s3276169 Spies of Warsaw is a clumsily transparent 40's style spy thriller. This is yet another throw back mini series that tries in a very transparent and bumbling manner to recapture a 40's essence, found in films like Casa Blanca. Of course the obvious problem with copying better films, is all sense of originality and creativity is lost. The outcome is a wooden mini series that feels self consciously clichéd and clumsy. The performances of the quality cast are regrettably constrained by the caricatures they are forced to adopt like a poorly fitting set of clothes. Quality actors like David Tennant don't stand a chance to really shine, which is in no way any reflection on their talent. Sad to say, whilst I like the idea behind this series its slavish adherence to a tired formula does it a real disservice. Five out of ten from me.

Remittance Man I gave it 1 because I couldn't give it 0.Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement may be good writers of comedy series, but the BBC utterly failed when it appointed them to make what turned out to be a very bad adaptation of a very good book.They completely failed to develop the story as it unfolded in the original work by Alan Furst. They failed to develop the original sub-plots that made this story work and added all sorts of unnecessary ones that were not even in the book. Presumably this was done to Make the programme more "exciting". I know adapting books to the screen (big or small) requires changes but I was left wondering whether these two had even read the book before they set to work.Oh, and as for the uniforms. Good in the most, but Tennant's dress uniform in Episode 1 was completely wrong and looked about three sizes too big for him. He ended up looking like an extra from an Italian comic opera. Mercier, the aristocratic cavalry officer, would not have been seen dead in it.All in all wasted opportunity to turn a good book into a good TV series brought down by an obviously small budget, poor direction and poor choice of writers. Gods help us if they ever get turned loose on other works by Furst.

Reno Rangan BBC's television mini series about spy drama of pre world war II tension. Seen lots of lots of world war movies, but this one commence before the beginning of the war where spies from different region of Europe collide each other. So it is a cat-mouse game with many dangerous path ahead. It was a beautifully shot movie with sufficient art structure to construct curiosity in both the episodes. Definitely not like James Bond movie with lots of strong action sequences. I don't know about this book so I can't remark any differences between two. It had all the ingredients like romance, friends, betrayal, family and threats that a man as a spy who can go through in reality.It was based on the book which set in October 1937 in the capital of Poland, Warsaw. A French spy Jean Francois Mercier is assigned to look the situation on the German border. As his first report confirms something big is getting ready by the Hitler, which creates diplomatic tension between the neighboring countries especially Poland. So he hires some people to do inside jobs and that put many in danger. So constantly the locations change when characters start to explore in the cities between Warsaw, Paris and Berlin. Between all this he meets a young French woman and instantly fall in love with her. When the country near to be at war, what are their plans and how it can be executed is the rest which unfolds in an exceptional manner.It is a television series and does justice for what it has to be so if you are expecting like a Hollywood movie you will be let down. David Tennant was Amazing, one of his best performances I have seen. It was a bit slow in pace, but if you give a day gap between two episodes, it won't affect you much with the speed. You must remember it was not like todays spy movies where there is lots of equipment available to get in touch with the main office. But then it was left to that one man and he must take all the tough decision himself in the tight situations. So in my opinion, this mini series about serious issue was way better than the commercial movie which deal with the same subject. I believe it is a fine adaptation so you may try if you are interested.

phd_travel This is a miscast cheaply made boring WWII spy movie/TV series. The scenes are so limited - the same courtyard street or forest. Hardly show any parts of recognizable Warsaw at all.David Tennant is hardly a dashing spy - he looks like an owl with his blank staring eyes.Janet Montgomery is quite pretty but she can't make up for this dud.The supporting cast looks like the least photogenic of all BBC British actors and actresses. The accents are inconsistent - the French sound like British. The Germans speak in German with subtitles even though the Polish characters are speaking in English. Why bother? There just isn't enough story - and the screenplay is boring. The editing spends long periods on uneventful scenes and dialog. A dull book and a dull series.Don't waste your time.This dud should never have been made.