Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy

Peter Taylor is, to use that often ascribed but frequently falsely attributed phrase, a Reporter's Reporter. Now a globally renowned intelligence expert and a distinguished Northern Ireland correspondent with an outstanding rolodex of contacts, a Taylor documentary has something most hacks can only aspire to; instant credibility. 'Modern Spies' (BBC2) is a showcase for Taylor's considerable skills; his quiet, persistent, understated form of reporting, his forensic skills in building up a case with facts, his respect for good sources (both on and off-record) and above all, a true impartiality which lets the viewer make up their mind based on the objective evidence presented before them. Taylor interviews Foreign Secretaries and Spooks, ‘Curveball’ and former Spy Chiefs; he looks at 'honeytraps' and tradecraft...he addresses rendition and human rights and he does so with considerable care to let the story build from the foundation of its own facts. 'Modern Spies' will interest anyone mildly diverted by the Spooks World; but this is a milieu more John Le Carre than James Bond, it is a universe of greys and increasingly, an I.T. one, dependent on data mining and electronic espionage to defeat whatever the 'enemy' now is. Taylor's 'Modern Spies' raises questions of quis custodiet ipsos custodies which have always been with us and probably always will be. ‘Modern Spies’ tells it as it probably is rather than how Cubby Broccoli would have us see this shadowy world of intelligence and counter-intelligence.