4-01. That'll Be the Day.

A funeral for Callan.

Air Date: Mar. 1, 1972. Written by: James Mitchell. Directed by: Mike Vardy. Produced by: Reginald Collin.


THE PLOT:

David Callan is dead.

No, really. There's a funeral and everything. Lonely, however, is shocked when the parson talks about the departed as a quiet, gentle soul, and he becomes convinced that they "buried the wrong geezer."

He turns out to be entirely correct. Callan was picked up by the KGB during an operation in East Germany and is now undergoing drug-induced questioning by a thoroughly professional Soviet interrogator (Julian Glover). The funeral is a precaution by Hunter, to fend off any enemy attempts to use Callan for propaganda purposes.

Hunter orders Cross to frighten Lonely into silence. But first there's a more pressing task. His superior, Bishop (Geoffrey Chater) has ordered the immediate arrest of Richmond (T. P. McKenna), a top-level Soviet agent. Hunter hopes to break Richmond, to force him to divulge critical information. Bishop, however, has another plan, one Hunter strongly opposes: To exchange Richmond for Callan!

Just making sure?  "Colonel Hunter" (Ronald Radd),
Callan's original handler, attends his funeral.

CHARACTERS:

Callan: In a hopeless situation, Callan firmly refuses to tell his captors anything. The KGB interrogator asks why he resists, given that they both know the end result is inevitable. Callan replies that he has to. It's not blind patriotism; he just, by nature, needs to fight. When he returns to England, he can't stop himself from visiting his own grave. The title - "That'll be the day" - is his retort to two words on the headstone: "At rest."

Hunter: Though we have seen how much he values Callan, he does not want to exchange Richmond for him. He's done the cold calculations, and he regards Richmond as more valuable. When Bishop overrules him, he issues a formal protest. After that, however, he follows his orders, and is firm in making sure Cross does the same.

Col. Hunter: Ronald Radd's "Colonel Hunter" makes his final appearance, as one of the mourners at Callan's funeral. Since we are explicitly told that only Bishop and the current Hunter are aware that Callan is alive, this indicates that it was his decision to go, I suspect to show genuine respect. The Callan/Colonel relationship was a lot more complicated than is sometimes remembered: Callan despised the colonel, but at the same time respected him (note how appalled he was when the colonel was replaced in Series Two); and the colonel never showed any real dislike for Callan and unquestionably respected him... Though given that Callan threatened his life before the opening credits of the first regular episode, it's possible that he went just to make sure.  In any event, Radd's brief appearance is a welcome nod to the series' origins.

Lonely: Loyal to Callan despite his protector's absence. He is so certain that Callan is alive that he even considers going to the police. His aunt quashes the idea, but word gets back to Hunter, who is alarmed enough to unleash Cross. Lonely may be a coward, but when Cross tries to boast that he killed Callan, he overcomes his terror to call out the lie: "You ain't up to it," he declares, fully meeting Cross's gaze despite having a gun pressed against his chin.

Cross: The latter part of Series Three saw Cross develop into more than just a Meres replacement. Cross was a True Believer, absolute in his conviction that The Section was serving a greater good. He had no problem using violence, but never showed any of Meres's sadistic tendencies, and even reacted with distress when an innocent woman was hurt as a result of an operation. I mention all this previous character development, because... Well, this episode throws it all away. The scene in which he frightens Lonely, forcing him to play a game of Russian Roulette, is probably the episode's most dramatic moment.  It's an excellent scene for Lonely... but it reduces Cross to nothing more than a cut-rate Meres, drawing pleasure from his victim's terror.

Karsky: Julian Glover is typically excellent as Callan's soft-spoken KGB interrogator. He is entirely amiable, even friendly, as he urges Callan to give up his information voluntarily before the drugs destroy him. He is the only one of his captors Callan shows any respect - though when he returns to The Section, he describes him as a man "who could be (Section interrogator) Snell's brother."

Richmond: The KGB's top man in England, basically Callan's equal-but-opposite. Actor T. P. McKenna does well with what he's given, though his role here is likely just planting the character for the series-ending Richmond File 3-parter. The episode parallels the two spies: Both are captured, both are questioned by similar interrogators, and finally they are exchanged for each other. During the exchange, both Callan and Richmond are seen drinking in their rooms, offering their surly watchers a drink. When they come face-to-face, they chat briefly but amicably, observing that they now know exactly how much their respective employers value them.

"You ain't up to it."  A terrified Lonely
refuses to believe that Cross killed Callan.

THOUGHTS:

Like many Callan episodes, That'll Be the Day's story is both simple and well-worn. Also like many Callan episodes, it succeeds by spotlighting interesting characters and creating effective atmosphere.

This is a surprisingly modern season premiere, setting up elements to be used later in the season. Bishop and Hunter discuss how Callan's role could be more important than it currently is. Karsky asks Callan specific questions about Toby Meres. Richmond is introduced. All the major threads of Series Four are established here.

Given that Callan spends most of the story imprisoned, it is critical that the episode actually demonstrates for new viewers that he is as good an agent as Hunter and Bishop say.  The final ten minutes see him at full alert. Practically the instant he is free, he demands a gun, paranoid that the KGB might try something now that they've recovered Richmond. When Cross scoffs that the Opposition always plays fair with exchanges, Callan retorts: "There is always a first time, lad, I do not want it to be me, so shut up and give a gun!" He also spots a KGB tail before Cross, and finds the tracking device that has been planted on him - a device Cross would never have found, given that he mocked Callan for even believing one was planted.

I mentioned throughout my Series Three reviews how cheap the season looked, far more so than the 1960s black-and-white episodes did. That'll Be the Day shows improved production values across the board. Hunter's office looks more like a real office and less like a studio set whose walls might fall down at any moment; exterior scenes are better shot; and even the recycled prison set used for Callan's interrogation doesn't look half-bad. Much of Series Three overcame its cheap look through good scripts and performances. Even so, the cheapness created a barrier, particularly when a given script failed to hit the mark. It's a tremendous relief to have that barrier removed, and to see the show looking decent again.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

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