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

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(Hereafter given the title /"The Wolves are Howling/" for clarification with future episodes.)

Randal (Derek Jacobi), a secret agent investigating Irish Republican Army leader Liam Macaulay (Peter Vaughan), enlists the help of John Neil, a former SAS agent with a background in undercover work, to go undercover in Belfast and pose as expat Jackie O'Connell, the estranged brother of Father Fergal (Ian McElhinney), Macaulay's parish priest. Neil's task is to discover when and how Macaulay plans to bring in a new shipment of guns and ammunition. to get.

(Plot spoilers from here on)

Neil manages to gain Macaulay's trust, as well as the romantic attention of his daughter Ellish (Clare Higgins) after saving her from an arson attack, but as suspicions grow over his true identity and Macaulay's right-hand woman watches his every move, Neil realizes he 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 that later killed his wife and son .

First broadcast October 16, 1993 on ITV.

Form:

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 aired, including an eponymous pilot episode in 1993 and a three-episode series, filmed in 1995, and aired between 1995 and 1996.

Review excerpt from IMDB user:

/"Some good direction and performances and intelligent characterisation and plot, although, perhaps inevitably, that old chestnut of the gang member who dislikes and distrusts the hero is not avoided. Just as reliable is the slick, scheming 'controller' to whom he is accountable (Derek Jacobi). And Waterman didn't quite develop Neil into the distinctive character he would later become. So not a bad start, but a few of the others that follow are better, one considerably./"