Salting the Battlefield

*Salting the Battlefield*
Salting the Battlefield
Genre	Drama, Thriller, Crime, Action
Written by	David Hare
Directed by	David Hare
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Celia Duval
Running time	93 minutes
Production companies	Carnival Films; Heyday Films; Beaglepug; Masterpiece;
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	27 March 2014
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 also aired in 2014, and concludes the Worricker Trilogy.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

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 an MI5 agent he had recruited, disguised as a passing jogger, Worricker 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. Tyrell covertly keeps in touch with Worricker'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, Bill.

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

Tyrell is contacted by Julianne after discovering her boyfriend (Shazad Latif) is a plant by MI5, who has bugged her flat. Worricker 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 United Nations cover and American funding. Then Worricker is summoned to a meeting with Tankard, who reveals that she has been gently shepherding his return to the UK by using her worst agents while also engineering Beasley's downfall after seeing the extent of the Page Eight report, the intelligence that started the scandal. Through her burying of Bill Catcheside's legal troubles, Tankard has leverage in her pocket over the Deputy Prime Minster — Beasley's planned successor. Tankard asks Worricker to return to MI5, an offer he reluctantly accepts in return for Julianne and Tyrell's safety and Maverley's reinstatement into MI5 as well.

Returning to Tyrell's apartment, Worricker sees she is leaving for Hong Kong to work in a start-up company. Tyrell also mentions that Julianne is in labour, accompanied by her mother. The film closes with scenes of Tyrell leaving by taxi, Julianne giving birth to her child, and Worricker sauntering across London to the MI5 headquarters.

Cast

Bill Nighy as Johnny Worricker, former MI5 analyst
Helena Bonham Carter as Margot Tyrrell
Rupert Graves as Stirling Rogers
Ralph Fiennes as Alec Beasley MP, Prime Minister
Ewen Bremner as Rollo Maverley
James McArdle as Ted Finch
Judy Davis as Jill Tankard, Acting Director General of MI5
Felicity Jones as Julianne Worricker
Valeria Vereau as Elisabeth
Saskia Reeves as Anthea Catcheside MP, Deputy Prime Minister
Olivia Williams as Belinda Kay, editor-in-chief of The Independent
Leanne Best as Amber Page, an MI5 officer pursuing Johnny and Margot
Pip Carter as Freddy Lagarde
Daniel Ryan as Bill Catcheside
Kate Burdette as Allegra Betts
Shazad Latif as Jez Nichols
Malcolm Sinclair as Reverend Bernard Towers

References

^ Jeffery, Morgan (3 May 2013). "Bill Nighy, Christopher Walken for BBC Two's 'Page Eight' sequels". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ "Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy to play ex-lovers in West End play". BBC News. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.

External links

[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.

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