This is a one-off "reunion" play made some 9 years after the end of the series "Callan". Edward Woodward and Russell Hunter from the original show appear, along with George Sewell as the guest star. The creator of Callan, James Mitchell, is credited as the script writer.
This production looks like a student job from some early 80's film school, with the directors 14 year old brother responsible for the music. I am not exaggerating. The production values are so poor, they are way below the average standards of 1981 British television. The script is weak and contains some embarrassingly clumsy dialogue. The original novel was written by James Mitchell, yet i suscpect he never wrote the awful screenplay for this. After all, his scripts are of a different class. The screenplay for the movie "Callan" he wrote just 7 years earlier is great. Well, maybe he wrote this sick or busy or something. The direction is clumsy and the music deserves a special mention as one of the worst soundtracks ever.
I feel sorry for the stars. Woodward and Sewell sleepwalk through the film, Hunter at least tries his best. His scenes with Woodward sometimes actually work, and they are the only reason for watching this lackluster turkey. The actors playing the new Hunter and his replacement-Meres are utterly forgettable. The original Meres is written off with a clumsy joke.
I am sorry if i sound pessimistic and dreary, I wanted to like this, but this really is an extremely poor movie. I would like to know the full story behind this failure. What on earth was going on with Mitchell? I recommend all friends of the Callan series to consider the final episode from 1972 to be the end to the saga. Skip this.
This production looks like a student job from some early 80's film school, with the directors 14 year old brother responsible for the music. I am not exaggerating. The production values are so poor, they are way below the average standards of 1981 British television. The script is weak and contains some embarrassingly clumsy dialogue. The original novel was written by James Mitchell, yet i suscpect he never wrote the awful screenplay for this. After all, his scripts are of a different class. The screenplay for the movie "Callan" he wrote just 7 years earlier is great. Well, maybe he wrote this sick or busy or something. The direction is clumsy and the music deserves a special mention as one of the worst soundtracks ever.
I feel sorry for the stars. Woodward and Sewell sleepwalk through the film, Hunter at least tries his best. His scenes with Woodward sometimes actually work, and they are the only reason for watching this lackluster turkey. The actors playing the new Hunter and his replacement-Meres are utterly forgettable. The original Meres is written off with a clumsy joke.
I am sorry if i sound pessimistic and dreary, I wanted to like this, but this really is an extremely poor movie. I would like to know the full story behind this failure. What on earth was going on with Mitchell? I recommend all friends of the Callan series to consider the final episode from 1972 to be the end to the saga. Skip this.