Circles of Deceit (1993) {Pilot episode} TV Crime Thriller - Dennis Waterman, Derek Jacobi SAS, IRA

(Subsequently titled "The Wolves are Howling" for disambiguation with future episodes.)
Randal (Derek Jacobi), a secret service agent investigating Irish Republican Army kingpin Liam Macaulay (Peter Vaughan), enlists the help of John Neil, a former SAS operative with a background in undercover work, to go undercover in Belfast posing as ex-pat Jackie O'Connell, the estranged brother of Father Fergal (Ian McElhinney), the Macaulay's parish priest. Neil's job is to get find out when and how Macaulay plans to bring in a new shipment of arms and ammunition.
(Plot spoilers from here)
Neil succeeds in winning Macaulay's confidence, as well as the romantic attentions of his daughter Ellish (Clare Higgins) after saving her from an arson attack, but as suspicions about his true identity begin to mount, and Macaulay's right hand man watching his every move, Neil realises that must complete his mission before his cover is blown. Matters are further complicated when Neil discovers that Macaulay was responsible for a bomb that exploded in a circus tent in Germany two years ago - the same bomb which subsequently killed his wife and son.
First broadcast 16th October 1993 on ITV.
Cast:
Dennis Waterman as John Neil
Derek Jacobi as Controller aka 'Randal
Peter Vaughan as Liam McAuley
Clare Higgins as Eilish
Ian McElhinney as Father Fergal
Tony Doyle as Graham
Colum Convey as Dessie Gill
Gerard Crossan as Colum McAuley
Andrew Connolly as Dermot McAuley
Director: Geoffrey Sax
A total of four episodes were broadcast, including a single feature-length self-titled pilot in 1993 , and a series of three episodes, filmed in 1995, and broadcast between 1995 and 1996.
Review excerpt from IMDB user:
"Some good direction and performances and intelligent characterisation and plotting though, perhaps inevitably, that old chestnut of the gang member who takes a dislike to the hero and is suspicious of him, is not avoided. Just as reliable is the smooth-talking devious 'controller' he is responsible to (Derek Jacobi). And Waterman has not quite developed Neil into the distinctive character he would later become. So not a bad start but a couple of the others to follow are better, one considerably so."

[@FoogouFilms]

If you're enjoying these, please consider subscribing, and then clicking on the Notification Bell, so you know when each new episode appears - it helps grow the channel. Thanks for watching!

[@anthonyalfredyorke1621]

Thanks for showing us this cracking drama it's got a fantastic cast, very reminiscent of HARRY'S GAME Dennis Waterman was a very underrated Actor, at least by the snobs . Have a great week and thanks again. PEACE AND LOVE TO EVERYONE ❤❤.

[@FoogouFilms]

Cheers for that. I think you're right.

[@dexadrinepancake]

I guess I'm a snob then.

[@deborahking2367]

Now that’s what I call “well done”..thanks!

[@quirkygreece]

Clare Higgins is a very underrated actress - her expressions are faultless and she could act with her face alone.

[@brandonshaw2120]

She's magnetic when she's on screen. Her eyes are incredible 😘

[@miketocci]

This is great, thanks for posting. I've been on a John Thaw/Dennis Waterman/George Cole deep dive dive that started with The Sweeney, Morse and Minder. It's gone on to reveal all sorts of great shows and movies, including this one. It's always good to find something old of quality that's new to me.

[@FoogouFilms]

Cheers for your comment. Yes, I've been on a similar route in the past. One of my subscribers recently recommended John Thaw in an early 80s prog called "Mitch" - though I haven't seen it. In early May I'll be uploading the first episode of The Voyage of Charles Darwin , where George Cole appears as Josiah Wedgwood. It was made in 1978, so not long before Minder began.

[@johndrake2729]

​@FoogouFilms Another show to consider that features John Thaw is "The Capone Investment".

[@FoogouFilms]

@@johndrake2729 Noted. Thanks.

[@kimberlyrogers9953]

I feel the same…I also re-watch movies I loved before cuz I discovered it feels like visiting old friends..😊

[@liamoconnor2429]

​@@FoogouFilmsJohn Thaw was also in a series called Redcap, way way back. I'd be interested in seeing that again.

[@bradbel]

Ooh. You had me at Dennis Waterman. RIP mate!

[@Planetholmes]

Excellent story cast and cinematography. Thanks for sharing. Not so long ago there were tons of great and well done films.

[@lynnehowitt1423]

Great to see Dennis Waterman in a really meaty dramatic role… great actor, long career ( Just William, Minder, New Tricks and I saw him in live theatre “Windy City”) RIP

[@FoogouFilms]

I'd forgotten Just William.

[@anaderol5408]

Brilliant ! Thank you for loading.

[@liamward3375]

Thank you 4 uploading circle of decite with late Dennis waterman and a host of tv stars of the time no longer with us have enjoyed watching it this weds mor here in dublin ❤

[@FoogouFilms]

Cheers for that.

[@roymcnicholas4825]

I watched this when it was first aired and it's still as good now ..thanks

[@paulpearson-zs9wz]

Great to see Terry again.

[@sjosullivan]

Thanks for posting this. I think there were 3 other episodes after this pilot. Good actors but I think the whole storyline was very implausible. No way you could get away with posing as someone’s brother with whom you supposedly grew up with for 14 years and not be immediately found out by your own brother nor could you completely lose an accent that surely would have ‘baked in’ by age 14. Peter Vaughan was a great actor but he could have done with a lot more accent coaching, his Belfast accent was ropy to say the least. But still I’m glad I watched it, thanks again.

[@FoogouFilms]

Good points. Remaining 3 episodes on each Saturday 8pm uk time.

[@KimDawkins-dc2su]

Excellent British drama. Wish there was more fantastic😊

[@leebrown3645]

Really enjoyed watching this film again after so many years. Thanks for posting it, and could you please try to post the other three movies in the series? 👍

[@FoogouFilms]

Cheers. They will appear each Saturday.

[@pearlbrandwein4731]

I'm a fan of Dennis Waterman especially when watching him on New Tricks. I'm a really, really big fan of Sir Detek Jacobi, whose career I've followed very closely on screen & on stage as well as on TV.

[@shaneflanagan4543]

Best actor in New tricks Dennis waterman

[@skullbonefortnitefilms4156]

The Irish people are so friendly and welcoming. If i was younger i would live there.

[@morganhart6997]

Wow love this - can you post the other episodes pretty please

[@FoogouFilms]

Thank you. New episodes each Saturday around 8pm UK time.

[@paulmaryon9088]

Most excellent thank you, please keep 'em coming, stay lucky

[@haydoncooper3744]

I don't remember this at all but so glad I have found it.👍

[@veroniquesoret-walker488]

Great episode, please keep them coming? :)

[@FoogouFilms]

Thank you. Three more left, uploaded each Saturday around 8pm UK time.

[@fantastichound]

Wow Derek Jacobi, thank you

[@sharonjones873]

Genial 'Arry Grout !

[@user-le4bt9gx6w]

A good film worth watching Thanks from Greece

[@Strato777]

There was something very special about Minder. It was like only fools and horses it was fun being around them. Arthur, Terry, Dave and Chisholm

[@dianeshannon7988]

Fairly accurate depication totally plausible quite tense ididnt expect his escape nor her death.Hope the good friday agreement stays intact .

[@13699111]

Excellent !!!

[@jfmorty]

Thanks

[@haydoncooper3744]

Some great acting talent.

[@allangilchrist5938]

I'm surprised that Ml5 or Special Branch hadn't already had the old man's house bugged.

[@allangilchrist5938]

When we are first introduced to the Peter Vaughan character and the film is rather blurry for a very odd moment I thought it was going to be Arthur Daley.

[@markc7440]

I was at college in Warrington the year that the IRA bombed Bridge Street. I'd been heading to Liverpool that day to see friends and if I hadn't missed my connecting bus I could have been walking along the top of Bridge Street. Other friends from college were in the street at the time, one was stood by the bin that the first bomb was in less than 10 minutes before it went off. Tragic about the two young boys that died that day, but then this programme is a reminder that the Republicans and their families suffered too. Since the Good Friday Agreement the peace has been delicate but let's hope that it continues. The Catholic part of the population has a higher birth rate than the Protestants so one day they will be able to peacefully and democratically vote to rejoin the South.

[@FoogouFilms]

Thanks for that personal insight.

[@bermudarailway]

I think other demographics will be dominant before that .

[@dexadrinepancake]

A friend came to visit me in England in 2004. She was apprehensive of the terrorism in Europe. We stayed at the Tavistock Hotel. We missed that by a year and maybe 200yards. 12 Years earlier I walked past a Bureau on Oxford Street that was blown up later that day. I was probably in the blast area for 3 minutes. It just shows how unlucky one has to be to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[@bruceanderson8720]

Wow! Great show

[@garethsmith8896]

Thank you,that was a brilliant watch!

[@bowernerkristiansen82]

I was a bit bewidered when I started watching this movie, as I thought there was a lack of coherence between the scenes. Then I became clear as an amateur about what the "pilot episode" means, and that the "seperate" sections are intended as highlighting of the background of the story and the characters. Nevertheless, it was worth exeperiencing the actor's performances - not least Peter Vaughan's ability to portray people with power and authority.

[@user-vd8dj5zt8q]

Great movie

[@leafuller3153]

What an excellent show

[@kakprat]

What a sad film that was .

[@user-wb4cl7wm7n]

This is great 👍

[@yuglesstube]

Poor old Dennis. Just can't lose the cockney. Sounds about as Irish as Coffee.

[@johndrake2729]

Really loving this so far. Can't wait for the next three.

[@nbandpinportugal]

Preposterous scenario. Dennis Waterman does a very good impression of an Englishman not even pretending to be an Irishman.

[@haydoncooper3744]

Watched this today and really enjoyed it.

[@chrisryder1073]

great series Looking forward 1/4

[@johndrake2729]

1:05:47 on. Correction: He's already involved.

[@lynnehowitt1423]

Only criticism,26 years in London, but no London accent !!??

[@chrisdix2089]

hmmm thats what I felt, I have been abroad over half my life but I can hear in my own voice things that identify me my culture/language of youth.. like Waterman but doesnt suit the part..IMO

[@chrisdix2089]

and the loose ends with the neighbour would be sloppy ..

[@nancya.nelson5810]

Thanks for for more good programming. Any chance for Juliet Bravo episodes?

[@FoogouFilms]

I'm afraid I don't have those.

[@robertbrynin9919]

26 years is not enough to lose any trace of Irish accent.

[@davidhewson8605]

Rob , never left Welsh !.

[@jjsudlow]

I grew up in an Anglo-Irish household. My father maintained that "the English left Ireland of their own accord." Hearing this, my mother (b.1913) --perhaps recalling when the Black and Tans visited the family farm on a roundup--said that "the English were driven into the sea with pitchforks, and he knew it." Some library research proved that they both oversimplified 800 years of history, but overall my mother was correct. This movie features all the layers/"circles" of history, conflict, religion, politics, ambiguity, ambivalence, and betrayal that characterize Anglo-Irish relations. The Good Friday Agreement, signed April 10/98, hopefully, will change the foregoing and lead to lasting peace. Erin Go Bragh.

[@FoogouFilms]

Thanks for your insight into this complex issue.

[@ef1265]

shut up and say something intelligent

[@ef1265]

verbal diarrhea

[@johndrake2729]

1:35:27. What do they call that sound? It's like a reverb-y, echo-ey kind of effect on actors' voices. I used to hear that on shows like "Miami Vice".

[@FoogouFilms]

Yes, you're right. Echo put through reverb. Back in the day - say at Abbey Road studios - they had special reverb rooms where a speaker and microphone were placed to get just the desired balance. The echo back then would have been via tape, but by the late 80's (and here in 1993) I guess they'd gone to digital processing.

[@johndrake2729]

@@FoogouFilms That makes sense, especially when they do all that editing.

[@paulhalman3420]

the brits do it best,drama

[@TimParker-Chambers]

15:15 ''He's a Highlander, by God; the last sound he hears should no be that of a wailing woman!'' - Angus MacLeod

[@robertrocca6595]

Never forget that for a nation freedom is the greatest good in the world. Without freedom there is no life and the loss of freedom cannot be compensated with speeches or labor; but only with a fight full of sacrifices. Remember that this fight for freedom can never be led by a social class but only by a nation! It is the task of your Movement to transcend all social classes and to form a nation that is able and ready to achieve the very best.

[@2222isabella]

So many lives lost, and no winners. Sad.

[@JonniePolyester]

Possibly the same streets / location as used in Harry’s Game

[@thomasshepard6030]

Harry’s game was the better of these programs but this is really worth watching lots of great actors

[@philipmcgauley5384]

Harry.s game.did it come before or after this.

[@FoogouFilms]

Harry's Game was 10 years before. Haven't seen it in a while.

[@chrisdix2089]

Erin Go Bragh!

[@chrisdix2089]

Clare Higgins is the star as far as acting is concerned, Denis plays himself, Jacobi is well cast too

[@user-hm2gb6pm6b]

SHANKAL SHANKAL SHANKAL KAL KAL KAL SHANKAL SHANKAL SHANKAL may 2, 2024

[@jingham9990]

What garbage....interesting Irish songs...interesting helicopter....infantile plot

[@scottrobinson9752]

The helicopter 🚁 is an Aerospatiale Gazelle. My dad worked for, and retired from Aerospatiale. He was a technical representative for the Gazelle and many other models. Aerospatiale is now Airbus Helicopters.

[@21cranberries21]

Really?...I was riveted the whole way through. I was fighting back tears the whole time...can't get enough...