Boys' Own Parody

Rewatching some things at a distance in time from their first showings sometimes leaves me wondering whether I misread them first time around.  Take Hannay, for instance, a 1988-89 UK TV series based on the John Buchan character. Seeing it again now, I'm left convinced that it could only have been conceived as a parody of these sorts of Boys' Own adventure stories recalling the glories of the Empire.  Rather like an episode of Ripping Yarns.  It seems inconceivable that it could have been intended as a serious piece of drama.  Yet, looking back to when I saw some of the episodes on their first transmission, there was no hint in the publicity surrounding them or their presentation that they were intended as parody.  The title sequence itself, seen now, seems to scream 'parody', with a stoic looking and tweed clad Robert Powell in the title role, lighting up his pipe as he pauses on a stone bridge to admire the rugged British countryside he is walking through, is startled by an Eagle and drops his box of 'Britannia' matches into the stream below.  As Imperialistic music plays, (the sort of composition you'd usually hear in one of those fifties movies set in the days of the Raj, where British officers in pith helmets make short work of revolting natives), the camera follows the matchbox as it is washed down the stream, credits rolling over the top, before it finally washes up again at the feet of Hannay, who has followed it down from the river bank.  The symbolism is obvious and surely couldn't be intended seriously.

Most people will be familiar with Richard Hannay as the lead character in the novel The Thirty Nine Steps (and its many film adaptations, the 1979 version, of course, starring Robert Powell).  The character, however, appears in a whole series of novels, of which Thirty Nine Steps is the first, in which, over a period of years, he becomes embroiled in all manner of international intrigue before and during World War One.  The Hannay TV series tries to tap into the international intrigue idea of the later novels, but is entirely set in the pre-World War One era, but with the lead character having no official status, more often than not he simply unwittingly stumbles into situations, (much as he did in Thirty Nine Steps), or occasionally becomes involved thanks to his friend in Special Branch.  The Hannay of the TV series seems to have no visible means of support and spends his time wandering between various stately homes (where he has been invited as a guest), shooting, fishing and wandering around the countryside.  All of which gives him ample opportunity to rescue imperiled young women, (often the victims of fiendish blackmail plots) and foil the nefarious plans of the Empire's enemies, (which all seem to revolve around blackmailing the young wives or daughters of leading Statesmen).  He even has a German arch-enemy, called Graf von Bonkers, or some sort, (played by Gavin Richards who, around this time, was also playing Captain Berterelli, the amusing Italian stereotype in 'Allo 'Allo), whose plans Hannay thwarts every week.  Such is Hannay's propensity for stumbling into plots to destabilise the Empire that he can't even visit an art gallery without being accosted by a young girl afraid she is being followed by undesirables. Of course, it turns out that she is the daughter of a Russian Prince and Hannay finds himself embroiled in one of Von Bonkers' plots, this time to assassinate the Foreign Secretary.  Just for a change, Hannay would sometimes stumble into a criminal plot unconnected with espionage - and foil that as well.

This whole format sounds like a parody, yet the whole thing is played seriously.  The problem with this is that, seen today, all those straight faces, stoic British types and stiff dialogue delivered without a trace of irony, just reinforces the idea that Hannay is intended as parody.  But the late eighties, ehen these episodes were made, was a different time.  Thatcher, still riding the tide of the Falklands war, had recently won a third consecutive general election and flag waving and patriotism was the order of the day.  It was all about making Britain 'Great' again. Even after she fell from grace, we found ourselves subjected to John Major's 'vision' of a mythical 'merrie olde Englande', all warm beer, village greens and warm beer.  Programmes like Hannay reflected this nostalgia for an idealised version of Britain's Imperial past.  Now, of course, we live in a more cynical age, (although that hasn't stopped the Tories and the Brexiteers from invoking constantly that Imperial 'Golden Age' to their advantage).  Things like Hannay simply can't be taken at face value any longer, (it is notable that Talking Pictures TV prefaces episodes with a disclaimer stating that attitudes have changed since they were made).  There's no doubt though, that seeing these episodes as parody actually makes them far more entertaining, turning what I had recalled as a stodgy period piece, into an amusing pastiche of Imperialist 'derring do' type adventure stories.