Review S03E04- My Name Is Anna Wiseman

[michaellevenson]

Burnside in a Brussels park meets English woman Anna Wiseman.
B "confirmed?"
AW " confirmed"
B " how long?"
AW " Doctor said under a year"
B " I'm sorry. Still want to go through with it?"
AW " yes , if my life is to have any meaning I must"
B " I'll be in touch"
Back in HQ London, C is away at a conference so Peele is in charge. Burnside is quite happy with this , it's easier to hoodwink him than C.
B " does the name Anna Wiseman mean anything to you Willie?
W " wasn't she secretary to Peele's predecessor, sacked five years ago for a misdemeanor"
B " yes, well one day she came to see me, said she wanted to be a sleeper, and asked how to go about it. Firstly I told her to leave here, preferably by being fired, she did, one week later she was gone. She disappeared to the continent, ended up in NATO HQ secretarial work. Recently she contacted me again, she has convinced a Russian named Theodore Solidovnekov that's she's in love with him, and wants to live in Moscow when he retires in two weeks."
W " so green light for her apparent defection"
B " yes, but I'm in the market for something plausible to sell to Peele"
W " you mean she doesn't know what she wants to do!?"
B " she knows exactly, and I approve"
W " so you're telling her to do one thing and Peele that she's doing something else"
B " I've no choice, if I tell him the truth he's bound to veto it"
C "what's her speciality?"
B " languages"
C " how about Gagzina, the KGB finishing school, if she could get in there, sow discontent among the students"
B " yes I think Peele would go for that"
Burnside has explained it all to Peele in his office.
P " Gagzina, her target, hmmm, can she get in there?"
B " we know the KGB put defectors to work. Her language skills would be useful to them, get her to teach the students about the English way of life"
P " presumably she'll need a meal ticket or the Russians will get suspicious"
B " she suggests a NATO document rated official secret"
P " we'll have to get their permission"
B " that's not possible sir"
P " are you suggesting she steals a NATO document. We're skating on thin ice Neil. Leave it with me, I'll think about it overnight, give you my verdict in the morning"
Previous episode
https://www.imdforums.com/threads/s03e03-unusual-approach.4965/
Next Episode
https://www.imdforums.com/threads/s03e05-sometimes-we-play-dirty-too.4972/

 

[michaellevenson]

The next morning it's bad news,
Peele " sorry Neil I've decided to cancel the operation. I've discussed it with the intelligence director and he agrees with me, she is 53, by the time she ends up anywhere we can use her she'll be too old. Also I'm not prepared to sanction the theft of a NATO document and that's final"
B " she gave up a career in SIS, worked her way into NATO, because she believes this is how she can best contribute, and now we say " oh sorry changed our minds', and all that dedication goes to waste"
P " sorry Neil, but she totally untrained to withstand interrogation, if the KGB rumble her we'll have front page headlines in Pravda, ' UK plant spy ', undermine our standing in NATO"
B " she believes she can still use that to our advantage. On trial she would speak out on the treatment of dissidents in Russia"
P " (shouts) I'M NOT INTERESTED IN THAT HOBBY HORSE, SIS have no brief in the area of dissidents. If you think making sympathetic noises about dissidents is going to make any difference.."

B " I'm talking about arming dissident movements, the Polish free army, the Czech peoples army, the Russians aren't afraid of our military strength, its collapse will come from within"
P " I'm sorry Neil, this operation must stop. Contact her and cancel, clear?"
B " clear sir"

 

[michaellevenson]

Back in his office.
Willie " did you by any chance tell Tyler of her plans to be a sleeper?"
B " yes, so what?"
W " at a time when he was handing over stuff to the Russians as fast as he could. So her cover is blown already"
B " she knows that, she wants a trial,imprisonment, and she even wants psychiatric treatment"
W " she needs it!"
B " she has cancer, less than a year to live. She plans to stand up publicly and speak out at her trial about the dissident movement and to inspire dissidents everywhere. I think it could be an invaluable a tool, if she can start rumblings behind the iron curtain, we don't know where it could end up"
W " if there's so much to gain why not tell Peele the truth, show your hand"
B " he has a blind spot, he feels SIS has no duty to back the dissident movement"
Burnside picks up the phone to sandbagger #2 " Mike come up"
B " I'm going ahead with the plan privately. We have to make her defection spectacular to make waves in Russia. I'm sending Mike because he's a better shot"
W " whoa, you're going to knock her over"
B " not quite"
W " a near miss?"
B "yes"
W " you're going too far now"
B " it'll. work I'm sure"
After briefing Mike is sent to Brussels. The next day as arranged, Anna knows what's coming, she is walking arm in arm with Theodore, her supposed boyfriend, out of her block of flats into a waiting car sent by the Russian embassy , Mike in the block opposite with a telescopic rifle fires, first shot gets her in the shoulder, second goes harmlessly in and out of the car ,exactly as planned.

The car speeds off to the airport. Anna gets away with Theodore., her coat covering the blood-soaked shoulder, and onto an aeroflot flight to Moscow.
C has returned and Peele explains his actions. Burnside enters with a cassette tape and gives it to C.
C " I hope for your sake Burnside that those shots in Brussels weren't fired from one of our men"
B " ah no sir, we would not have missed"
C "what's on the tape?"
B " it's Anna Wiseman's statement, she said we can play it on the BBC world service if we think it'll be useful. It's an impressive document " C places it in his tape player . They all listen.
" my name is Anna Wiseman, by the time you're listening to this I will have been arrested and charged with crimes against Russia. This was always my intention......to the people who labour under the communist regime, listen to that voice that speaks from the heart. The voice that cries for freedom, whisper it to your children from an early age. Don't let the flame die, that innate desire to be free.......to the leaders of Russia I say this, listen to the people standing day after day in a queue with their grievances at the Central Committee, these people whose revolution you claim to perpetuate, listen to them or you will be swept away from power......finally I speak to you the people of the West. Your freedom is a precious gift, if you do not guard it well you will lose it, use your vote, otherwise you will yourselves be slaves one day to a regime that accepts no criticism of itself and will suffer under the yolk of repression as the people of Russia suffer now...remember me . My name is Anna Wiseman.
9/10

 

[michaellevenson]

Burnside and Anna Wiseman ( Carol Gillies)