The character of Richard Hanney first appeared in the 1914 novel THE 39 STEPS by Scottish author, intelligence officer, and eventual Governor General of Canada, John Buchan (1875-1940). Four more books featuring Hanney were written between 1916 and 1936. Hanney’s original character, a mining engineer from South Africa, ultimately developed into an early prototype of James Bond, a military man who becomes involved in international intrigues and does battle with high profile villains on behalf of England. Alfred Hitchcock made the first film adaptation of STEPS in 1935, and three others would follow (1959, 1978, 2008). Although a classic movie, it strayed far from the book as did the 1959 remake. The 1978 adaptation was more faithful to the original source, and set in the proper time period of early 1914.
The 1978 version starred Robert Powell who, 10 years later, would play Hanney in this 13 episode ITV television series. As in the movie, the 1988 series was set just prior to World War I with Hanney involved in matters of intrigue mostly by accident. While none of the episodes follow Buchan’s books, they do borrow the occasional character such as Hanney’s principal antagonist, Count von Schwabing. Of course there’s just so much you can do in an hour’s running time but HANNAY manages to pack in quite a lot but never so much it overwhelms the viewer. Although made in the late 1980s, the show was shot on videotape, not film, but has a high quality look and there’s no switching back and forth from tape to film for indoor and outdoor shots which marred so many Brit series such as UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS.
I enjoyed all 13 episodes of the series but a few stood out more than others. My absolute favorite was Episode 4: DEATH WITH DUE NOTICE where former members of Hannay’s Boer War regiment are murdered and their bodies left with scraps of paper quoting Shakespeare. Other favorites include Episode 8: THE TERRORS OF THE EARTH which involves an early form of germ warfare, and the final episode, THE BELLS OF SHOREDITCH which has to do with smuggling gold disguised in an unusual way. The first episode, FELLOWSHIP OF THE BLACK STONE is the closest in format to Buchan’s original novel. HANNAY contains lots of period charm, is graced with good performances, and is sure to please lovers of period British dramas. It deserves to be better known than it is.
The Capsule Critic 