The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps is a 2008 British television adventure thriller feature-length adaptation of the 1915 John Buchan novel The Thirty-Nine Steps produced by the BBC. It was written by Lizzie Mickery, directed by James Hawes, and filmed on location in Scotland, starring Rupert Penry-Jones, Lydia Leonard, David Haig, Eddie Marsan, and Patrick Malahide. Following three screen versions of the novel and the 1952 and 1977 television adaptations of The Three Hostages, Penry-Jones became the sixth actor to portray Hannay on screen. This adaptation is set on the eve of the First World War and sees mining engineer Richard Hannay caught up in an espionage conspiracy following the death of a British spy in his flat. The single drama was first shown on BBC One and BBC HD on 28 December 2008 as part of BBC One's Christmas 2008 line-up, and it was the most watched programme of the day. Compared to Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film, it received mostly negative reviews from the press. The production was criticised for its historical inaccuracies, particularly its use of anachronistic props. Plot The story starts on 28 June 1914; Richard Hannay, a mining engineer and an intelligence officer during the Second Boer War, is in London after his recent return from Africa, But finds England "cliquey", "class-bound" and "deathly, deathly dull". Evading German spies, a man named Scudder pushes into Hannay's flat and reveals himself to be a betrayed freelance British Secret Service Bureau agent, who has been on the trail of a German espionage ring with headquarters in Scotland. He has heard rumours of a plot to assassinate a high-ranking European royal, which could lead to war. Believing he will soon be killed, he hands Hannay a notebook to pass to Captain Kell of the Secret Service. While Hannay answers the door, Scudder is shot by one of the German spies who has entered the flat via a back door. The police arrive; Hannay is arrested for murder, but escapes. Unable to contact Kell, Hannay goes through the notebook, finding it contains pages of code using Roman numerals. He finds a map in the back and takes a train to Scotland to prove Scudder right, attempting to decipher the code en route. He learns that Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary has been assassinated. Hannay reaches Scotland and leaves the train to escape the police.