The 39 Steps (2008 film)
Encyclopedia
The 39 Steps is a 2008 British
television feature-length adaptation of the John Buchan novel The Thirty-Nine Steps
produced by the BBC
. The adaptation is set on the eve of World War I
, and sees mining engineer Richard Hannay
caught up in a conspiracy following the death of a British spy in his apartment. It was written by Lizzie Mickery, directed by James Hawes
, and starred Rupert Penry-Jones
, Lydia Leonard
, David Haig
, Eddie Marsan
and Patrick Malahide
. Following three screen versions of the novel and a 1977 television adaptation
of The Three Hostages
, Penry-Jones became the fifth actor to portray Hannay on screen. It was filmed on location in Scotland
.
The single drama was first shown on BBC One
and BBC HD
on 28 December 2008 as part of BBC One's Christmas 2008 line-up, and it was the most watched programme of the day. Comparing it to Alfred Hitchcock
's 1935 film
, it received mostly negative reviews from the press. The production was criticised for its historical inaccuracies following the use of props made after the setting for the film.
(Rupert Penry-Jones
), a mining engineer and an intelligence officer during the Second Boer War
, is in London following his recent return from Africa, finding England "cliquey", "class-bound" and "deathly, deathly dull". Evading German spies (Werner Daehn
and Peter Stark), Scudder (Eddie Marsan
) pushes himself into Hannay's apartment and reveals himself to be a betrayed freelance British Secret Service Bureau agent, who has been on the trail of a German espionage ring with headquarters in Scotland. He has heard rumours of a plot to assassinate a high-ranking European royal, which could lead to war. Believing he will soon be killed, he hands Hannay a notebook to pass to Captain Kell of the Secret Service Bureau. While Hannay answers the door, Scudder is shot by one of the German spies seeking his notebook who has entered the apartment via a back door. The police arrive, and Hannay is arrested for murder before escaping.
Unable to contact Kell, Hannay flicks through the notebook, finding it contains pages of code using Roman numerals. He finds a map in the back and takes a train to Scotland to prove Scudder right, attempting to decipher the code en route. Finding out Archduke Ferdinand
has been assassinated, Hannay reaches Scotland and leaves the train to escape the police. He stays in a barn overnight, where he deciphers the code in the notebook (except a section in double code), which reveals the Germans want to destroy the Royal Navy
so that they could invade the country, starting a war. Chased by the police, the Germans and machine-gun-fire from a biplane, he encounters brother and sister Harry and Victoria Sinclair, a prospective Member of Parliament
and a suffragette
respectively (Patrick Kennedy
and Lydia Leonard
), who believe him to be a Liberal
spokesman. At a political rally in a nearby town (Culross
) where Hannay meets Sir George Sinclair, Harry and Victoria's uncle (David Haig
), Victoria aids Hannay's attempt to escape, before they are captured by the Germans. With the notebook missing from Hannay's pocket, they are taken to Longkeep Castle (Dumbarton Castle
), the headquarters of the German espionage ring, where they are imprisoned by Professor Fisher (Patrick Malahide
). They escape and return to where they were captured to look for the notebook, which Victoria reveals she had picked from Hannay's pocket and hidden. They stay overnight in an inn, where Hannay details the contents of the notebook to Victoria.
In the morning, they escape to Harry's house, where Victoria unsuccessfully attempts to contact Captain Kell. Hannay, alone, meets with Sir George, who sits on the defence committee. Hannay reveals the contents of the notebook, leading to Sir George disclosing that a meeting of the National Committee of Defence is being held the next day at Stirling Castle
to unveil new naval plans, matching part of the double code. Later, Hannay and Victoria kiss, and the next morning he sees her leaving with a man, whom he recalls seeing previously on the train and at the rally. With the notebook missing and finding out that Victoria disconnected the call she made to the Secret Service Bureau before it was connected, Hannay goes to Stirling Castle, believing Victoria to be a traitor. There, Victoria reveals she works for the Secret Service Bureau and he meets Kell (Alex Jennings
) and Wakeham, the man Victoria left with earlier (Steven Elder
), who reveal they used Hannay to distract the Germans and sent Victoria to keep an eye on him. Hannay deduces that Sir George is the traitor and, with his photographic memory, has escaped with the naval plans memorised. To identify his rendezvous point with the Germans, they crack the remaining code, referring to the room they were previously imprisoned in at Longkeep Castle, and discover "39 steps" written in the notebook by Scudder using invisible ink
. At the Castle, Hannay and Victoria find 39 steps leading to a loch. A shoot-out ensues, and a German U-boat
surfaces in the loch. Fisher, the Germans and Sir George fail to get to the U-boat before it submerges, and surrender.
Together by the loch, Hannay and Victoria kiss before she is hit by a bullet fired by a surviving gunman, falls into the loch, and disappears. The story concludes four months later, after the declaration of World War I
, when Hannay, in military uniform, is waiting to meet someone at St Pancras station
. Harry appears, saying that Victoria wanted to say goodbye. Hannay sees her from a distance. To allay Hannay's bewilderment, Harry tells him, "top secret, old man." She disappears behind a luggage trolley and Harry tells Hannay she'll see him after the war.
in August 2008, filming began in September 2008 for airing at Christmas. Penry-Jones, who had previously worked on spy drama Spooks
, would take the lead role, with the screenplay written by Lizzie Mickery (co-writer of the dramas The State Within
and Messiah
), produced by Lynn Horsford (Boy A, The Mark of Cain
) and directed by James Hawes
(Fanny Hill
, Merlin
, Doctor Who
). Penry-Jones became the fifth actor to play Hannay on film, preceded by Robert Donat
, Kenneth More
, Barry Foster
and Robert Powell
.
At the time of the announcement, Horsford said: "With this adaptation we wanted to stay faithful to the spirit and period of the book, but asked the writer Lizzie to feel free to re-imagine it for a modern audience more familiar with James Bond
and Jason Bourne." The production was set around the eve of World War I
and retained other elements from the book, including having the 39 steps refer to steps to a departure point, but, according to The Times
' thriller critic, has "a style that gives more than a nod to the grittier James Bond of Daniel Craig
". A piece in The Observer
stated that Mickery "is braced for complaints this Christmas from fans of previous screen portrayals" after basing her plot on the original book rather than the films. Differences from the book include the introduction of romance for Hannay, through suffragette and spy Victoria Sinclair, played by Lydia Leonard
, and, according to Serena Davies of The Daily Telegraph
, "a plot with so many twists and turns you almost need a degree in espionage to follow it".
Penry-Jones read the book and saw the other versions of the film, but said that Hitchcock
's 1959 film North by Northwest
was "more of a template for me than any version of The 39 Steps". Explaining why he took on the part, he said to Tim Oglethorpe of the Daily Record
:
He also said prior to broadcast that, depending on the reception, "They'd like to do more if they can. I definitely would."
Filming took place on location in Scotland
. Locations used included the area around West Register Street in Edinburgh
for the London scenes at the start of the film, Bo'ness railway station
, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
for the interior scenes of St Pancras railway station
, Glasgow City Chambers
, Culross
, Stirling Castle
, Dumbarton Castle
, the highlands of Argyll
and Loch Katrine
, used for the finale.
The production was shot using 35 mm film
rather than high-definition
cameras. Hawes told Matthew Bell of Broadcast that:
The adaptation was originally planned to be broadcast on BBC One
on Boxing Day, but was later moved to a Sunday night slot on 28 December. It was simulcast in high-definition
on BBC HD
.
was used to find the appropriate props
. Cars used included a 1924 Morris Oxford
, a 1926 Darracq
, and a 1927 Wolseley
, previously used in the 1960s series Dr Finlay's Casebook
. Willie Bennie, who sourced the vehicles, told the Daily Record
:
The biplane which chased Hannay was a 1916 Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5
a, his apartment was in an Art Deco
building and 1950s rail carriages were being pulled by a steam train built in 1927.
Ben Stephenson
, Head of Drama Commissioning at the BBC, told The Daily Telegraph
in reply to complaints about the inaccuracies:
on BBC Two
. It was the most watched programme of the day.
The adaptation received mostly negative reviews from the press, believing it didn't match up to Hitchcock's 1935 film version
(as predicted by Mickery). Sam Wollaston of The Guardian
felt that the romance scene between Hannay and Victoria (when they stay overnight in an inn) was "one of the silliest ever" and felt that after the final scene at the loch and the concluding scene: "It's all very silly. ... It doesn't have the pace, the moodiness or the wit." Damien Love of Sunday Herald
felt the "tepid pace" was set by the casting of Penry-Jones, and that he "... has a style reminiscent of the young Roger Moore, but without the vital, animating spark of self-deprecation. As Hannay, Penry-Jones is not at his best, and more reminiscent of a well-stuffed armchair on wheels." Mick Hume of The Times
said "The overall effect was to turn Buchan's blood and thunder tale into a pallid politically correct Enid Blyton
story." and The Independent
' s Robert Hanks concluded his review by saying that "By the end, my impression was that several pages of the plot must have been eaten by a dog, or a bored actor, and the director had decided, sod it, nobody's going to keep watching this long. Which I wouldn't have if I wasn't being paid."
However, the adaptation did receive some positive comments. In The Sunday Times
, A. A. Gill
praised Penry-Jones and said that it was "racily paced" and was "the closest to the original [the book] and by far and away the most convincing". Roz Laws of the Sunday Mercury
also commented on Penry-Jones, saying that he "proved to be just as good a spy in 1914 as he was in Spooks
, only more dashing" and Alison Graham of the Radio Times
, in her 'pick of the day' piece, said that Penry-Jones is "just perfect as John Buchan's hero" and commented that Victoria (Leonard) was "a splendid suffragette". Alasdair McKay of The Herald
said "it was all rather spiffing and well-mannered".
Articles in the Daily Mail
and The Daily Telegraph reported on the inaccuracies in the drama, including the 1916 biplane and the submarine rising in a freshwater loch, and 24 viewers complained to the corporation.
on 2 February 2009 and Region 1 DVD
on 2 March 2010.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television feature-length adaptation of the John Buchan novel The Thirty-Nine Steps
The Thirty-nine Steps
The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh...
produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. The adaptation is set on the eve of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and sees mining engineer Richard Hannay
Richard Hannay
Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional secret agent created by Scottish novelist John Buchan. In his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door, Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer...
caught up in a conspiracy following the death of a British spy in his apartment. It was written by Lizzie Mickery, directed by James Hawes
James Hawes
James Hawes is a British television director, who has worked in British television drama since the late 1990s, and also produced documentaries for British and American networks....
, and starred Rupert Penry-Jones
Rupert Penry-Jones
Rupert William Penry-Jones is an English actor, best known for his role as Adam Carter in the British television series Spooks, also broadcast under the title MI-5.-Family life:Penry-Jones was born in London on September 22, 1970...
, Lydia Leonard
Lydia Leonard
Lydia Leonard is a British actress.She was born in Paris to an Irish mother, a teacher, and Anglo-French father, a financial accountant; she lived in France until the age of five....
, David Haig
David Haig
David Haig is an Olivier Award-winning English actor and FIPA Award-winning writer. He is known for his versatility, having played dramatic, serio-comic and comedic roles, playing characters of varied social classes...
, Eddie Marsan
Eddie Marsan
Edward Maurice C. "Eddie" Marsan is an English actor.-Early life:Marsan was born in Stepney, London to a working class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother a school dinner lady and teacher's assistant...
and Patrick Malahide
Patrick Malahide
Patrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...
. Following three screen versions of the novel and a 1977 television adaptation
The Three Hostages (film)
The Three Hostages is a 1977 British television film directed by Clive Donner and based on the John Buchan thriller novel The Three Hostages. It starred Barry Foster, Diana Quick, John Castle and David Markham. Foster played the lead role of Richard Hannay, a retired British soldier who works...
of The Three Hostages
The Three Hostages
The Three Hostages is the fourth of five Richard Hannay novels by Scottish author John Buchan, first published in 1924 by Hodder & Stoughton, London....
, Penry-Jones became the fifth actor to portray Hannay on screen. It was filmed on location in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
The single drama was first shown on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
and BBC HD
BBC HD
BBC HD is a high-definition television network provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007...
on 28 December 2008 as part of BBC One's Christmas 2008 line-up, and it was the most watched programme of the day. Comparing it to Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's 1935 film
The 39 Steps (1935 film)
The 39 Steps is a British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the adventure novel The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. The film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll....
, it received mostly negative reviews from the press. The production was criticised for its historical inaccuracies following the use of props made after the setting for the film.
Plot
The story starts on 28 June 1914; Richard HannayRichard Hannay
Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional secret agent created by Scottish novelist John Buchan. In his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door, Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer...
(Rupert Penry-Jones
Rupert Penry-Jones
Rupert William Penry-Jones is an English actor, best known for his role as Adam Carter in the British television series Spooks, also broadcast under the title MI-5.-Family life:Penry-Jones was born in London on September 22, 1970...
), a mining engineer and an intelligence officer during the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, is in London following his recent return from Africa, finding England "cliquey", "class-bound" and "deathly, deathly dull". Evading German spies (Werner Daehn
Werner Daehn
Werner Daehn is a German/international actor, who has worked with Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson in xXx, with Jason Priestley in Colditz an ITV1 2005 miniseries, with Bill Pullman in Revelations and with Steven Seagal in Shadow Man...
and Peter Stark), Scudder (Eddie Marsan
Eddie Marsan
Edward Maurice C. "Eddie" Marsan is an English actor.-Early life:Marsan was born in Stepney, London to a working class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother a school dinner lady and teacher's assistant...
) pushes himself into Hannay's apartment and reveals himself to be a betrayed freelance British Secret Service Bureau agent, who has been on the trail of a German espionage ring with headquarters in Scotland. He has heard rumours of a plot to assassinate a high-ranking European royal, which could lead to war. Believing he will soon be killed, he hands Hannay a notebook to pass to Captain Kell of the Secret Service Bureau. While Hannay answers the door, Scudder is shot by one of the German spies seeking his notebook who has entered the apartment via a back door. The police arrive, and Hannay is arrested for murder before escaping.
Unable to contact Kell, Hannay flicks through the notebook, finding it contains pages of code using Roman numerals. He finds a map in the back and takes a train to Scotland to prove Scudder right, attempting to decipher the code en route. Finding out Archduke Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia...
has been assassinated, Hannay reaches Scotland and leaves the train to escape the police. He stays in a barn overnight, where he deciphers the code in the notebook (except a section in double code), which reveals the Germans want to destroy the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
so that they could invade the country, starting a war. Chased by the police, the Germans and machine-gun-fire from a biplane, he encounters brother and sister Harry and Victoria Sinclair, a prospective Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and a suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
respectively (Patrick Kennedy
Patrick Kennedy (British actor)
Patrick Kennedy is an English actor. His largest role to date is in the BBC's Bleak House as Richard Carstone. He again appeared in a BBC drama having been chosen for a role in the 2008 re-make of The 39 Steps and also appeared in the BBC drama Einstein and Eddington.He has also appeared in...
and Lydia Leonard
Lydia Leonard
Lydia Leonard is a British actress.She was born in Paris to an Irish mother, a teacher, and Anglo-French father, a financial accountant; she lived in France until the age of five....
), who believe him to be a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
spokesman. At a political rally in a nearby town (Culross
Culross
The town of Culross, pronounced "Coo-ros", is a former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland.According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 395...
) where Hannay meets Sir George Sinclair, Harry and Victoria's uncle (David Haig
David Haig
David Haig is an Olivier Award-winning English actor and FIPA Award-winning writer. He is known for his versatility, having played dramatic, serio-comic and comedic roles, playing characters of varied social classes...
), Victoria aids Hannay's attempt to escape, before they are captured by the Germans. With the notebook missing from Hannay's pocket, they are taken to Longkeep Castle (Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high.-Iron Age:...
), the headquarters of the German espionage ring, where they are imprisoned by Professor Fisher (Patrick Malahide
Patrick Malahide
Patrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...
). They escape and return to where they were captured to look for the notebook, which Victoria reveals she had picked from Hannay's pocket and hidden. They stay overnight in an inn, where Hannay details the contents of the notebook to Victoria.
In the morning, they escape to Harry's house, where Victoria unsuccessfully attempts to contact Captain Kell. Hannay, alone, meets with Sir George, who sits on the defence committee. Hannay reveals the contents of the notebook, leading to Sir George disclosing that a meeting of the National Committee of Defence is being held the next day at Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
to unveil new naval plans, matching part of the double code. Later, Hannay and Victoria kiss, and the next morning he sees her leaving with a man, whom he recalls seeing previously on the train and at the rally. With the notebook missing and finding out that Victoria disconnected the call she made to the Secret Service Bureau before it was connected, Hannay goes to Stirling Castle, believing Victoria to be a traitor. There, Victoria reveals she works for the Secret Service Bureau and he meets Kell (Alex Jennings
Alex Jennings
Alex Jennings is an English actor whose roles have included Charles, Prince of Wales in The Queen .-Early years:...
) and Wakeham, the man Victoria left with earlier (Steven Elder
Steven Elder
Steven Elder is an English actor working in film, television and theatre.-Biography:Steven Elder's birth name is Steven William Thomas Lawrence. He was born in the front room of 63 Elder Drive in the coal-mining community of Sunnyside, Rotherham, England. His grandfather, father and five uncles...
), who reveal they used Hannay to distract the Germans and sent Victoria to keep an eye on him. Hannay deduces that Sir George is the traitor and, with his photographic memory, has escaped with the naval plans memorised. To identify his rendezvous point with the Germans, they crack the remaining code, referring to the room they were previously imprisoned in at Longkeep Castle, and discover "39 steps" written in the notebook by Scudder using invisible ink
Invisible ink
Invisible ink, also known as security ink, is a substance used for writing, which is invisible either on application or soon thereafter, and which later on can be made visible by some means. Invisible ink is one form of steganography, and it has been used in espionage...
. At the Castle, Hannay and Victoria find 39 steps leading to a loch. A shoot-out ensues, and a German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
surfaces in the loch. Fisher, the Germans and Sir George fail to get to the U-boat before it submerges, and surrender.
Together by the loch, Hannay and Victoria kiss before she is hit by a bullet fired by a surviving gunman, falls into the loch, and disappears. The story concludes four months later, after the declaration of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, when Hannay, in military uniform, is waiting to meet someone at St Pancras station
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
. Harry appears, saying that Victoria wanted to say goodbye. Hannay sees her from a distance. To allay Hannay's bewilderment, Harry tells him, "top secret, old man." She disappears behind a luggage trolley and Harry tells Hannay she'll see him after the war.
Production
Announced by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in August 2008, filming began in September 2008 for airing at Christmas. Penry-Jones, who had previously worked on spy drama Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
, would take the lead role, with the screenplay written by Lizzie Mickery (co-writer of the dramas The State Within
The State Within
The State Within is a 2006 Seven-episode British television political drama, written by Lizzie Mickery and Daniel Percival, produced by Grainne Marmion as a joint BBC–BBC America production, that was broadcast by BBC1 in the United Kingdom from Thursday, 2 November 2006.The protagonist of The State...
and Messiah
Messiah (TV series)
Messiah is a British television drama series, broadcast on the BBC One network and produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland, although the series itself is set in England. Made up of a series of occasional serials, the first, with two parts subtitled The First Killings & The Reckoning, was...
), produced by Lynn Horsford (Boy A, The Mark of Cain
The Mark of Cain (2007 film)
The Mark of Cain is a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award-winning British television film first broadcast in 2007 following three young men as they experience the extremity of war for the first time, and the permanent effects of what they have seen and done as they return from their...
) and directed by James Hawes
James Hawes
James Hawes is a British television director, who has worked in British television drama since the late 1990s, and also produced documentaries for British and American networks....
(Fanny Hill
Fanny Hill (2007 serial)
Fanny Hill is a BBC adaptation of John Cleland's controversial novel, Fanny Hill, written by Andrew Davies and directed by James Hawes. This is the first television adaptation of the novel...
, Merlin
Merlin (TV series)
Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 September 2008. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from...
, Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
). Penry-Jones became the fifth actor to play Hannay on film, preceded by Robert Donat
Robert Donat
Robert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
, Kenneth More
Kenneth More
Kenneth Gilbert More CBE was a highly successful English film actor during the post-World War II era and starred in many feature films, often in the role of an archetypal carefree and happy-go-lucky middle-class gentleman.-Early life:Kenneth More was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the...
, Barry Foster
Barry Foster (actor)
Barry Foster was a British actor who appeared in numerous film roles and is known for his leading role as a Dutch detective in the ITV drama series, Van der Valk, which spanned five series over 20 years from 1972....
and Robert Powell
Robert Powell
Robert Powell is an English television and film actor, probably most famous for his title role in Jesus of Nazareth and as the fictional secret agent Richard Hannay...
.
At the time of the announcement, Horsford said: "With this adaptation we wanted to stay faithful to the spirit and period of the book, but asked the writer Lizzie to feel free to re-imagine it for a modern audience more familiar with James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
and Jason Bourne." The production was set around the eve of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and retained other elements from the book, including having the 39 steps refer to steps to a departure point, but, according to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. His early film roles include Elizabeth, The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle, Zorro and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert...
". A piece in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
stated that Mickery "is braced for complaints this Christmas from fans of previous screen portrayals" after basing her plot on the original book rather than the films. Differences from the book include the introduction of romance for Hannay, through suffragette and spy Victoria Sinclair, played by Lydia Leonard
Lydia Leonard
Lydia Leonard is a British actress.She was born in Paris to an Irish mother, a teacher, and Anglo-French father, a financial accountant; she lived in France until the age of five....
, and, according to Serena Davies of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, "a plot with so many twists and turns you almost need a degree in espionage to follow it".
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's 1959 film North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
was "more of a template for me than any version of The 39 Steps". Explaining why he took on the part, he said to Tim Oglethorpe of the Daily Record
Daily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...
:
"Part of the appeal was the cars, I'm a bit of a buff ... And I said - jokingly, of course - that I wouldn't be in The 39 Steps unless the action included the famous chase scene in which Hannay is pursued by a biplane. I've always wanted to be chased by a plane like Cary Grant in the movie North by Northwest and I was just delighted when it happened in our version of Steps."
He also said prior to broadcast that, depending on the reception, "They'd like to do more if they can. I definitely would."
Filming took place on location in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Locations used included the area around West Register Street in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
for the London scenes at the start of the film, Bo'ness railway station
Bo'ness railway station
Bo'ness railway station is a tourist railway station in Bo'ness, Falkirk, Scotland. This station is not the original Bo'ness railway station, which was located roughly a quarter mile west on Seaview Place. The site of the original station is now a car park....
, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. The building houses one of Europe's great civic art collections...
for the interior scenes of St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
, Glasgow City Chambers
Glasgow City Chambers
The City Chambers in Glasgow, Scotland has functioned as the headquarters of Glasgow City Council since 1996, and of preceding forms of civic government in the city since 1889, located on the eastern side of the city's George Square...
, Culross
Culross
The town of Culross, pronounced "Coo-ros", is a former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland.According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 395...
, Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
, Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high.-Iron Age:...
, the highlands of Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
and Loch Katrine
Loch Katrine
Loch Katrine is a freshwater loch in the district of Stirling, Scotland. It is roughly 8 miles long by 2/3 of a mile wide and runs the length of Strath Gartney...
, used for the finale.
The production was shot using 35 mm film
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
rather than high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
cameras. Hawes told Matthew Bell of Broadcast that:
"Film is absolutely right for this project. It has scale, big exterior locations and that's something that still challenges HD. ... The HD cameras available to us on our budget are still vulnerable in difficult weather conditions [encountered during filming]. There's no doubt that what we've got on 35mm is just so much more detailed. It has so much more depth of field and richness than we could have got on HD."
The adaptation was originally planned to be broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on Boxing Day, but was later moved to a Sunday night slot on 28 December. It was simulcast in high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
on BBC HD
BBC HD
BBC HD is a high-definition television network provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007...
.
Artistic licence and historical inaccuracies
Some artistic licenceArtistic licence
Artistic licence is a colloquial term, sometimes euphemism, used to denote the distortion of fact, alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by an artist to improve a piece of...
was used to find the appropriate props
Theatrical property
A theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...
. Cars used included a 1924 Morris Oxford
Morris Oxford
After the Second World War the Oxford MO replaced the 10. It was introduced in 1948 and was produced until 1954. The design was shared with Nuffield Organisation stable-mate Wolseley 4/50....
, a 1926 Darracq
Darracq
Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes...
, and a 1927 Wolseley
Wolseley Motor Company
The Wolseley Motor Company was a British automobile manufacturer founded in 1901. After 1935 it was incorporated into larger companies but the Wolseley name remained as an upmarket marque until 1975.-History:...
, previously used in the 1960s series Dr Finlay's Casebook
Dr. Finlay's Casebook (TV & radio)
Dr. Finlay's Casebook is a television series that was broadcast on the BBC from 1962 until 1971. Based on A. J. Cronin's novella entitled Country Doctor, the storylines centred on a general medical practice in the fictional Scottish town of Tannochbrae during the late 1920s...
. Willie Bennie, who sourced the vehicles, told the Daily Record
Daily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...
:
"I knew they were wanting to include car chases to make the drama much more exciting to watch. The only trouble was that the cars around this era weren't very fast."
The biplane which chased Hannay was a 1916 Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5
The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 was a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. Although the first examples reached the Western Front before the Sopwith Camel and it had a much better overall performance, problems with its Hispano-Suiza engine, particularly the geared-output H-S...
a, his apartment was in an Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
building and 1950s rail carriages were being pulled by a steam train built in 1927.
Ben Stephenson
Ben Stephenson
Ben Stephenson is an English television executive, who has been controller of drama commissioning at the BBC since September 2008.-Early life:Stephenson attended The Hewett School in Norwich before studying at Manchester University.-Television:...
, Head of Drama Commissioning at the BBC, told The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
in reply to complaints about the inaccuracies:
"The question is: for the seven million people who watched it, did it feel authentic, did it create a sense of period? ...We were creating a realistic world within a world — a world of damsels and heroes and a huge amount of excitement. That, for me, is the priority. Did it create that world? It absolutely did. That's not to say that we don't work increasingly hard to get everything right. But it's hard to get all the details right when it's a 21st century drama, never mind anything earlier."
Reception
Overnight viewing figures estimated that the programme was seen by 7.3 million viewers (28% audience share) on 28 December 2008, against a Top Gear: Vietnam SpecialTop Gear: Vietnam Special
Top Gear: Vietnam Special is a special 75-minute episode of the motoring series Top Gear, which was broadcast on 28 December 2008 at 8:00 pm on BBC Two. An edited 46 minute edition of the show was broadcast on the UK TV channel Dave in the 8.00pm - 9.00pm slot on Monday 19 January 2009...
on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
. It was the most watched programme of the day.
The adaptation received mostly negative reviews from the press, believing it didn't match up to Hitchcock's 1935 film version
The 39 Steps (1935 film)
The 39 Steps is a British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the adventure novel The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. The film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll....
(as predicted by Mickery). Sam Wollaston of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
felt that the romance scene between Hannay and Victoria (when they stay overnight in an inn) was "one of the silliest ever" and felt that after the final scene at the loch and the concluding scene: "It's all very silly. ... It doesn't have the pace, the moodiness or the wit." Damien Love of Sunday Herald
Sunday Herald
The Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...
felt the "tepid pace" was set by the casting of Penry-Jones, and that he "... has a style reminiscent of the young Roger Moore, but without the vital, animating spark of self-deprecation. As Hannay, Penry-Jones is not at his best, and more reminiscent of a well-stuffed armchair on wheels." Mick Hume of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
said "The overall effect was to turn Buchan's blood and thunder tale into a pallid politically correct Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton was an English children's writer also known as Mary Pollock.Noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups,her books have enjoyed huge success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies.One of Blyton's most...
story." and The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
However, the adaptation did receive some positive comments. In The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, A. A. Gill
A. A. Gill
Adrian Anthony Gill is a British writer who uses the byline A. A. Gill. He is currently employed by The Sunday Times as their restaurant reviewer and television critic and Vanity Fair magazine as a restaurant reviewer...
praised Penry-Jones and said that it was "racily paced" and was "the closest to the original [the book] and by far and away the most convincing". Roz Laws of the Sunday Mercury
Sunday Mercury
Sunday Mercury is a Sunday tabloid published in Birmingham, UK, and owned by Trinity Mirror.The first editor was John Turner Fearon , who left the Dublin-based Freeman's Journal to take up the position...
also commented on Penry-Jones, saying that he "proved to be just as good a spy in 1914 as he was in Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
, only more dashing" and Alison Graham of the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
, in her 'pick of the day' piece, said that Penry-Jones is "just perfect as John Buchan's hero" and commented that Victoria (Leonard) was "a splendid suffragette". Alasdair McKay of The Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
said "it was all rather spiffing and well-mannered".
Articles in the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
and The Daily Telegraph reported on the inaccuracies in the drama, including the 1916 biplane and the submarine rising in a freshwater loch, and 24 viewers complained to the corporation.
Home media
The adaptation was released on Region 2 DVDDVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
on 2 February 2009 and Region 1 DVD
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
on 2 March 2010.