“Salting the Battlefield (2014)” Review

More Johnny Worricker!

Why did I watch it?

This is the conclusion to David Hare’s Worricker trilogy; I’d watched and enjoyed Page Eight (2011) and Turks & Caicos (2014).

Did it meet expectations?

Where Turks & Caicos was quite a claustrophobic piece, small cast confined on an island (and excellent for it) this plunges us back into the Whitehall politics as the global chase for Worricker hots up. As the overlapping agendas provide Worricker’s opportunities but limit his manoeuvres, there are meetings between top spies and senior politicians in basement corridors and secret assignations with newspaper editors.

Sad there’s no Winona in this one, but the performances are top notch: Olivia Williams as the editor of the Independent (from the days when it was still in print…) is particularly brilliant. Nighy is better than ever. What a terrific creation he and Hare have realised in Worricker.

You should watch it if…

  • You’ve watched the rest of the Worricker trilogy.
  • You enjoy a bit of political manoeuvring.

You shouldn’t watch it if…

  • You’re hoping for something explosive.

Next up: Citizen Kane (1941). Yes, really.

About Simon Wood

Lecturer in medical education, lapsed mathematician, Doctor Who fan and garden railway builder. See simonwood.info for more...

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