Reilly, Ace of Spies

Reilly, Ace of Spies is a 1983 British television programme dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian-born adventurer who became one of the greatest spies ever to work for the United Kingdom and the British Empire. Among his exploits, in the early 20th century, were the infiltration of the German General Staff in 1917 and a near-overthrow of the Bolsheviks in 1918. His reputation with women was as legendary as his genius for espionage.

The series was written by Troy Kennedy Martin, and based on the 1967 book Ace of Spies by Robin Bruce Lockhart, whose father R. H. Bruce Lockhart was one of Reilly's fellow spies. Sam Neill stars as the eponymous character. The theme music is the romance movement from Dmitri Shostakovich's The Gadfly Suite, though Shostakovich is not actually credited (Harry Rabinowitz is credited with the music).

Episodes
There are 12 episodes, each approximately 50 minutes in length, except Episode 1, which is approximately 80 minutes).

Cast

 * Sam Neill as Sidney Reilly
 * Peter Egan as Major Charles Fothergill
 * Ian Charleson as R. H. Bruce Lockhart
 * Norman Rodway as Captain Mansfield Smith-Cumming
 * Tom Bell as Felix Dzerzhinsky
 * David Burke as Joseph Stalin
 * Kenneth Cranham as Vladimir Lenin
 * Leo McKern as Basil Zaharoff
 * Jeananne Crowley as Margaret Callaghan Reilly (wife #1)
 * Derek Newark as General Stoessel
 * Donald Morley as Stanley Baldwin
 * John Castle as Count Massino
 * Celia Gregory as Nadina "Nadia" Massino (wife #2)
 * Brian Protheroe as Shasha Grammaticoff
 * Joanne Whalley as Ulla Glass
 * Clive Merrison as Boris Savinkov
 * Laura Davenport as Nelly "Pepita" Burton (wife #3)
 * Joanne Pearce as Caryll Houselander
 * Michael Aldridge as Orlov
 * Victoria Harwood as Natalia
 * Anthony Higgins as Mikhail Trilisser
 * John Rhys-Davies as Tanyatos
 * Sebastian Shaw as Reverend Thomas
 * Bill Nighy as Goschen
 * David Ryall as Herr Glass
 * Denis Lill as William Knox D'Arcy
 * David Suchet as Inspector Tsientsin
 * Alex McCrindle as Captain MacDougal
 * Colin Jeavons as Widdemeyer
 * Alfred Molina as Yakov Blumkin
 * Peter Howell as Baron Rothschild
 * Lindsay Duncan as The Plugger
 * Hugh Fraser as George Hill
 * Malcolm Terris as Sykes
 * Diana Hardcastle as Anna
 * Prentis Hancock as Boris Souvarine
 * Geoffrey Whitehead as Count Lubinsky
 * Aubrey Morris as Mendrovovich
 * Phil Smeeton as Chekist
 * Michael Angelis as Artur Artuzov
 * Alan Downer as Eduard Berzin
 * Alan Bowerman as Lieberman
 * Sara Clee as Fanya "Fanny" Kaplan

Critical reception
In a 1984 review for The New York Times, John Corry wrote, "much of 'Reilly' is eminently watchable simply because it is eminently watchable." He praised the production and Sam Neill's performance and summarized "a mixed bag of pleasures, but it's worth dropping in on, if not in whole, then at least in part."

Awards
Won 1984 BAFTA TV Award

Best Film Editors:
 * Edward Marnier
 * Ralph Sheldon

Home media
The series was issued on Region 1 DVD by A&E Home Entertainment, under licence from THAMES International, talkbackTHAMES and FremantleMedia Ltd on 22 February 2005.