Post by michael on Jul 10, 2010 17:25:51 GMT -5
PROJECT SAHARA
This episode isn't about the titular defoliant that Doomwatch are investigating: it is about the security measures in place to monitor the team. The computer recommends that Quist is monitored at all times! We can assume his phone is tapped. Ridge's certainly is otherwise how did Commander Keeping know about his discreet enquiries? In the third series it is established that Special Branch maintain surveillance on Quist almost all the time.
Vetting in government is a horrible fact of life. There are two types: positive and negative. Negative vetting is the usual checks with the police, making sure application forms are accurate and so forth. Positive vetting is interviewing of friends, former colleagues. It is very intrusive. In the 1960s, the concern, especially after the spy scandals and the Profumo affair lead to a paranoia and distrust especially amongst a left leaning Labour government. The old boy network and school tie and knowing your father no longer applies . The civil service, the judiciary, establishment and the security services were, by definition, right leaning. So, on of the purposes behind vetting was to flush out their political sympathies. To be left leaning was not, in itself a crime – unavoidable in the Labour Party, but affiliations with the Communist Party of Great Britain was, especially if you worked in very sensitive areas of research! 'Makes a change from finding communists under the beds,' says Quist. The vetting was not always successful. It was not until late in the 1990s, that Melita Norwood, by now a 87 year old grandmother living in Bexley Heath who was a civil servant and passed on secrets to the Russians when she worked at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, which worked on the first British nuclear bomb. Perhaps she met Quist – if he was real! But sometimes the vetting could go too far. Tony Benn was once given a report on someone who was turned down for appointment because his father read The Morning Star... The compiler did note that reading The Morning Star in itself was not a crime but indicative of a general thinking...
But this episode does involve espionage. We have no idea who the sweet old guy played by Eric Chitty represented, or to whom he sold this information. The episode is not against the need for security, that would be ludicrous! Commander Keeping is concerned that Dr Stella Robson (Mrs Brian Blessed no less!) is going to pass on secrets to the Palestinians or the Syrians in order to starve Israel into submission in revenge for her father's death. If so, a few bugs in the Doomwatch offices would have overheard her declare twice that the substance must never be used.
Quist is suspecting that Robson and Wren's suspension is simply to prevent the investigation they are carrying out. Quist refers to clever lobbying in the episode. Is Project Sahara the defoliant that a horrified member of the RAF (who would, presumably, be spraying it from their planes if it isn't delivered by rocket as Keeping thinks), which is one of the reasons why Air Commodore Parks despises Quist in the final episode of the season, Survival Code? Presumably the Ministry of National Security wants the long term effects of Project Sahara to be investigated as the substance is not removed from their labs and Quist is encouraged to find a replacement biologist. Project Sahara seems to be a take on Agent Orange, used by the Americans during the Vietnam war, then still raging. As well as starving the enemy of food, it was designed to remove their cover. This is chemical warfare to put it bluntly. As Ridge says in Train and Detrain, chemical warfare is forbidden under the Geneva Convention, especially to kill plants in a time of war. Project Sahara kills plant life almost instantaneously and reduces the soil to a sand like powder after a day. The Doomwatch investigation is into the long term effects on the soil. The theory is that it would take two or three years for it to recover.
At the end of the episode, Quist agrees that Dr. Robson – who he thought was perfect Doomwatch material, could not return to the department after the Jack Foster business. Quist warns Toby that all he had to mention was the name Project Sahara to Keeping when he was drunk, and he could do nothing. Stella, although did not talk openly about the project, she kept a file in her flat which Jack Foster has seen. That, and her refusal to disclose his existence sealed her fate – and annoyed a number of female viewers who thought that two female scientists in a row to screw up was pushing it a bit. Presumably only men are allowed to make mistakes! Let's not go there, as they say.
So the need for security is demonstrated. But how is it to be maintained?
The computer was is sifting through details and highlighting potential issues, But Doomwatch is warning, as man has the last judgement, then this necessary and inevitable evil is fine. But in this episode it is the computer that makes the recommendations! It doesn't flag up problems for a civil servant or a policeman or a security officer to investigate – it does it for them based on information fed in. The most alarming moment is the scene where Quist watches it in action: their 'victim' is analysed for his bank account details, a minor sexual offence and his medical history! He is regarded as a potential blackmail risk.
Barker talks about the idea that if enough information is known, potential future offenders can be dealt with in advance, taking away temptation. This is a frightening idea that suggests patterns of behaviour, background and environment can predict your future criminality! Just think of it: if your father was a thief, the idea is that you too may become one. The opposite can sometimes be true! Not all abuse victims become abusers. This idea is explored more fully in By The Pricking Of My Thumbs in the next series.
If this episode was done now, data loss (memory sticks left on trains,) and the sheer ineptitude of some of government's I.T. projects would be the issue. Mistakes and so. It features in political comedies such as The Thick Of It.
We are private people. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. We've ALL got something to hide, from sexual preference to opinions and health concerns. If we really accepted that argument, then we would have no issues with body searches on the streets or house searches without a warrant. These are safe guards against abuse. What the more tedious politicians call common sense... The majority didn't want identity cards because we have enough identification and numbers to be get going with, thank you very much! The issue is heightened in Britain because privacy is a national characteristic. Yes. Minister, a sitcom about administration dealt with ID cards in an early episode entitled Big Brother, and the attempts to implement safe guards.
The episode is the first not to have any location filming for it and is none the poorer. Judging by comments from other magazines that the third season lacked much film which somehow added to the tiredness and cheapness of the season is ludicrous. Indeed, time Screen thought this episode slowed things down a bit. Nonsense: it rollicks along with marvellous dialogue and characterisation. The acting, as always in a Doomwatch, is top notch.
Barker, first mentioned in The Plastic Eaters as the Minister's PPS (presumably a civil servant who runs a Minister's private office. Or he is a Parliamentary Private Secretary which makes him an MP), is played by Robert James who will later by a GLC man in Flood, he is everything you want in a love struck civil servant/politician, oily and with perfect diction. He is an excellent foil for Quist who is still as sparky as he ever was in the first episodes of Doomwatch. Ridge gets to flirt and Robert Powell shows us his drunk acting along with the ever reliable Nigel Stock.
This episode isn't about the titular defoliant that Doomwatch are investigating: it is about the security measures in place to monitor the team. The computer recommends that Quist is monitored at all times! We can assume his phone is tapped. Ridge's certainly is otherwise how did Commander Keeping know about his discreet enquiries? In the third series it is established that Special Branch maintain surveillance on Quist almost all the time.
Vetting in government is a horrible fact of life. There are two types: positive and negative. Negative vetting is the usual checks with the police, making sure application forms are accurate and so forth. Positive vetting is interviewing of friends, former colleagues. It is very intrusive. In the 1960s, the concern, especially after the spy scandals and the Profumo affair lead to a paranoia and distrust especially amongst a left leaning Labour government. The old boy network and school tie and knowing your father no longer applies . The civil service, the judiciary, establishment and the security services were, by definition, right leaning. So, on of the purposes behind vetting was to flush out their political sympathies. To be left leaning was not, in itself a crime – unavoidable in the Labour Party, but affiliations with the Communist Party of Great Britain was, especially if you worked in very sensitive areas of research! 'Makes a change from finding communists under the beds,' says Quist. The vetting was not always successful. It was not until late in the 1990s, that Melita Norwood, by now a 87 year old grandmother living in Bexley Heath who was a civil servant and passed on secrets to the Russians when she worked at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, which worked on the first British nuclear bomb. Perhaps she met Quist – if he was real! But sometimes the vetting could go too far. Tony Benn was once given a report on someone who was turned down for appointment because his father read The Morning Star... The compiler did note that reading The Morning Star in itself was not a crime but indicative of a general thinking...
But this episode does involve espionage. We have no idea who the sweet old guy played by Eric Chitty represented, or to whom he sold this information. The episode is not against the need for security, that would be ludicrous! Commander Keeping is concerned that Dr Stella Robson (Mrs Brian Blessed no less!) is going to pass on secrets to the Palestinians or the Syrians in order to starve Israel into submission in revenge for her father's death. If so, a few bugs in the Doomwatch offices would have overheard her declare twice that the substance must never be used.
Quist is suspecting that Robson and Wren's suspension is simply to prevent the investigation they are carrying out. Quist refers to clever lobbying in the episode. Is Project Sahara the defoliant that a horrified member of the RAF (who would, presumably, be spraying it from their planes if it isn't delivered by rocket as Keeping thinks), which is one of the reasons why Air Commodore Parks despises Quist in the final episode of the season, Survival Code? Presumably the Ministry of National Security wants the long term effects of Project Sahara to be investigated as the substance is not removed from their labs and Quist is encouraged to find a replacement biologist. Project Sahara seems to be a take on Agent Orange, used by the Americans during the Vietnam war, then still raging. As well as starving the enemy of food, it was designed to remove their cover. This is chemical warfare to put it bluntly. As Ridge says in Train and Detrain, chemical warfare is forbidden under the Geneva Convention, especially to kill plants in a time of war. Project Sahara kills plant life almost instantaneously and reduces the soil to a sand like powder after a day. The Doomwatch investigation is into the long term effects on the soil. The theory is that it would take two or three years for it to recover.
At the end of the episode, Quist agrees that Dr. Robson – who he thought was perfect Doomwatch material, could not return to the department after the Jack Foster business. Quist warns Toby that all he had to mention was the name Project Sahara to Keeping when he was drunk, and he could do nothing. Stella, although did not talk openly about the project, she kept a file in her flat which Jack Foster has seen. That, and her refusal to disclose his existence sealed her fate – and annoyed a number of female viewers who thought that two female scientists in a row to screw up was pushing it a bit. Presumably only men are allowed to make mistakes! Let's not go there, as they say.
So the need for security is demonstrated. But how is it to be maintained?
The computer was is sifting through details and highlighting potential issues, But Doomwatch is warning, as man has the last judgement, then this necessary and inevitable evil is fine. But in this episode it is the computer that makes the recommendations! It doesn't flag up problems for a civil servant or a policeman or a security officer to investigate – it does it for them based on information fed in. The most alarming moment is the scene where Quist watches it in action: their 'victim' is analysed for his bank account details, a minor sexual offence and his medical history! He is regarded as a potential blackmail risk.
Barker talks about the idea that if enough information is known, potential future offenders can be dealt with in advance, taking away temptation. This is a frightening idea that suggests patterns of behaviour, background and environment can predict your future criminality! Just think of it: if your father was a thief, the idea is that you too may become one. The opposite can sometimes be true! Not all abuse victims become abusers. This idea is explored more fully in By The Pricking Of My Thumbs in the next series.
If this episode was done now, data loss (memory sticks left on trains,) and the sheer ineptitude of some of government's I.T. projects would be the issue. Mistakes and so. It features in political comedies such as The Thick Of It.
We are private people. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. We've ALL got something to hide, from sexual preference to opinions and health concerns. If we really accepted that argument, then we would have no issues with body searches on the streets or house searches without a warrant. These are safe guards against abuse. What the more tedious politicians call common sense... The majority didn't want identity cards because we have enough identification and numbers to be get going with, thank you very much! The issue is heightened in Britain because privacy is a national characteristic. Yes. Minister, a sitcom about administration dealt with ID cards in an early episode entitled Big Brother, and the attempts to implement safe guards.
The episode is the first not to have any location filming for it and is none the poorer. Judging by comments from other magazines that the third season lacked much film which somehow added to the tiredness and cheapness of the season is ludicrous. Indeed, time Screen thought this episode slowed things down a bit. Nonsense: it rollicks along with marvellous dialogue and characterisation. The acting, as always in a Doomwatch, is top notch.
Barker, first mentioned in The Plastic Eaters as the Minister's PPS (presumably a civil servant who runs a Minister's private office. Or he is a Parliamentary Private Secretary which makes him an MP), is played by Robert James who will later by a GLC man in Flood, he is everything you want in a love struck civil servant/politician, oily and with perfect diction. He is an excellent foil for Quist who is still as sparky as he ever was in the first episodes of Doomwatch. Ridge gets to flirt and Robert Powell shows us his drunk acting along with the ever reliable Nigel Stock.