''Circles of Deceit'' is a British

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

series, produced by

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network. Until 1974, this was prima ...

, first broadcast on ITV on 16 October 1993. The series stars

Dennis Waterman Dennis Waterman (24 February 1948 – 8 May 2022) was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including ''The Sweeney'', '' Minder'' and ''New Tricks'', singing the theme tunes of the ...

as John Neil, a former serving officer in the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-ter ...

, who works as a private investigator for the

secret service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

. A total of four episodes were broadcast, including a single feature-length self-titled pilot in 1993, and a series of three episodes, filmed in 1995, and broadcast between 1995 and 1996. Although broadcast as the final episode of the series, ''Sleeping Dogs'' is set chronologically after the events of the self-titled pilot (which was re-titled ''The Wolves are Howling'' for disambiguation reasons on repeat broadcasts and home video release). Aside from Neil, the only other character to appear in all four films was the Controller. In the pilot, this role was assumed by

Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as ''Hamlet'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'', ''Macbeth'', ''Twelfth Night'', '' The Tempest'', ''King ...

(under the pseudonym of Randal). For the series, Jacobi was replaced by

Susan Jameson Susan I. M. Jameson (born 13 August 1941) is an English actress. She is best known for two roles: portraying Esther Lane in the BBC crime drama series ''New Tricks'' between 2003 and 2013, and voicing Mrs Wibbsey opposite Tom Baker in a series ...

. The only other recurring character throughout the series was Andy, a wheelchair-using researcher and collator, played by

Dave Hill David John Hill (born 4 April 1946) is an English rock musician. He is the lead guitarist, a backing vocalist and the sole continuous member in the English band Slade. Hill is known for his flamboyant stage clothes and hairstyle. Early life B ...

. A VHS video of the self-titled pilot was released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in 1994. The complete series was later released on Region 1 DVD in the

Acorn Media RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn DVD, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television. History Launched in 1997, Acorn Media U. ...

on 17 May 2011. On 23 April 2018, nearly twenty-five years after the broadcast of the self-titled pilot, the complete series was released on Region 2 DVD in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

by Strawberry Media.

Cast

as John Neil *

as Controller aka 'Randal' (1.1) *

as Controller (2.1 — 2.3) *

as Andy (2.1 — 2.3) ''The Wolves are Howling'' *

Peter Vaughan Peter Vaughan (born Peter Ewart Ohm; 4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016) was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage. He is perhaps best known ...

as Liam McAuley *

Clare Higgins Clare Frances Elizabeth Higgins (born 10 November 1955) is an English actress. Her film appearances include '' Hellraiser'' (1987), '' The Worst Witch'' (2017 - 2020) '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II'' (1988), ''Small Faces'' (1996) and '' The Gold ...

as Eilish *

Ian McElhinney Ian McElhinney (born 19 August 1948) is a Northern Irish actor and director. He has appeared in many television series in a career spanning more than forty years; notable appearances include ''Taggart'', ''Hornblower'', ''Cold Feet'', and ''Th ...

as Father Fergal * Tony Doyle as Graham * Colum Convey as Dessie Gill * Gerard Crossan as Colum McAuley *

Andrew Connolly Andrew Connolly (born 30 November 1965) is an Irish stage and screen actor and director. Biography Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1965 and was raised in the Finglas and Ringsend areas. At sixteen years old he left school for a seven- ...

as Dermot McAuley ''Sleeping Dogs'' *

Leo McKern Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO (16 March 1920 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Cla ...

as Alexander Petrov *

Frances Barber Frances Barber (née Brookes, born 13 May 1958) is an English actress. She received Olivier Award nominations for her work in the plays '' Camille'' (1985), and '' Uncle Vanya'' (1997). Her film appearances include three collaborations with ...

as Annie Shepherd * Paul Freeman as Armitage * Nicholas Jones as Schroeder * Bill Armstrong as Bill Roper *

Lalor Roddy Lalor Roddy (born 30 November 1954) is a Northern Irish actor, described by the ''Irish Times'' theater critic Fintan O'Toole as "surely the finest Irish actor of his generation". Youth Roddy was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I ...

as Mark Grady *

Ian Fitzgibbon Ian Fitzgibbon (born 1962 in Dublin) is an Irish film and television actor/director. He is perhaps best known for directing '' Spin the Bottle'', '' A Film with Me in It'' and the Comedy Central UK show Threesome, and for the role of Fr. Jessu ...

as Tony Lynch * James Aubrey as George Grant ''Dark Secret'' *

Corin Redgrave Corin William Redgrave (16 July 19396 April 2010) was an English actor and left-wing socialist activist. Early life Redgrave was born on 16 July 1939 in Marylebone, London, the only son and middle child of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel ...

as Harry Summers *

Kate Buffery Katharine Rose Buffery (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress. She is known for her numerous roles on British television, including the ITV drama series ''Wish Me Luck'' (1988–1990), BBC miniseries ''Close Relations'' (1998), Channel 5 l ...

as Kate Moore *

Pippa Guard Philippa Ann Guard (born 13 October 1952) is a British actress. Biography Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Guard briefly attended the University of Montreal in Canada, first studying English and drama and then nursing, before returning to Brit ...

as Elizabeth Ferrer *

Melanie Hill Melanie Jane Hill (born 11 January 1962) is a British actress, known for playing Hazel Redfern in ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' (1985–1986), Aveline in '' Bread'' (1986–1991), Rita Dolan in Kay Mellor drama ''Playing the Field'' (1998–2002), M ...

as Angie Norman *

Holly Aird Imogen Holly Aird (born 18 May 1969) is an English television actress known for playing forensic pathologist Frankie Wharton in the BBC1 drama series '' Waking the Dead'', having previously starred in productions such as ''Soldier Soldier'' a ...

as Sarah Ellis *

Sean McGinley Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; ang ...

as Jim Caine *

Adjoa Andoh Adjoa Andoh Hon. FRSL (born 14 January 1963) is a British actress. On stage, she has played lead roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre. On television, she appeared in tw ...

as Daniela *

Joe Montana Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid ...

as Travis * Peter Birch as Stefan ''Kalon'' *

Simon Cadell Simon John Cadell (19 July 1950 – 6 March 1996) was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of Jeffrey Fairbrother in the first five series of the BBC situation comedy '' Hi-de-Hi!''. Early life Born in London, he was the son of the ...

as Brendan Rylands *

Saskia Wickham Saskia Wickham (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress best known for playing Alex Wilton in the drama series '' Boon'' and Dr. Erica Matthews in the ITV television drama series ''Peak Practice'' between 1996 and 1998. Early and personal l ...

as Liz Baker * John Hannah as Jason Sturden *

Struan Rodger Struan Rodger (born 18 September 1946) is a British actor who has appeared widely in a range of supporting roles. He appeared briefly in '' Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?'' in 1978 but his first major film role was as Eric Liddell' ...

as Alec Dwyer *

Sean Gilder Sean Brian Gilder (born 1 March 1964) is an English stage, film and screen actor, he is also a playwright Gilder was born in Brampton, Cumberland, England. He is best known for his portrayal of Paddy Maguire on '' Shameless'' from 2005 to 201 ...

as Tarleton * John Hartley as Francis *

Constantine Gregory Constantine Gregory (born Constantine Liebert, September 16, 1942) is an American actor, dialect coach, and voice actor. Until 1983 he was usually credited as Constantin de Goguel. Life and career He was born of a Dutch father and Russian–born m ...

as Paric *

Jack Klaff Jack Klaff is a South African-born actor, writer and academic. He has held professorships at Princeton University and Starlab. Amongst his early screen roles were in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) as Red Four and For Your Eyes Only ( ...

as Osuna * Tony Armatrading as Lawrence

Episodes

Pilot (1993)

Series (1995—1996)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Circle of Deceit 1993 television films 1993 films 1993 British television series debuts 1996 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series ITV television dramas 1990s British crime television series Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Yorkshire Television English-language television shows