Buchan style in poaching

Press, 1 September 1980, Page 16

Buchan style in poaching

“John McNab,” which screens this afternoon on network Two, .is a three-part adventure story in the best traditions of John Buchan, the Scottish novelist who later became Lord Tweedsmuir and Governor-General of Canada. There is humour, romance, and plenty of action. There are unusual characters — not the least of them Benjamin Bogle, a tinker urchin who proves to be John McNab’s strongest ally, completely lacking the inhibiting scruples of his gentlemen partners. The time is the early 19205, arid the story opens in London. Sir Edward Leithen, exAttorney General; the wealthy banker, John PalliserYeates; and Lord Lamancha, member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister, discover they are affected by “taedium vitae.” Although in the prime of manhood and the

best of health, they are bored with life. At their club, Sir Archie Roylance, the young prospective M.P. for a Scottish seat, tells them about his friend, Jim Tarras, who suffered from a similar problem. He cured it by issuing sporting challenges to landed gentry to stop his taking a deer or a salmon from their estates—and Tarras was invariably successful. The three men decide to emulate Tarras. They travel to Scotland and write, under a pseudonym, three landowners and defy them to prevent the mysterious John McNab from poaching on their estates. Their opponents accept the challenge . . James Maxwell stars as Sir Edward Leithen with Derek Godfrey as Lord Lamancha; Bernard Horstall as John Palliser Yeates; Cavan Kendall as Archie Roylance; and Joseph McKenna as Benjamin Bogle in this 8.8. C. production. ■ .