to follow the man back to his home address. With it all but confirmed that Holder's group plans to assassinate Tao Tsung, Callan comes up with a plan to thwart the group.
Hunter: Is told that he has to keep Tao Tsung safe at all costs, and that it is strongly preferred that no violence occur at all. With the Chinese unwilling to cooperate with efforts to protect their diplomat, Hunter is frustrated enough to agree to Callan's plan. Off the record, of course; he essentially grants Callan three days off so that he can do as he pleases. With Meres' full assistance.
Meres: It initially seems strange that the upper-class, condescending Meres is the man Hunter sends to negotiate with hard-line Communist Tao Tsung. However, Meres actually does a good job of it. His education shows as he freely quotes Mao Zedong back to Tao, and a lifetime of "polite society" breeding allows him to communicate clearly and pleasantly with a man he almost certainly detests. In this way, the episode allows us to see a different side to Meres, yet one that's entirely consistent with his established background.
Tao Tsung: Burt Kwouk's second guest appearance in the series, once again unfortunately in a missing episode. As was true of Robert E. Lee, Tao Tsung is obviously intelligent and highly educated, able to verbally fence with Meres, Callan, and a British diplomat. For much of the episode, it seems that his plan is to sacrifice himself for the sake of Chinese propaganda - though a third act twist shows that he's plotted out a few additional steps, as well.
THOUGHTS:
"What the reader sees in a photograph depends on the caption you print underneath."
-The Wit and Wisdom of John Ramsay, aka Hunter #3.
...And so we come to the final missing episode of Callan (albeit with an asterisk, as I'll discuss in the next review). By this point, the series had clearly hit its stride, and Running Dog is another solid entry - well-paced, with good guest roles, strong character moments, and some decent plot turns.
The story centers on different groups trying to create an incident to manipulate the media. Holder is a Fascist, and Tao Tsung is a Communist: basically, polar opposite extremes. Yet, as Tao observes with amusement, they both are trying to create political change in the same way. Holder believes that if he martyrs himself assassinating Tao, then his membership will swell. Tao believes that western violence against the Chinese embassy will create sympathy for his government, allowing them to purge the British from Peking. Each is attempting, to coin Hunter's analogy, to affix his own caption to the same photograph.
I read the camera script for this episode, but also referred to the rehearsal script intermittently - mainly to clarify confusing moments of action or business. There are no differences as stark as the previous episode's completely changed ending - but there are refinements, including the removal of some unnecessary scenes and Callan's adoption of the "Mr. Tucker" alias while within Holder's group (in the rehearsal script, he goes by "Callan" throughout).
What struck me reading this script is how relevant much of it still seems. More than 50 years on, and so much could be ripped straight from today's headlines. Holder's group talks about mistrusting the press, and his speech appeals directly to white grievance while simultaneously attempting to stir nationalist sentiments. His girlfriend, Felice, at one point flat-out says "Britain must be made great again."
If the episode were found, moments I'd most like to see would be: Meres' conversation with Tao Tsung, which I suspect would see some terrific acting from Anthony Valentine and Burt Kwouk; the scene in which Callan spooks Holder's right hand man; and the entire last Act, which reads like a tense standoff between the different factions, with Callan appropriately disdainful of everyone.
The episode also finishes strong. At the end, Callan plays his own hand, showing that he also knows how to affix a caption to a picture. This allows him to leave with a survivor, all the while sneering about how for Tao as well as Holder, "it's all a game, 'in it?"
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