Intentionally or otherwise, this review of the 3rd instalment of the series follows the actual script for the series.In other words, just like the revelations that the central character must deal with in the story, we viewers also must cope with good news and bad news.The bad news is that on the basis of pure entertainment, this is the weakest instalment. The fault here is that expectations were too high. The first two presented powerful and charismatic actors who popped in and out of nowhere. This sort of trope is missing here. The first two presented Nighy's character as a sort of white knight who potentially could bend an entire system to his will while he righted perceived wrongs. This final episode introduces reality into that hope.The good news is that if you are going to narrow the focus of a film to the core stars, you could do worse than these stars. There is a scene near the close where Fiennes and Nighy finally get a face to face. It is a short scene but so powerful it could curl your hair without a curling iron. As it plays out, you realize the entire series was building to that one scene. Maybe Nighy's character is too naive for modern geo-politics. Maybe the extra eye candy is missing from this episode. Maybe the third Act is just about loose ends. But this is still spy drama at its best.

And while there are far better endings of trilogies, remember this was made for TV. And yes I do know there is quite a lot of great TV work out there (particular in the TV show/series area), but I still think this warrants a 7 rather than a 6. The acting alone is really superb and while the story may be predictable (especially if you've seen the previous two entries), it still works.Do you have to have seen the other two movies? I reckon not, but you do get the relationships between certain characters a lot quicker if you do. And they are fun to watch or at least entertaining and suspenseful enough to warrant that.

Nothing is perfect but sometimes we have to be grateful for large mercies. In view of the generally mindless dreck that is offered on the screen (big or small) David Hare has at least given us intelligent dialogue written for adults and spoken clearly by a cast of actors who know what they're doing. No faux dramatic, over-amplified background music and no extraneous background noise ... we're here to hear people speak not how noisy the traffic is on a London street. It goes without saying that Bill Nighy is Worricker personified and it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role ... all that world-weary patience; it was good to see him finally lose his cool in the final episode and lash out as everything seemed to be falling apart. Highly recommended.

In the final installment of David Hare's Worricker trilogy, ex-MI5 analyst Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) pops up in Germany. He's still on the run from the British authorities, who are now aided by the German intelligence service in the cat-and-mouse game of tracking him down. The scandal involving the shady dealings of the British Prime Minister (Ralph Fiennes) is threatening to break in the open. A wind of change is palpable and one gets the feeling that events are finally heading to a showdown. It was always difficult to keep up the quality and suspense after the excellent first two films. For one, I found there was just a little too much explaining at the beginning rather than trusting in the intelligence of the viewer. So 'Salting' is probably the weakest of the trilogy, but weaker than excellent is still very good. I particularly liked the circular quality of the ending and the fact that, as in life, none of the main characters comes out as a real winner.The acting and the production values, as in the other episodes, are consistently excellent. The sensitive camera work supports the intricate mood changes and turns in conversations. Paul Englishby's Jazz tracks are a perfect match for Worricker's character. In a recent interview with Zap2it, Bill Nighy said that he would love David Hare to write more 'Worricker' for him. It's going to be a tough call to come up with an original storyline and to keep up the quality, but I for one wouldn't mind if he tried.