Circles of Deceit is a British television thriller series, produced by Yorkshire Television, first broadcast on ITV on 16 October 1993.[1]
The series stars Dennis Waterman as John Neil, a former SAS officer, and Falklands veteran, later recruited as an agent and investigator for the Security Service (MI5). Some years previously Neil's wife and child were killed by an IRA bomb. In his despair, Neil turned to drink and quit the service. He took refuge from the world in a remote house deep in the Yorkshire countryside, until MI5 come calling with a job offer he can't refuse, however reluctantly.
A VHS video of the self-titled pilot was released in the US in 1994. The complete series was later released on Region 1 DVD in the US by Acorn Media on 17 May 2011.[2] 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 UK by Strawberry Media.[3]
The series was filmed in and around Leeds and across Yorkshire. Set-up shots or on-screen captions are used to establish particular or specific places like London, Belfast or Paris, where required.
Leeds city centre locations include: County Arcade, Leeds Town Hall, The Bourse, Trevelyan Square, City Square, the chessboards on Victoria Square outside the central library, the Cinder Moor, and Headingley Hill Congregational Church. Several streets in the Burley and Hyde Park areas, including Woodhouse Lane are also recognisable.
The canal path, back roads, waste ground, and derelict buildings in the Camp Fields area south of Leeds city centre were used, but this area has been redeveloped to the point of being virtually unrecognisable today. Bradford is ten miles west of Leeds, and parts of City Hall stood in for the Palace of Westminster.
Various Leeds University buildings are also featured, including the interior of the Brotherton Library and Parkinson Court, interiors and exteriors of the Roger Stevens Building, and a section of the "red route" corridor in the Mathematics and Earth Sciences Building.
Rural locations north east of Leeds include the villages of Linton and Sicklinghall, and the stately Bramham Park House, all near Wetherby. North west of Leeds, filming took place at sections of Fewston and Swinsty reservoirs, and the environs of RAF Menwith Hill.
A total of four feature-length episodes were made, including the self-titled pilot in 1993,[4] followed by 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). In the pilot, Neil's MI5 handler is played by Derek Jacobi using the name Randal. For the series, his handler is replaced by "Zero" played by Susan Jameson, credited as the Controller. The only other recurring character throughout the series was Andy, a wheelchair-using researcher and collator, played by Dave Hill.
The Wolves are Howling
Sleeping Dogs
Dark Secret
Kalon
When carrying a gun, Neil uses a Walther PPK.
Throughout the series, Neil’s drink of choice is a pint of Guinness.
David Dixon appeared with Dennis Waterman in an episode of the Sweeney.
Peter Vaughan appeared with Dennis Waterman in an episode of the Sweeney and in The Railwayman’s Apprentice.