Reilly - Ace Of Spies [1983]
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Reilly - Ace Of Spies [1983]
    Starring: Sam Neill , Leo McKern , Tom Bell , Jeananne Crowley , and Norman Rodway
    Director: Jim Goddard , and Martin Campbell
    Manufacturer: Fremantle Home Entertainment
    ProductGroup: DVD
    Binding: DVD

    All Drama All Drama | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video
    All Television All Television | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
    Drama Drama | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
    TV Series TV Series | Television | Categories | DVD | Video | Absolutely Fabulous | Alan Partridge | Ali G | Alias | All Creatures Great And Small | An Audience with..... | Auf Wiedersehen Pet | Babylon 5 | Bad Girls | Barney | Battlefield | Battlestar Galactica | Beyblade | Big Brother | Black Adder | Blake's 7 | Bo Selecta | CSI - Crime Scene Investigation | Captain Scarlet | Chorlton and the Wheelies | Cold Feet | Coupling | Cracker | David Attenborough | Dawsons Creek | Doctor Who | Farscape | Fast Show | Father Ted | Fawlty Towers | Fimbles | Forsyte Saga | Frasier | Gimme, Gimme, Gimme | Gladiators of World War II | Hercules - The Legendary Journeys | Inspector Morse | Jeeves And Wooster | M*A*S*H | Minder | NYPD Blue | National Geographic | Neon Genesis Evangelion | Only Fools & Horses | Outer Limits | Phoenix Nights | Pokémon | Red Dwarf | Robot Wars | Royle Family | Scarlet Pimpernel | Sex And The City | Sherlock Holmes | Smallville | South Park | Star Trek | Stargate SG-1 | Stingray | Teletubbies | The Avengers | The Chronicles of Narnia | The Darling Buds Of May | The Good Life | The League Of Gentlemen | The Office | The Osbournes | The Prisoner | The Saint | The Simpsons | The Sweeney | The Tweenies | Thomas the Tank Engine | Thunderbirds | Touch Of Frost | Twilight Zone | Twin Peaks | Upstairs Downstairs | Vicar of Dibley | Walking with..... | West Wing | World at War | X-Files | Xena - Warrior Princess | Yes Minister | Young Ones
    Up to 60% off DVD Box Sets Up to 60% off DVD Box Sets | Up to 60% off Box Sets | By Price | DVD Bargains | Custom Stores | Substores | DVD | Video
    DVD DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
    Box Set Box Set | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
    Similar Items:
    1. Ace of Spies: The True Story of Sidney Reilly (Revealing History): The True Story of Sidney Reilly (Revealing History) Ace of Spies: The True Story of Sidney Reilly (Revealing History): The True Story of Sidney Reilly (Revealing History)
    2. Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly
    3. Hannay - The Complete Series [2006] Hannay - The Complete Series [2006]
    4. Mosley - The Complete Series [2006] Mosley - The Complete Series [2006]
    5. Cribb [1980] Cribb [1980]

    ASIN: B000N6U0XS
    Release Date: 2007-04-30
    Reilly - Ace Of Spies [1983]
    Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Gambit [1983]
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • A powerful series on an 'ace of lies'
    Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Gambit [1983]
    Starring: Sam Neill
    Manufacturer: Acorn Media
    ProductGroup: DVD
    Binding: DVD

    All Drama All Drama | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video
    All Television All Television | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
    Drama Drama | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
    TV Series TV Series | Television | Categories | DVD | Video | Absolutely Fabulous | Alan Partridge | Ali G | Alias | All Creatures Great And Small | An Audience with..... | Auf Wiedersehen Pet | Babylon 5 | Bad Girls | Barney | Battlefield | Battlestar Galactica | Beyblade | Big Brother | Black Adder | Blake's 7 | Bo Selecta | CSI - Crime Scene Investigation | Captain Scarlet | Chorlton and the Wheelies | Cold Feet | Coupling | Cracker | David Attenborough | Dawsons Creek | Doctor Who | Farscape | Fast Show | Father Ted | Fawlty Towers | Fimbles | Forsyte Saga | Frasier | Gimme, Gimme, Gimme | Gladiators of World War II | Hercules - The Legendary Journeys | Inspector Morse | Jeeves And Wooster | M*A*S*H | Minder | NYPD Blue | National Geographic | Neon Genesis Evangelion | Only Fools & Horses | Outer Limits | Phoenix Nights | Pokémon | Red Dwarf | Robot Wars | Royle Family | Scarlet Pimpernel | Sex And The City | Sherlock Holmes | Smallville | South Park | Star Trek | Stargate SG-1 | Stingray | Teletubbies | The Avengers | The Chronicles of Narnia | The Darling Buds Of May | The Good Life | The League Of Gentlemen | The Office | The Osbournes | The Prisoner | The Saint | The Simpsons | The Sweeney | The Tweenies | Thomas the Tank Engine | Thunderbirds | Touch Of Frost | Twilight Zone | Twin Peaks | Upstairs Downstairs | Vicar of Dibley | Walking with..... | West Wing | World at War | X-Files | Xena - Warrior Princess | Yes Minister | Young Ones
    DVD DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
    Similar Items:
    1. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Dreadnoughts And Crosses [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Dreadnoughts And Crosses [1983]
    2. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Visiting Fireman [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Visiting Fireman [1983]
    3. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - An Affair With A Married Woman [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - An Affair With A Married Woman [1983]
    4. Reilly - Ace of Spies - The Last Journey [1983] Reilly - Ace of Spies - The Last Journey [1983]
    5. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - After Moscow [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - After Moscow [1983]

    ASIN: B00007DWQT
    Release Date: 2003-01-13
    Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Gambit [1983]

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars A powerful series on an 'ace of lies'.......2003-04-07

    Draw the curtains, dim the lights, and indulge in an atmospheric sketch of international wrangling in turn of century Europe. Emerging disappointed after an hour only because it is over already and you will have to wait a whole week for the next episode. This experience is shared by viewers of ‘Reilly-Ace of Spies,’ one of the classic TV series of the 1980s, now available on DVD.

    ‘Ace of Spies’ tells the story of master spy Sidney Reilly, British agent at the beginning of the last century, based on the biography of the same name by Robin Bruce Lockhart. Reilly, a cunning trickster and cold-blooded operator, is credited with changing the British secret service from a club of amateur gentleman spies into a ruthless professional espionage agency. Reilly was apparently the true-life model of James Bond. Besides a brave and clever agent also a murderer, cheat, and adulterer, he is a far more ambiguous figure than knight-in-shining armour 007. But this tension also makes the series far more appealing than Ian Fleming’s ripping yarns.

    The pilot episode finds Reilly (Sam Neill) on a mission in Baku, playing the great game for Central Asian oil. Arrested by the Russians, he escapes with Margaret, wife of the reverend Thomas. The death of Thomas under suspicious circumstances soon gives Reilly access to Margeret’s inherited wealth. In ‘Prelude to War’, Reilly enriches himself by speculating on war between Russia and Japan, a conflict he helps bringing about by selling the Japanese a map of defenses of Port Arthur. In the next episode ‘the visiting fireman’, Reilly disguises himself as a worker in order to peruse designs for German weaponry from the Krupp arms factory. In ‘Dreadnoughts and Doublecrosses’, Reilly attempts to steal plan of Russian warships for the newly established British intelligence service. In ‘Gambit’ Reilly has to escape revolutionary Russia after being implicated in a plot to kill Lenin. From then on, Reilly’s attempts to rid his native Russia of the hated Bolsheviks becomes the focus of the series. Reilly allies himself with the exiled Boris Savinkov, and both soon start to work together with the Trust, a secret organization aimed at overthrowing the communists. After the death of Savinkov, Reilly becomes wary of the Trust, suspecting it to be secretly controlled by Stalin. This prompts Reilly on his final mission, where only sacrifice can reveal the true nature of the Trust.

    The opening of British and former Soviet archives has cleared up a great deal of the mystery surrounding Reilly. Books such as ‘Ironmaze’ by Gordon Brooke-Shepherd and ‘On his Majesty’s Secret Service, Sidney Reilly ST1’ by Andrew Cook reveal Reilly as more of a scoundrel and less of a spy. Many of Reilly’s most famous exploits turn out to be complete fabrications, invented by the man himself. Even ‘Reilly’s’ highly recognizable theme tune is based on one of these inventions. Reilly managed to persuade his gullible audience that his early adventures formed the inspiration for the late nineteenth century novel ‘the Gadfly’. The series is set to Shostakovich’s tune ‘Romance’, taken from his score for the film of the book.

    But bad history does not necessarily make bad television. Reilly was a success as an inveterate cheat precisely because he was good at spinning believable stories, most of which are far more credible than the average Hollywood espionage blockbuster. That Reilly was ‘Ace of Lies’ rather than ‘Ace of Spies’ makes him more odious, but not less intriguing. If the power of the series is such that it inspired Cook to do his research on the true Sidney Reilly, it may lead many others to do some background reading, and is certain to make good viewing.
    Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Dreadnoughts And Crosses [1983]
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Dreadnoughts And Crosses [1983]
      Starring: Sam Neill , Tom Bell , Ian Charleson , Peter Egan , and Leo McKern
      Manufacturer: Acorn Media
      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

      All Drama All Drama | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video
      All Television All Television | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
      Drama Drama | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
      TV Series TV Series | Television | Categories | DVD | Video | Absolutely Fabulous | Alan Partridge | Ali G | Alias | All Creatures Great And Small | An Audience with..... | Auf Wiedersehen Pet | Babylon 5 | Bad Girls | Barney | Battlefield | Battlestar Galactica | Beyblade | Big Brother | Black Adder | Blake's 7 | Bo Selecta | CSI - Crime Scene Investigation | Captain Scarlet | Chorlton and the Wheelies | Cold Feet | Coupling | Cracker | David Attenborough | Dawsons Creek | Doctor Who | Farscape | Fast Show | Father Ted | Fawlty Towers | Fimbles | Forsyte Saga | Frasier | Gimme, Gimme, Gimme | Gladiators of World War II | Hercules - The Legendary Journeys | Inspector Morse | Jeeves And Wooster | M*A*S*H | Minder | NYPD Blue | National Geographic | Neon Genesis Evangelion | Only Fools & Horses | Outer Limits | Phoenix Nights | Pokémon | Red Dwarf | Robot Wars | Royle Family | Scarlet Pimpernel | Sex And The City | Sherlock Holmes | Smallville | South Park | Star Trek | Stargate SG-1 | Stingray | Teletubbies | The Avengers | The Chronicles of Narnia | The Darling Buds Of May | The Good Life | The League Of Gentlemen | The Office | The Osbournes | The Prisoner | The Saint | The Simpsons | The Sweeney | The Tweenies | Thomas the Tank Engine | Thunderbirds | Touch Of Frost | Twilight Zone | Twin Peaks | Upstairs Downstairs | Vicar of Dibley | Walking with..... | West Wing | World at War | X-Files | Xena - Warrior Princess | Yes Minister | Young Ones
      DVD DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
      Similar Items:
      1. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - An Affair With A Married Woman [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - An Affair With A Married Woman [1983]
      2. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Gambit [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Gambit [1983]
      3. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Visiting Fireman [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Visiting Fireman [1983]
      4. Reilly - Ace of Spies - The Last Journey [1983] Reilly - Ace of Spies - The Last Journey [1983]
      5. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - After Moscow [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - After Moscow [1983]

      ASIN: B00007DWQS
      Release Date: 2003-01-13
      Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Dreadnoughts And Crosses [1983]
      Reilly - Ace Of Spies - An Affair With A Married Woman [1983]
      Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
      • Great series. Worth repeated viewing.
      • A powerful series on an 'ace of lies'
      Reilly - Ace Of Spies - An Affair With A Married Woman [1983]
      Starring: Sam Neill , Leo McKern , and Peter Egan
      Director: Jim Goddard , and Martin Campbell
      Manufacturer: Acorn Media
      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

      All Drama All Drama | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video
      All Television All Television | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
      Drama Drama | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
      TV Series TV Series | Television | Categories | DVD | Video | Absolutely Fabulous | Alan Partridge | Ali G | Alias | All Creatures Great And Small | An Audience with..... | Auf Wiedersehen Pet | Babylon 5 | Bad Girls | Barney | Battlefield | Battlestar Galactica | Beyblade | Big Brother | Black Adder | Blake's 7 | Bo Selecta | CSI - Crime Scene Investigation | Captain Scarlet | Chorlton and the Wheelies | Cold Feet | Coupling | Cracker | David Attenborough | Dawsons Creek | Doctor Who | Farscape | Fast Show | Father Ted | Fawlty Towers | Fimbles | Forsyte Saga | Frasier | Gimme, Gimme, Gimme | Gladiators of World War II | Hercules - The Legendary Journeys | Inspector Morse | Jeeves And Wooster | M*A*S*H | Minder | NYPD Blue | National Geographic | Neon Genesis Evangelion | Only Fools & Horses | Outer Limits | Phoenix Nights | Pokémon | Red Dwarf | Robot Wars | Royle Family | Scarlet Pimpernel | Sex And The City | Sherlock Holmes | Smallville | South Park | Star Trek | Stargate SG-1 | Stingray | Teletubbies | The Avengers | The Chronicles of Narnia | The Darling Buds Of May | The Good Life | The League Of Gentlemen | The Office | The Osbournes | The Prisoner | The Saint | The Simpsons | The Sweeney | The Tweenies | Thomas the Tank Engine | Thunderbirds | Touch Of Frost | Twilight Zone | Twin Peaks | Upstairs Downstairs | Vicar of Dibley | Walking with..... | West Wing | World at War | X-Files | Xena - Warrior Princess | Yes Minister | Young Ones
      DVD DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
      Similar Items:
      1. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Dreadnoughts And Crosses [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Dreadnoughts And Crosses [1983]
      2. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Visiting Fireman [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Visiting Fireman [1983]
      3. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Gambit [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Gambit [1983]
      4. Reilly - Ace of Spies - The Last Journey [1983] Reilly - Ace of Spies - The Last Journey [1983]
      5. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - After Moscow [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - After Moscow [1983]

      ASIN: B00006BT7P
      Release Date: 2002-08-05
      Reilly - Ace Of Spies - An Affair With A Married Woman [1983]

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars Great series. Worth repeated viewing........2005-11-25

      Sam Neill is in his element as Sidney Reilly (Sigmund Rosenblum) during the Russian revolution. You are never sure whom he is spying for. He is a British spy that was responsible for gaining secrets that assured the Japanese success in their maritime war efforts with the Russians. He later became involved in the Bolshevik revolution. All the time he is making money and we are never sure whether he is just a British spy or a double agent or just out for himself.

      This is the introduction to Sigmund Rosenblum; here his life’s story and how he became a spy for the British. In this beginning episode he is detained at Baku but the reason is not clear. He must escape before the reason becomes clear to his capturers. He devisees a brilliantly simple scheme that includes passion and madness.

      Original

      Episode # Prod # Air Date Episode Title

      ____ _______ ________ ___________ ___________________________________________

      1. 1- 1 5 Sep 83 An Affair with a Married Woman (90 min)
      2. 1- 2 7 Sep 83 Prelude to War
      3. 1- 3 14 Sep 83 The Visiting Fireman
      4. 1- 4 21 Sep 83 Anna
      5. 1- 5 28 Sep 83 Dreadnoughts and Crosses
      6. 1- 6 5 Oct 83 Dreadnoughts and Doublecrosses
      7. 1- 7 12 Oct 83 Gambit
      8. 1- 8 19 Oct 83 Endgame
      9. 1- 9 26 Oct 83 After Moscow
      10. 1-10 2 Nov 83 The Trust
      11. 1-11 9 Nov 83 The Last Journey
      12. 1-12 16 Nov 83 Shutdown

      5 out of 5 stars A powerful series on an 'ace of lies'.......2003-04-06

      Draw the curtains, dim the lights, and indulge in an atmospheric sketch of international wrangling in turn of century Europe. Emerging disappointed after an hour only because it is over already and you will have to wait a whole week for the next episode. This experience is shared by viewers of 'Reilly-Ace of Spies,' one of the classic TV series of the 1980s, now available on DVD.

      'Ace of Spies' tells the story of master spy Sidney Reilly, British agent at the beginning of the last century, based on the biography of the same name by Robin Bruce Lockhart. Reilly, a cunning trickster and cold-blooded operator, is credited with changing the British secret service from a club of amateur gentleman spies into a ruthless professional espionage agency. Reilly was apparently the true-life model of James Bond. Besides a brave and clever agent also a murderer, cheat, and adulterer, he is a far more ambiguous figure than knight-in-shining armour 007. But this tension also makes the series far more appealing than Ian Fleming's ripping yarns.

      The pilot episode finds Reilly (Sam Neill) on a mission in Baku, playing the great game for Central Asian oil. Arrested by the Russians, he escapes with Margaret, wife of the reverend Thomas. The death of Thomas under suspicious circumstances soon gives Reilly access to Margeret's inherited wealth. In 'Prelude to War', Reilly enriches himself by speculating on war between Russia and Japan, a conflict he helps bringing about by selling the Japanese a map of defenses of Port Arthur. In the next episode 'the visiting fireman', Reilly disguises himself as a worker in order to peruse designs for German weaponry from the Krupp arms factory. In 'Dreadnoughts and Doublecrosses', Reilly attempts to steal plan of Russian warships for the newly established British intelligence service. In 'Gambit' Reilly has to escape revolutionary Russia after being implicated in a plot to kill Lenin. From then on, Reilly's attempts to rid his native Russia of the hated Bolsheviks becomes the focus of the series. Reilly allies himself with the exiled Boris Savinkov, and both soon start to work together with the Trust, a secret organization aimed at overthrowing the communists. After the death of Savinkov, Reilly becomes wary of the Trust, suspecting it to be secretly controlled by Stalin. This prompts Reilly on his final mission, where only sacrifice can reveal the true nature of the Trust.

      The opening of British and former Soviet archives has cleared up a great deal of the mystery surrounding Reilly. Books such as 'Ironmaze' by Gordon Brooke-Shepherd and 'On his Majesty's Secret Service, Sidney Reilly ST1' by Andrew Cook reveal Reilly as more of a scoundrel and less of a spy. Many of Reilly's most famous exploits turn out to be complete fabrications, invented by the man himself. Even 'Reilly's' highly recognizable theme tune is based on one of these inventions. Reilly managed to persuade his gullible audience that his early adventures formed the inspiration for the late nineteenth century novel 'the Gadfly'. The series is set to Shostakovich's tune 'Romance', taken from his score for the film of the book.

      But bad history does not necessarily make bad television. Reilly was a success as an inveterate cheat precisely because he was good at spinning believable stories, most of which are far more credible than the average Hollywood espionage blockbuster. That Reilly was 'Ace of Lies' rather than 'Ace of Spies' makes him more odious, but not less intriguing. If the power of the series is such that it inspired Cook to do his research on the true Sidney Reilly, it may lead many others to do some background reading, and is certain to make good viewing.
      Reilly: Ace of Spies [1983] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
      Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
      • Remember this from 1983!
      • He Who Spies and Runs Away . . .
      • Great series. Worth repeated viewing.
      Reilly: Ace of Spies [1983] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
      Starring: Sam Neill , Peter Egan , Ian Charleson , Norman Rodway , and Tom Bell
      Director: Martin Campbell , and Jim Goddard
      Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

      All Drama All Drama | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video
      All Television All Television | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
      Drama Drama | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
      All Documentaries All Documentaries | Documentary | Categories | DVD | Video
      All Children's DVD All Children's DVD | Children's DVD | Categories | DVD | Video
      Region 1 Region 1 | Special Features | DVD | Video
      DVD DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
      Box Set Box Set | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
      ASIN: B000742FZW
      Release Date: 2005-02-22
      Reilly: Ace of Spies [1983] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars Remember this from 1983!.......2008-01-29

      You will be hooked, 12 hours of episodes on three discs, lovely, clever dialogue, moves at just the right place. They don't make them like this anymore. Plus a few surprise e.g a very young Bill Nighy! Buy it,its worth it.

      4 out of 5 stars He Who Spies and Runs Away . . ........2007-06-14

      . . may live to spy another day, but unlike James Bond, Sidney Reilly is (or was) a mortal spy, not a cardboard one. His enemies (and those of the West for most of the last century) actually got him in the end (1925). Knowledge of this fact, and that Reilly (aka Sigmund Rosenblum of Odessa) was actually employed by the Secret Intelligence Service and played a significant, if covert, part in world events only enhances the suspense of this excellent series, which one does not want to end the way it did in real life.

      Part "007 for the Educated," and part "Upstairs-Downstairs" in spirit, this series follows the adventures of the "Ace of Spies," against the backdrop of history, from 1900 until 1925. The series, in fact, would make an excellent teaching tool for a high school or college World History class, when annotated by a history instructor. From the 1904 Japanese sinking of the Russian fleet at Port Arthur in Manchuria, through the Russian Revolution of 1917, until Stalin's paranoic ascendency in the 1920's, the viewer is treated to a "rippng yarn" in which the historic connivings of the Usual Suspects for oil, arms and power (What else?) is one of the most fascinating aspects. We even have a "good Bolshie" (sort of) in the persona of Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Cheka (later the KGB), and "bad Bolshie" in that of Joseph Stalin (You were expecting, maybe, Kim Philby?). At any rate, the series is gripping from beginning to end.

      Yes, the quality of the color is on the sepia side, but this defect (if it is a deliberate one) contributes to the "historical" ambience of "Reilly." I also began to wonder whether the Moscow of Lenin & Co. was really as spic and span as presented (but then, I may have been influenced by the propaganda of the last century that suggests otherwise). I was, however, less than impressed by the makeup: Leo McKern's nose, in particular, kept changing shape and color, until in his last scenes, it just looked like what it was: putty. Furthermore, the maquillage on Reilly's first wife, who was supposed to be fifty, with clown white under her eyes, and black shadow on her cheeks, was amateurish. These flaws, however (for which I have witheld a star), are but flyspecks on the panorama of an otherwise splendid series from the BBC.

      5 out of 5 stars Great series. Worth repeated viewing........2005-04-13

      Sam Neill is in his element as Sidney Reilly (Sigmund Rosenblum) during the Russian revolution. You are never sure whom he is spying for. He is a British spy that was responsible for gaining secrets that assured the Japanese success in their maritime war efforts with the Russians. He later became involved in the Bolshevik revolution. All the time he is making money and we are never sure whether he is just a British spy or a double agent or just out for himself.

      Each episode brings him to a different location and/or time where he shows an extraordinary understanding of the political and economic situation that he is in.

      A little added plus is where a psychic vividly predicts his death.

      Original

      Episode # Prod # Air Date Episode Title

      ____ _______ ________ ___________ ___________________________________________


      1. 1- 1 5 Sep 83 An Affair with a Married Woman (90 min)
      2. 1- 2 7 Sep 83 Prelude to War
      3. 1- 3 14 Sep 83 The Visiting Fireman
      4. 1- 4 21 Sep 83 Anna
      5. 1- 5 28 Sep 83 Dreadnoughts and Crosses
      6. 1- 6 5 Oct 83 Dreadnoughts and Doublecrosses
      7. 1- 7 12 Oct 83 Gambit
      8. 1- 8 19 Oct 83 Endgame
      9. 1- 9 26 Oct 83 After Moscow
      10. 1-10 2 Nov 83 The Trust
      11. 1-11 9 Nov 83 The Last Journey
      12. 1-12 16 Nov 83 Shutdown

      Reilly - Ace of Spies - The Last Journey [1983]
      Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
      • A powerful series on an 'ace of lies'
      • A powerful series on an 'ace of lies'
      Reilly - Ace of Spies - The Last Journey [1983]
      Starring: Sam Neill
      Manufacturer: Acorn Media
      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

      All Crime, Thrillers & Mystery All Crime, Thrillers & Mystery | Crime, Thrillers & Mystery | Categories | DVD | Video
      All Television All Television | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
      TV Series TV Series | Television | Categories | DVD | Video | Absolutely Fabulous | Alan Partridge | Ali G | Alias | All Creatures Great And Small | An Audience with..... | Auf Wiedersehen Pet | Babylon 5 | Bad Girls | Barney | Battlefield | Battlestar Galactica | Beyblade | Big Brother | Black Adder | Blake's 7 | Bo Selecta | CSI - Crime Scene Investigation | Captain Scarlet | Chorlton and the Wheelies | Cold Feet | Coupling | Cracker | David Attenborough | Dawsons Creek | Doctor Who | Farscape | Fast Show | Father Ted | Fawlty Towers | Fimbles | Forsyte Saga | Frasier | Gimme, Gimme, Gimme | Gladiators of World War II | Hercules - The Legendary Journeys | Inspector Morse | Jeeves And Wooster | M*A*S*H | Minder | NYPD Blue | National Geographic | Neon Genesis Evangelion | Only Fools & Horses | Outer Limits | Phoenix Nights | Pokémon | Red Dwarf | Robot Wars | Royle Family | Scarlet Pimpernel | Sex And The City | Sherlock Holmes | Smallville | South Park | Star Trek | Stargate SG-1 | Stingray | Teletubbies | The Avengers | The Chronicles of Narnia | The Darling Buds Of May | The Good Life | The League Of Gentlemen | The Office | The Osbournes | The Prisoner | The Saint | The Simpsons | The Sweeney | The Tweenies | Thomas the Tank Engine | Thunderbirds | Touch Of Frost | Twilight Zone | Twin Peaks | Upstairs Downstairs | Vicar of Dibley | Walking with..... | West Wing | World at War | X-Files | Xena - Warrior Princess | Yes Minister | Young Ones
      Mystery & Detectives Mystery & Detectives | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
      DVD DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
      Similar Items:
      1. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Visiting Fireman [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Visiting Fireman [1983]
      2. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - After Moscow [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - After Moscow [1983]
      3. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - An Affair With A Married Woman [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - An Affair With A Married Woman [1983]
      4. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Dreadnoughts And Crosses [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Dreadnoughts And Crosses [1983]
      5. Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Gambit [1983] Reilly - Ace Of Spies - Gambit [1983]

      ASIN: B00008WQ54
      Release Date: 2003-03-10
      Reilly - Ace of Spies - The Last Journey [1983]

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars A powerful series on an 'ace of lies'.......2003-04-07

      Draw the curtains, dim the lights, and indulge in an atmospheric sketch of international wrangling in turn of century Europe. Emerging disappointed after an hour only because it is over already and you will have to wait a whole week for the next episode. This experience is shared by viewers of ‘Reilly-Ace of Spies,’ one of the classic TV series of the 1980s, now available on DVD.

      ‘Ace of Spies’ tells the story of master spy Sidney Reilly, British agent at the beginning of the last century, based on the biography of the same name by Robin Bruce Lockhart. Reilly, a cunning trickster and cold-blooded operator, is credited with changing the British secret service from a club of amateur gentleman spies into a ruthless professional espionage agency. Reilly was apparently the true-life model of James Bond. Besides a brave and clever agent also a murderer, cheat, and adulterer, he is a far more ambiguous figure than knight-in-shining armour 007. But this tension also makes the series far more appealing than Ian Fleming’s ripping yarns.

      The pilot episode finds Reilly (Sam Neill) on a mission in Baku, playing the great game for Central Asian oil. Arrested by the Russians, he escapes with Margaret, wife of the reverend Thomas. The death of Thomas under suspicious circumstances soon gives Reilly access to Margeret’s inherited wealth. In ‘Prelude to War’, Reilly enriches himself by speculating on war between Russia and Japan, a conflict he helps bringing about by selling the Japanese a map of defenses of Port Arthur. In the next episode ‘the visiting fireman’, Reilly disguises himself as a worker in order to peruse designs for German weaponry from the Krupp arms factory. In ‘Dreadnoughts and Doublecrosses’, Reilly attempts to steal plan of Russian warships for the newly established British intelligence service. In ‘Gambit’ Reilly has to escape revolutionary Russia after being implicated in a plot to kill Lenin. From then on, Reilly’s attempts to rid his native Russia of the hated Bolsheviks becomes the focus of the series. Reilly allies himself with the exiled Boris Savinkov, and both soon start to work together with the Trust, a secret organization aimed at overthrowing the communists. After the death of Savinkov, Reilly becomes wary of the Trust, suspecting it to be secretly controlled by Stalin. This prompts Reilly on his final mission, where only sacrifice can reveal the true nature of the Trust.

      The opening of British and former Soviet archives has cleared up a great deal of the mystery surrounding Reilly. Books such as ‘Ironmaze’ by Gordon Brooke-Shepherd and ‘On his Majesty’s Secret Service, Sidney Reilly ST1’ by Andrew Cook reveal Reilly as more of a scoundrel and less of a spy. Many of Reilly’s most famous exploits turn out to be complete fabrications, invented by the man himself. Even ‘Reilly’s’ highly recognizable theme tune is based on one of these inventions. Reilly managed to persuade his gullible audience that his early adventures formed the inspiration for the late nineteenth century novel ‘the Gadfly’. The series is set to Shostakovich’s tune ‘Romance’, taken from his score for the film of the book.

      But bad history does not necessarily make bad television. Reilly was a success as an inveterate cheat precisely because he was good at spinning believable stories, most of which are far more credible than the average Hollywood espionage blockbuster. That Reilly was ‘Ace of Lies’ rather than ‘Ace of Spies’ makes him more odious, but not less intriguing. If the power of the series is such that it inspired Cook to do his research on the true Sidney Reilly, it may lead many others to do some background reading, and is certain to make good viewing.

      5 out of 5 stars A powerful series on an 'ace of lies'.......2003-04-07

      Draw the curtains, dim the lights, and indulge in an atmospheric sketch of international wrangling in turn of the century Europe. Emerging disappointed after an hour only because it is over already and you will have to wait a whole week for the next episode. This experience is shared by viewers of 'Reilly-Ace of Spies,' one of the classic TV series of the 1980s, now available on DVD.

      'Ace of Spies' tells the story of master spy Sidney Reilly, British agent at the beginning of the last century, based on the biography of the same name by Robin Bruce Lockhart. Reilly, a cunning trickster and cold-blooded operator, is credited with changing the British secret service from a club of amateur gentleman spies into a ruthless professional espionage agency. Reilly was apparently the true-life model of James Bond. Besides a brave and clever agent also a murderer, cheat, and adulterer, he is a far more ambiguous figure than knight-in-shining armour 007. But this tension also makes the series far more appealing than Ian Fleming's ripping yarns.

      The opening of British and former Soviet archives has cleared up a great deal of the mystery surrounding Reilly. Books such as 'Ironmaze' by Gordon Brooke-Shepherd and 'On his Majesty's Secret Service, Sidney Reilly ST1' by Andrew Cook reveal Reilly as more of a scoundrel and less of a spy. Many of Reilly's most famous exploits turn out to be complete fabrications, invented by the man himself. Even 'Reilly's' highly recognizable theme tune is based on one of these inventions. Reilly managed to persuade his gullible audience that his early adventures formed the inspiration for the late nineteenth century novel 'the Gadfly'. The series is set to Shostakovich's tune 'Romance', taken from his score for the film of the book.

      But bad history does not necessarily make bad television. Reilly was a success as an inveterate cheat precisely because he was good at spinning believable stories, most of which are far more credible than the average Hollywood espionage blockbuster. That Reilly was 'Ace of Lies' rather than 'Ace of Spies' makes him more odious, but not less intriguing. If the power of the series is such that it inspired Cook to do his research on the true Sidney Reilly, it may lead many others to do some background reading, and is certain to make good viewing.
      Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Complete Series [1983]
      Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
      • Stunning Recreation of A Bygone Era
      • Ace drama.
      • Composer ?
      • Great series. I saw it on PBS twice
      • A powerful series on an Ace of Spies
      Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Complete Series [1983]
      Starring: Sam Neill
      Manufacturer: Acorn Media
      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

      All Crime, Thrillers & Mystery All Crime, Thrillers & Mystery | Crime, Thrillers & Mystery | Categories | DVD | Video
      All Television All Television | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
      TV Series TV Series | Television | Categories | DVD | Video | Absolutely Fabulous | Alan Partridge | Ali G | Alias | All Creatures Great And Small | An Audience with..... | Auf Wiedersehen Pet | Babylon 5 | Bad Girls | Barney | Battlefield | Battlestar Galactica | Beyblade | Big Brother | Black Adder | Blake's 7 | Bo Selecta | CSI - Crime Scene Investigation | Captain Scarlet | Chorlton and the Wheelies | Cold Feet | Coupling | Cracker | David Attenborough | Dawsons Creek | Doctor Who | Farscape | Fast Show | Father Ted | Fawlty Towers | Fimbles | Forsyte Saga | Frasier | Gimme, Gimme, Gimme | Gladiators of World War II | Hercules - The Legendary Journeys | Inspector Morse | Jeeves And Wooster | M*A*S*H | Minder | NYPD Blue | National Geographic | Neon Genesis Evangelion | Only Fools & Horses | Outer Limits | Phoenix Nights | Pokémon | Red Dwarf | Robot Wars | Royle Family | Scarlet Pimpernel | Sex And The City | Sherlock Holmes | Smallville | South Park | Star Trek | Stargate SG-1 | Stingray | Teletubbies | The Avengers | The Chronicles of Narnia | The Darling Buds Of May | The Good Life | The League Of Gentlemen | The Office | The Osbournes | The Prisoner | The Saint | The Simpsons | The Sweeney | The Tweenies | Thomas the Tank Engine | Thunderbirds | Touch Of Frost | Twilight Zone | Twin Peaks | Upstairs Downstairs | Vicar of Dibley | Walking with..... | West Wing | World at War | X-Files | Xena - Warrior Princess | Yes Minister | Young Ones
      Mystery & Detectives Mystery & Detectives | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
      DVD DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
      Box Set Box Set | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
      Similar Items:
      1. Ace of Spies: The True Story of Sidney Reilly (Revealing History): The True Story of Sidney Reilly (Revealing History) Ace of Spies: The True Story of Sidney Reilly (Revealing History): The True Story of Sidney Reilly (Revealing History)
      2. Between The Lines : Complete BBC Series 1 [1992] Between The Lines : Complete BBC Series 1 [1992]
      3. Judge John Deed : Complete BBC Series 2 [2001] Judge John Deed : Complete BBC Series 2 [2001]
      4. New Tricks : Complete BBC Series 1 [2003] New Tricks : Complete BBC Series 1 [2003]
      5. Spooks : Complete BBC Series 1 [2002] Spooks : Complete BBC Series 1 [2002]

      ASIN: B00008WQ55
      Release Date: 2003-03-10
      Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Complete Series [1983]

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars Stunning Recreation of A Bygone Era.......2006-11-01

      This very close to historical fact series must not be missed. It follows the adult life of one Sigmund Rosenbloom, probably the half-Jewish son of a Russian colonel's wife: his real father was never discovered but the child was brought up as if Russian, his notional father being a Russian colonel, so it is thought. Later taking the name Reilly, he was probably the most audacious agent of any secret service at the time or since, moving in high society as well as the docks and criminal quarters of the great cities of Europe and beyond. He also made a lot of money, not usually very honestly, by the way. Thanks to the persistence of the director and producer, the story was told on film 25 years after the idea was first mooted. It was shown on British TV around 1980.

      As others have noted, the haunting title music is from The Gadfly by Shostakovitch, not by one Harry Rabinovitch, as credited in the series (the incidental music seems to have been lifted from other Russian composers of the more romantic sort, including Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, if my ear listened clearly enough). Rabinovitch must have taken a leaf from the felonious damn cheek of Reilly himself! Oy veh!

      5 out of 5 stars Ace drama........2006-02-25

      I was a wee girl of 12 when this series first aired on ITV, but I remember it well for two main reasons:

      1) It made me fall in love with Sam Neill.
      2) It made me fall in love with Shoshtakovich.

      Probably due to not owning a VHS player in 1983, I only had one shot at soaking this all in at the time it was aired.
      Imagine then, my immense chuffed-ness at discovering all 13 episodes were to be released in wondrous DVD box setted glory!

      From its supremely evocative music - (persons of a certain age might remember Terry Wogan announcing Shoshtakovich on his radio show as the theme from 'Reilly - Ace of Mince Pies' tsk!) - through to the calibre of the cast, everything about 'Reilly' was and is, quality drama.

      The costumes are works of art in themselves, and the London locations do a marvellous job doubling for pre-Perestroika Russia.

      Even before 1985's much-praised 'Edge of Darkness' Troy Kennedy Martin showed flashes of brilliance in his adaption of Robin Bruce Lokhart's book for TV.

      Kennedy Martin keeps his script taut and sharp and as such, we are not bogged down with the myriad convolutions of counter espionage.

      In 'Anna'(episode 3) we even get to see a little of what drives Reilly. His explanation to his half-sister of a loveless relationship with his Father, and the disappointment of discovering his illigitemacy - fleshes the bones of this most elusive character.

      Sam Neill's portrayal of Sidney Reilly is pretty near perfect. (Biased? Moi..) A soft spoken, consummate con-man - even the rare flash of rage is controlled, which makes his Reilly all the more memorable for being so minimalist.

      It's also a treat to see Peter Egan before his incarnation as 'Ever Decreasing Circles' perfect Paul.

      If you liked 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' 'Cambridge Spies' or even 'Another Country' - do yourself a favour...
      Sit back, put these DVD's on and Ace them Reilly style.

      4 out of 5 stars Composer ?.......2006-01-14

      In this compelling series, the sweeping music is said to be by Harry Rabinowitz. But to me it is " The Romance " from Shostakovich´s music to " The Gadfly " !
      Birgir Gudgeirsson.

      5 out of 5 stars Great series. I saw it on PBS twice.......2004-06-22

      Sam Neill is in his element as Sidney Reilly (Sigmund Rosenblum) during the Russian revolution. You are never sure whom he is spying for. He is a British spy that was responsible for gaining secrets that assured the Japanese success in their maritime war efforts with the Russians. He later became involved in the Bolshevik revolution.
      Original

      Episode # Prod # Air Date Episode Title

      ____ _______ ________ ___________ ___________________________________________

      1. 1- 1 5 Sep 83 An Affair with a Married Woman (90 min)
      2. 1- 2 7 Sep 83 Prelude to War
      3. 1- 3 14 Sep 83 The Visiting Fireman
      4. 1- 4 21 Sep 83 Anna
      5. 1- 5 28 Sep 83 Dreadnoughts and Crosses
      6. 1- 6 5 Oct 83 Dreadnoughts and Doublecrosses
      7. 1- 7 12 Oct 83 Gambit
      8. 1- 8 19 Oct 83 Endgame
      9. 1- 9 26 Oct 83 After Moscow
      10. 1-10 2 Nov 83 The Trust
      11. 1-11 9 Nov 83 The Last Journey
      12. 1-12 16 Nov 83 Shutdown

      5 out of 5 stars A powerful series on an Ace of Spies.......2003-04-10

      Draw the curtains, dim the lights, and indulge in an atmospheric sketch of international wrangling in turn of century Europe. Emerging disappointed after an hour only because it is over already and you will have to wait a whole week for the next episode. This experience is shared by viewers of 'Reilly-Ace of Spies,' one of the classic TV series of the 1980s, now available on DVD.

      'Ace of Spies' tells the story of master spy Sidney Reilly, British agent at the beginning of the last century, based on the biography of the same name by Robin Bruce Lockhart. Reilly, a cunning trickster and cold-blooded operator, is credited with changing the British secret service from a club of amateur gentleman spies into a ruthless professional espionage agency. Reilly was apparently the true-life model of James Bond. Besides a brave and clever agent also a murderer, cheat, and adulterer, he is a far more ambiguous figure than knight-in-shining armour 007. But this tension also makes the series far more appealing than Ian Fleming's ripping yarns.

      The pilot episode finds Reilly (Sam Neill) on a mission in Baku, playing the great game for Central Asian oil. Arrested by the Russians, he escapes with Margaret, wife of the reverend Thomas. The death of Thomas under suspicious circumstances soon gives Reilly access to Margeret's inherited wealth. In 'Prelude to War', Reilly enriches himself by speculating on war between Russia and Japan, a conflict he helps bringing about by selling the Japanese a map of defenses of Port Arthur. In the next episode 'the visiting fireman', Reilly disguises himself as a worker in order to peruse designs for German weaponry from the Krupp arms factory. In 'Dreadnoughts and Doublecrosses', Reilly attempts to steal plan of Russian warships for the newly established British intelligence service. In 'Gambit' Reilly has to escape revolutionary Russia after being implicated in a plot to kill Lenin. From then on, Reilly's attempts to rid his native Russia of the hated Bolsheviks becomes the focus of the series. Reilly allies himself with the exiled Boris Savinkov, and both soon start to work together with the Trust, a secret organization aimed at overthrowing the communists. After the death of Savinkov, Reilly becomes wary of the Trust, suspecting it to be secretly controlled by Stalin. This prompts Reilly on his final mission, where only sacrifice can reveal the true nature of the Trust.

      The opening of British and former Soviet archives has cleared up a great deal of the mystery surrounding Reilly. Books such as 'Ironmaze' by Gordon Brooke-Shepherd and 'On his Majesty's Secret Service, Sidney Reilly ST1' by Andrew Cook reveal Reilly as more of a scoundrel and less of a spy. Many of Reilly's most famous exploits turn out to be complete fabrications, invented by the man himself. Even 'Reilly's' highly recognizable theme tune is based on one of these inventions. Reilly managed to persuade his gullible audience that his early adventures formed the inspiration for the late nineteenth century novel 'the Gadfly'. The series is set to Shostakovich's tune 'Romance', taken from his score for the film of the book.

      But bad history does not necessarily make bad television. Reilly was a success as an inveterate cheat precisely because he was good at spinning believable stories, most of which are far more credible than the average Hollywood espionage blockbuster. That Reilly was 'Ace of Lies' rather than 'Ace of Spies' makes him more odious, but not less intriguing. If the power of the series is such that it inspired Cook to do his research on the true Sidney Reilly, it may lead many others to do some background reading, and is certain to make good viewing.
      Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Visiting Fireman [1983]
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Reilly - Ace Of Spies - The Visiting Fireman [1983]
        Starring: Sam Neill
        Manufacturer: Acorn Media
        ProductGroup: DVD
        Binding: DVD

        All Drama All Drama | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video
        All Television All Television | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
        Drama Drama | Television | Categories | DVD | Video
        TV Series TV Series | Television | Categories | DVD | Video | Absolutely Fabulous | Alan Partridge | Ali G | Alias | All Creatures Great And Small | An Audience with..... | Auf Wiedersehen Pet | Babylon 5 | Bad Girls | Barney | Battlefield | Battlestar Galactica | Beyblade | Big Brother | Black Adder | Blake's 7 | Bo Selecta | CSI - Crime Scene Investigation | Captain Scarlet | Chorlton and the Wheelies | Cold Feet | Coupling | Cracker | David Attenborough | Dawsons Creek | Doctor Who | Farscape | Fast Show | Father Ted | Fawlty Towers | Fimbles | Forsyte Saga | Frasier | Gimme, Gimme, Gimme | Gladiators of World War II | Hercules - The Legendary Journeys | Inspector Morse | Jeeves And Wooster | M*A*S*H | Minder | NYPD Blue | National Geographic | Neon Genesis Evangelion | Only Fools & Horses | Outer Limits | Phoenix Nights | Pokémon | Red Dwarf | Robot Wars | Royle Family | Scarlet Pimpernel | Sex And The City | Sherlock Holmes | Smallville | South Park | Star Trek | Stargate SG-1 | Stingray | Teletubbies | The Avengers |