Nothing is ever that real in a good tale of deception that leaves a healthy trail of dead bodies. Backstabbing, revolving backstories and every character playing an angle keeps up the plot momentum. What makes it all work is at the end of the show, the subterfuge drops to reveal satisfying truths. Dangerous Knowledge keeps the twists and turns coming while delivering the action of a pursuit. But who is pursuing and who is the he target? During a ferry ride, Kirby (John Gregory) gets a suitcase out of his car. He changes outfits in a side hallway only to be spotted by Laura (Prunella Ransome). He quickly makes her his traveling companion. She doesn’t know that shortly after their friendship, a body is uncovered in his car. Two men who might be cops comes are in pursuit of Kirby. Dangerous Knowledge was a six-part, half-hour series that aired on ITV as part of the Armchair Thriller series in 1976.
Things seem to be black and white. Kirby would easily be a hitman. The two men appear to be undercover cops. Laura is merely the girl who stumbles into the middle of the mess and becomes swept up in the excitement. But there are fast clues that things are not as they should appear. The two cops don’t do a real investigation of the crime scene. They pocket evidence. Laura turns out to have connections to the undercover agents. Her stepfather claims to know all about Kirby. He swears Kirby’s a menace to all they believe in. What is that? Even Kirby is revealed to be an insurance salesman with a military background. He’s not the normal kind of hitman. He has a sweet wife that’s oblivious about what other people think he does. There’s even a KGB connection pop up in an unexpected character.
Dangerous Knowledge is an engrossing deception miniseries. Things are kept skillfully off balance as the story unravels. No clues pop up too early as to what these people are really doing. The puzzle pieces aren’t obvious. There’s a compelling nature to their constant deceptions. Curiosity dominates the reason to keep watching each episode. Luckily this is a short series so there’s no waiting seasons for the truth to be exposed. Each episode ends with another secret revealed or at least you think so. Dangerous Knowledge is addictive.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. Like most British productions of this era, the locations were shot on film and the studio work is videotaped. The entire show is finished on video so there’s a slight blur. Things still look good. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. The studio work sounds much better than the location mixes.
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Dangerous Knowledge does play like an armchair thriller. Except instead of turning pages, you’re hitting the remote buttons to get to the next episode. The espionage tale doesn’t play it’s hand all at once. The ‘70s fashions don’t overplay themselves either. It’s a fine way to spend a cold fall evening when you’re wanting a mystery by the gas log fireplace.
VCI Entertainment presents Dangerous Knowledge. Starring: John Gregson, Patrick Allen, Prunella Ransome and Ralph Bates. Boxset Contents: 6 episodes on 1 DVDs. Released on DVD: September 28, 2010.
