Salting the Battlefield

Last updated

Salting the Battlefield
GenreDrama, Thriller, Crime, Action
Written byDavid Hare
Directed by David Hare
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerCelia Duval
Running time93 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
Release27 March 2014 (2014-03-27)
Related
Turks & Caicos

Salting the Battlefield is a 2014 British political thriller television film, written and directed for the BBC by the British writer David Hare. It follows Page Eight , which aired on BBC Two in August 2011 and Turks & Caicos , which aired in 2014. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Plot

Following their flight from Turks and Caicos, Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) and Margot Tyrell (Helena Bonham Carter) hopscotch around Europe to evade capture by MI5. After spotting one of his former recruits, disguised as a passing jogger, Johnny relocates once again and instructs former colleague Rollo Maverley (Ewen Bremner) to leak news of Prime Minister Alec Beasley's (Ralph Fiennes) corrupt dealings with Stirling Rogers (Rupert Graves) and his Bridge Foundation. Margot secretly keeps in touch with Johnny's pregnant daughter Julianne (Felicity Jones). In London, Acting Director General Jill Tankard (Judy Davis) contacts Deputy Prime Minister Anthea Catcheside (Saskia Reeves) and offers her services in aiding Catcheside's embattled husband.

Johnny and Margot separate on their way back into Britain to confound their pursuers. While Johnny disappears and travels via the English Channel, an errant MI5 agent runs into Margot on a train and alerts his superiors. Rollo aids Margot's escape and delivers her to Reverend Bernard Towers (Malcolm Sinclair), a friend of Johnny's from Cambridge. Johnny contacts Belinda Kay (Olivia Williams), editor-in-chief of The Independent and details the workings of the financial deals surrounding Beasley, Rogers and The Bridge. Kay's publication of the information causes Rogers to resign from the foundation and admit to his misdeeds, despite Beasley's assurances.

Julianne contacts Margot after learning that her boyfriend (Shazad Latif) was an MI5 plant who has bugged her flat. Johnny arranges a meeting with Beasley at 10 Downing Street, demanding he call off the surveillance against his daughter. Beasley reveals that he intends to leave office and assume the title of Consul General to Iran, with American funding and UN cover. Johnny is then summoned to a meeting with Tankard, who reveals that she engineered Beasley's downfall after seeing the extent of the Page Eight, the intelligence that started the scandal. Through her burying of Bill Catcheside's legal troubles, Tankard has Anthea, Beasley's planned successor, in her pocket. Tankard asks Johnny to return to MI5, an offer he reluctantly accepts in return for Julianne and Margot's safety and Maverley's reinstatement into MI5.

Back in Margot's apartment, Johnny sees Margot leaving for Hong Kong to work in a start-up. Margot mentions that Julianne is in labour, accompanied by her mother. The film closes with scenes of Margot leaving, Johnny walking across London to the MI5 headquarters, and Julianne giving birth to her child.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turks and Caicos Islands</span> British overseas territory in the Caribbean

The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and northern West Indies. They are known primarily for tourism and as an offshore financial centre. The resident population in 2023 was estimated by The World Factbook at 59,367, making it the third-largest of the British overseas territories by population. However, according to a Department of Statistics estimate in 2022, the population was 47,720.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Bahamas</span>

The earliest arrival of people in the islands now known as The Bahamas was in the first millennium AD. The first inhabitants of the islands were the Lucayans, an Arawakan language-speaking Taino people, who arrived between about 500 and 800 AD from other islands of the Caribbean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. H. Asquith</span> Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916

Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith,, generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last Liberal Party prime minister to command a majority government, and the most recent Liberal to have served as Leader of the Opposition. He played a major role in the design and passage of major liberal legislation and a reduction of the power of the House of Lords. In August 1914, Asquith took Great Britain and the British Empire into the First World War. During 1915, his government was vigorously attacked for a shortage of munitions and the failure of the Gallipoli Campaign. He formed a coalition government with other parties but failed to satisfy critics, was forced to resign in December 1916 and never regained power.

The year 1968 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Davis</span> Australian film, television, and stage actress (born 1955)

Judith Davis is an Australian actress. In a career spanning over four decades of both screen and stage, she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Frequent collaborator Woody Allen described her as "one of the most exciting actresses in the world". Davis has received numerous accolades, including nine AACTA Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julianne Moore</span> American actress (born 1960)

Julie Anne Smith, known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, as well as for her roles in blockbusters. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Emmy Awards.

<i>WKRP in Cincinnati</i> American television sitcom (1978–1982)

WKRP in Cincinnati is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional AM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta, including many of the characters. Wilson once told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he selected WKRP as the call sign to stand for C-R-A-P.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stourbridge</span> Town in the West Midlands, England

Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 2011 UK census recorded the town's population as 63,298.

<i>Spooks</i> (TV series) British television drama series (2002–2011)

Spooks is a British television spy drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 to 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a colloquialism for spies, and the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The Grid. In the United States, the show is broadcast under the title MI-5. In Canada, the programme originally aired as MI-5, but later aired on BBC Canada as Spooks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Nighy</span> British actor

William Francis Nighy is an English actor. Known for his work in several stage, television and film productions, he has received several awards including a British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award, and also has had nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hare (playwright)</span> British playwright, screenwriter and director (born 1947)

Sir David Rippon Hare is an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. Best known for his stage work, Hare has also enjoyed great success with films, receiving two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing The Hoursin 2002, based on the novel written by Michael Cunningham, and The Readerin 2008, based on the novel of the same name written by Bernhard Schlink.

Carnival Film & Television Limited, trading as Carnival Films, is a British production company based in London, UK, founded in 1978. It has produced television series for all the major UK networks including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky, as well as international broadcasters including PBS, A&E, HBO and NBC. Productions include single dramas, long-running television dramas, feature films, and stage productions.

<i>The Hollywood Palace</i> American television variety series

The Hollywood Palace is an hourlong American television variety show broadcast Saturday nights on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Titled The Saturday Night Hollywood Palace for its first few weeks, it began as a midseason replacement for The Jerry Lewis Show, another variety show, which lasted only three months.

<i>Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End</i> 2007 film by Gore Verbinski

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is a 2007 American epic fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Gore Verbinski. The film is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. The sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), it is the third installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. Set a few months after Dead Man's Chest, the story follows a desperate quest to locate and rescue Captain Jack Sparrow, trapped on a sea of sand in Davy Jones' Locker, and convene the Brethren Court in a war against the East India Trading Company. In an uneasy alliance, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Hector Barbossa, and the crew of the Black Pearl rescue Jack and prepare to fight Lord Cutler Beckett, who controls Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman.

Andrew Levitas is an American painter, sculptor, filmmaker, writer, producer, photographer and restaurateur.

The Detroit Film Critics Society is a film critic organization based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 2007, and comprises a group of over twenty film critics. To become a member, the critic must have reviewed at least twelve films a year in an established publication, with no more than two different critics per publication admitted. It presents annual awards at the end of the year, for the best films of the preceding year.

<i>Page Eight</i> 2011 television film directed by David Hare

Page Eight is a 2011 British political thriller, written and directed for the BBC by the British dramatist David Hare, his first film as director since the 1989 film Strapless. The cast includes Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Tom Hughes, Ralph Fiennes, and Judy Davis. The film was followed by Turks & Caicos (2014) and Salting the Battlefield (2014), which were broadcast on BBC Two in March 2014. The three films are collectively known as The Worricker Trilogy.

<i>Turks & Caicos</i> (film) 2014 television film directed by David Hare

Turks & Caicos is a 2014 political thriller television film, written and directed for the BBC by the playwright David Hare. It follows Page Eight, which aired on BBC Two in August 2011 and is followed by Salting the Battlefield.

References

  1. Jeffery, Morgan (3 May 2013). "Bill Nighy, Christopher Walken for BBC Two's 'Page Eight' sequels". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  2. Williams, Holly; Finamore, Emma (29 December 2013). "Coming soon in 2014: A look at the year ahead in arts". The Independent. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  3. Power, Vicki (15 February 2014). "From heart-tugging wartime sagas to gritty cop shows: 10 dramas you must see this spring". Daily Express. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  4. "Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy to play ex-lovers in West End play". BBC News. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.