PBS (Sun., Sept. 30, 9 P.M. ET)
C
During World War II, a woman (Rumpole's Patricia Hodge) is approached by a shadowy stranger (The Singing Detective's Michael Gambon) who tells her that he will turn in her boyfriend (Michael York) for selling secrets to the enemy unless—hint, hint, nudge, nudge—she agrees to become his mistress.
With his baggy-eyed balefulness, Gambon emits a sinister air while he's on camera, but for the most part, this Masterpiece Theatre production boils down to a great deal of talent—Christopher Morahan directed; Harold Pinter adapted the Elizabeth Bowen novel—in a flat-out, successful pursuit of tedium.
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