TV Reviews : Pinteresque Suspense in ‘Heat of the Day’

A sinister British agent in World War II London makes an immodest proposal to a divorcee with whom he wants to sleep. He informs her that her lover is selling secrets to the enemy but he will remain silent if she will become his mistress. The woman ultimately agrees, and “The Heat of the Day,” on “Masterpiece Theatre” Sunday night, carries the viewer along a dark, suspenseful trail. (The two-hour drama airs at 9 p.m. on Channels 28 and 15, and at 8 p.m. on Channels 50 and 24.)

Much of the subsequent sense of suspicion, betrayal and verbal fencing is Pinteresque, and it’s no surprise that Harold Pinter did the adaptation (from a novel by Elizabeth Bowen). Michael York plays the British turncoat, Patricia Hodges his lover and Michael (“The Singing Detective”) Gambon the ominous, bulky and smitten agent who triggers the devilish game.

Director Christopher Morahan manages to give the show the kind of nervous, creepy tone associated with the old film classic, “The Third Man.”

There’s a poignant cameo appearance by Dame Peggy Ashcroft, and the period detail--especially the hurly-burly train stations and isolated scenes of pastoral villages--creates a rich subtext.

Most intriguing is the wan Hodges, her hair coiffed like a golden tiara, her sense of languor hiding a terrible suspicion that she finally spills to the rattled York in a potent scene in a taxi in a rainstorm.

The British production, shot in London and Ireland, has its sluggish moments, and York’s love scenes with Hodges are meek and almost skittish, given the couple’s undying affair. Devoid of chemistry, the relationship seems too tepid to propel the show’s sensual impulses. But the hovering distrust, the smooth paranoia, keep things interesting.