The mention of Richard Vernon's appearances in other shows
just jogged another memory. He played a brilliant part as an absent-minded
yet savvy bank CEO in "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister". He carried
a copy of the _Financial Times_ under his arm but when asked about it
he replied "...don't understand a word of it. It's just part of the
uniform." He did some of the funniest lines in the entire series yet
was totally deadpan while doing so.
Richard Vernon was also in the film version of "The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy." I only watched a few minutes of it but the accent
was very familiar. I confirmed his role in the rolling credits.
The discussion of disarmed police is interesting and pertinent.
One surprise in SB for me was that the SIS guys hate to arm themselves.
This is totally opposite to the impression created in the James Bond
series. The SB guys even hate "bustouts" wherein they must force entry.
Compare this with Bond in which a door or a building or a wall or a car
is destroyed every few minutes!
I wish you all a Merry Christmas.
John