Reliable Sources

The Troika affair left a loose end behind it: somebody leaked, and a spy got tipped off. Now the Security Commission has convened to decide who is responsible, and Det. Supt. Eden is the man in the chair. The commission's interest is in exits, and it finds one in Eden. He is cleared of wrongdoing, which sounds like a win until you hear the rest of it. But the clearing comes with a catch: his time as Special Branch controller is over. There is no appeal, because there is nothing to appeal against.

That is the whole shape of the episode, and it is a nasty trick of institutional life: you can be exonerated and still be finished. Eden walks out with his name intact and his job gone, while Clive Bradbury, Arthur Prendergast and the rest of the inquiry move on to the next thing. No villain is produced, because the villain is the system, and the system is in the room taking minutes. The Deputy Commander hovers nearby. A newspaper editor is never far from the proceedings, and the chairman of the commission keeps the whole performance looking perfectly civil.

Roy Bottomley and Tom Brennand wrote it, Dennis Vance directed. Wensley Pithey is Det. Supt. Eden, Derren Nesbitt Det. Chief Insp. Jordan, Jennifer Wilson Det. Sgt. Helen Webb, Morris Perry Charles Moxon and Keith Washington Det. Con. Morrissey. Tony Britton plays Clive Bradbury, Julian Herington Arthur Prendergast, David Garth the Deputy Commander, David Collings the Newspaper Editor and Norman Claridge the Chairman.

There is no chase in 'Reliable Sources' and no raid at dawn. The drama is one man being told, politely, that his career is collateral damage. It is harder to watch than most of the bomb plots, and the quiet is the point. The damage is done politely, which is how the best damage is done. Nothing explodes, nobody runs, and the career ends anyway.