Review: Codename: Icarus
- Article 1 of 7
- Action TV, March 2006
Martin Smith is lazy. Lazy and thick. At least, that's the opinion of his teachers. They'd think even worse of him if they knew he broke into the sixth form computer room ever night. But they'd be surprised if they knew what he was doing. Martin is rewriting physics textbooks - they're out of date and he knows better. Because Martin is a child prodigy, even if no one at his school realises it, and he's lazy because school work is far beneath him he despises it and them. Unfortunately for Martin, someone has found out what he's been up to in his spare time - the headmaster of a school for gifted children. That school is Falconleigh and it's run by the Icarus Foundation. And they'd very much like him to join.
So begins Codename: Icarus, a truly remarkable show in the history of British children's television that first aired on BBC1 in 1981 and which is now available on Region 1 DVD. It's remarkable on two counts. First, children and spy stories normally mix badly, yet Icarus manages to have a teenage lead while still serving a script that wouldn't be out of place next to Smiley's People or The Sandbaggers. Second, it shows remarkable depth and adult themes that even today would be considered extraordinary.
Although Icarus is ultimately about Martin and his gift, the main plot of the show concerns naval intelligence officer Andy Rutherford, played by Jack Galloway. Rutherford has the unenviable task of discovering why a brand new British missile exploded during tests. Initially, he assumes it's an accident: no government in the world is working on a weapon that could destroy a missile at the ranges required. But when a second missile explodes after Rutherford gives the okay for new tests, he's forced to conclude that someone has the capability to knock out the entire British nuclear arsenal without anyone being the wiser. Rutherford's investigations lead him to Falconleigh. Believing that the Icarus Foundation is using the scientific genius of the pupils to develop advanced weaponry for whichever government will pay the most, he decides to infiltrate the school and expose it. He kidnaps one of the school's 'tutors', Peter Farley (Geoffrey Collins), and under cover, becomes the tutor of one Martin Smith.
In most children's shows, Martin would then become the protagonist, with Rutherford left to trail him as he exposes the darkness at the heart of Falconleigh. But where Codename: Icarus becomes truly different from other shows is the in the fate of Martin.
From the moment Martin arrives at Falconleigh, he's forced to play The Game. This rule-less verbal sparring match with Farley, combined with hypnosis and injections of drugs, slowly turn Martin from a smart, amiable Northern working-class kid who enjoys bird-watching (more than a few shades of Kes there) into an arrogant, driven basket-case who's too terrified from the conditioning to leave Falconleigh, despite his best attempts. He becomes fixated and driven to do nothing but work on the problems he's been set - problems he quickly realise are leading to a potential continent-destroying 'quark bomb'. It's left to Rutherford and Sue (Debbie Farrington), a fellow pupil, to extract Martin. But even then, he's unable to escape and eventually runs back to the school to continue with his work .
Unlike Chocky, which saw its gifted hero abducted then simply released by the villains after they realised he was of no use to them, Codename: Icarus is very clear that without the help of outside, adult intervention, there's very little even a smart kid in trouble can do in the hands of the amoral. Not the comforting message of the average children's teatime drama, but realism for which the show should be applauded.
The conclusion of the serial reveals the Foundation's mysterious benefactor: Edward Froelich (John Malcolm), a former Nobel Prize winner who once shared Martin's gift. Choosing to lie and distort his experiments rather than develop a nuclear bomb for the Nazis, he found he had destroyed his gift; he vowed then to protect others like him, selling the benefits of their genius and building up power until he had a way to stop those who would abuse science for their own ends. With the threat of the quark bomb, he would have that and would be able to force governments to work for the benefit of mankind under the guiding hand of science. Martin, however, refuses to help Froelich because to use his gift to end people's freedom would destroy it just as much as Froelich lies had destroyed his gift.
Codename: Icarus essentially has one main, particularly adult theme running throughout the story. It argues that genius cannot be controlled or forced to do what someone wishes - the gift has to be used for creativity, freedom and truth, no matter what pressures are applied to its owner, or it will disappear. Martin continues with his work, even once he knows it will lead to the quark bomb, as much because it's what his gift demands and because it could lead to peaceful uses as because he's been conditioned to. With the show ending not with Froehlich's arrest or capture but with Martin's refusal of an alliance and his subsequent run to freedom, this becomes ultimately the message of the show and one that would have passed over the heads of many viewers.
Even by today's standards, Codename: Icarus is a tautly written drama, coming in at just five 30 minute episodes. With only the occasional misturn into spy cliché, it manages to retain a realistic tone throughout, never really compromising itself for a children's audience. Despite its cold war undertones, its themes still remain relevant and with the exception of the Falconleigh school disco, there's very little to date it. All in all, a surprisingly superior drama that wouldn't have been out of place in an early evening viewing slot.
Disappointingly, although the print has been digitally remastered for this release, the DVD has no extra features beyond subtitling and a Chronicles of Narnia trailer, reflecting how poorly it has survived in the memories of viewers. The decision to release the DVD only in the US is yet another indication that the market for the show is far smaller than a UK release would justify. Yet 25 years on, it's hard to think of any subsequent children's show that was in anywhere near the same league.