Archangel (DVD)

...recently finished reading Robert Harris's Archangel I was browsing Amazon and came across a TV series that had been made based on the book. I'd previously seen the movie version of one of his other books, Enigma, which was good enough and stayed close to the book so I took a chance on Archangel. If it stayed close to the book like Enigma then chances were it would make a good series. I'd obviously missed the series when it was on the BBC in 2005 ...
...everything pointed to this being quite good.

The lead role of Fluke Kelso is taken by Daniel Craig on his way to becoming the latest James Bond. When Kelso learns of an old notebook, believed to belong to Stalin, from an old Russian he starts looking into recovering it. After a run in with the Russian police he teams up with the daughter (Yekaterina Rednikova) of the old Russian who came to see him and a journalist (Gabriel Macht)to ... more

Having recently finished reading Robert Harris's Archangel I was browsing Amazon and came across a TV series that had been made based on the book. I'd previously seen the movie version of one of his other books, Enigma, which was good enough and stayed close to the book so I took a chance on Archangel. If it stayed close to the book like Enigma then chances were it would make a good series. I'd obviously missed the series when it was on the BBC in 2005 and with a then rising star in the lead role everything pointed to this being quite good.

The lead role of Fluke Kelso is taken by Daniel Craig on his way to becoming the latest James Bond. When Kelso learns of an old notebook, believed to belong to Stalin, from an old Russian he starts looking into recovering it. After a run in with the Russian police he teams up with the daughter (Yekaterina Rednikova) of the old Russian who came to see him and a journalist (Gabriel Macht)to try and find the notebook and unravel the mystery surrounding Stalin and the night he died. The quest sees them head to a northern Russian port, Archangel, as they try to uncover this mysterious story.

I always worry that book conversions wont work and that if I watch a TV version of a book I enjoyed it will somehow ruin the book for me. Thankfully this didn't happen with Archangel. The TV version is quite close to the book and although there have been slight changes the basic premise of the story is still there and I actually thought the slight changes they made worked better than the original plot lines. I found this conversion actually made quite a gripping drama and that while it was divided into three different parts it was quite compelling and I ended up watching all 3 in one night.

When I came across the series I wasn't totally convinced about Craig as the lead character. He is a brilliant actor but I didn't think he had the look for Kelso that came to mind whilst I was reading it. I was proved wrong within about 10 minutes of it starting though as Craig really made the part his own. He seemed to adapt to the role of Kelso incredibly well and while I did have a few reservations these were instantly extinguished. He seems to have the ability to take on any part and convince the audience that he belongs in that role.

The relationship between Craig and his female co star Rednikova really worked well. The two of them really seemed to have the chemistry that ran throughout the book. While the story concerning these two was changed a little the relationship seemed to be made stronger and both Craig and Rednikova seemed to take to their parts very well. The only character that didn't totally convince me was Gabriel Macht as the reporter O'Brien. His performance seemed a little forced and it just didn't seem to fit into the rest of the series. His performance was good enough but perhaps like Craig he didn't fit my image of O'Brien but unlike Craig he didn't seem to settle into the part.

I thought that between director Jon Jones and screen adaptors Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement they have done a very good job of converting Harris's novel to TV. The direction is very fluid and it helps to add the sort of compelling feeling that made me watch all three parts at once. He uses a good combination of close ups and wide angel shots at just the right times to add a bit of tension where it is needed to the story. Working with a good cast will have helped him as well and with Craig in the lead role it helped to really give the series a bit of edge where with other actors it may have failed miserably.

The writing duo are pretty well known to most people who watch TV in the UK. Both of them had a hand in series such as Porridge, Lovejoy, Auf Wiedersehen Pet and the Likely Lads. So with that lot on their CV it's no real surprise to me that they have done such a good job with this adaptation of Harris's original story. They have made it a little more TV friendly and changed a small bit of the plot but I did feel this change worked slightly better than the original Plot.

Overall this is a very good series. The transition between books and the screen is often a jagged road but Jones and his two writers have adapted Harris's novel very well. The enjoyment of the book is still there and with a total run time of the three episodes coming to 145 minutes it's not too long either. Of course its split into 3 and this makes it even better as you don't have to watch all 3 at once. With a good story, decent cast and excellent direction if you like a good drama I would thoroughly recommend picking up a copy of this.

Amazon: £10.98
Amazon Marketplace: £10.97
 

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