Defense of the Realm1985

Director
David Drury

Acters

Gabriel Byrne (Nicholas 'Nick' Mullen)
Greta Scacchi (Nina Beckman)
Denholm Elliott (Vernon Bayliss)
Ian Bannen (Dennis Markham)
Fulton Mackay (Victor Kingsbrook)
Bill Paterson (Jack Macleod)

After a newspaper reporter helps expose a Member of Parliament as a possible spy, he finds that there’s much more to the story than that.
Following the cover up of a crash of a nuclear bomber at an American Air Force base in the UK, Dennis Markham, a prominent Member of Parliament and opponent of the American nuclear presence in the United Kingdom, is planning to ask questions about it in Parliament. Before he can, he is reported by a London paper to have been seen leaving a woman’s home on the same evening as she is visited by a military attaché from East Germany, Markham’s loyalty to his country is questioned. He is hounded by the media and is forced to resign. Has there been a Government cover-up, Mullen, a young, ambitious newspaper reporter, teams up with Vernon Bayliss, an old hack, and Nina Beckam the MP’s assistant to find out the truth.
“Gabriel Byrne, a relative newcomer, is quietly effective as the reporter, and Greta Scacchi shows again that she can project the quality of knowing more than she reveals.” – rogerebert.com
“Drury coaxes an excellent performance from newcomer Byrne, and directs with a style and sense of location rarely present in homegrown cinema.” – Time Out
“Director David Drury maintains an understated tension throughout, helped by sombre and often striking cinematography by Roger Deakins.” – BFI Screen Online