From Russia With Love

I’ve been immersing myself in Raymond Chandler novels recently, which probably accounts for this short blog post on the story about Ekaterina Zatuliveter who proved to a tribunal that she was not a honeytrapping spy from Russia sent to access defence secrets in the UK.

This is from the end of an article in Daily Mail online:

Their (the tribunal’s) ruling states: 'The picture painted by the diary entries is inconsistent with the Security Service's assessment that she was, most likely, tasked actively to pursue the offer of a relationship with Mr Hancock.

'The most likely explanation, and one which we find to be proved on the balance of probabilities, is that, however odd it might seem, she fell for him.'

Last night security officials insisted they were not in any way 'embarrassed' by the ruling and insisted their identification of Miss Zatuliveter as a potential threat to national security was correct.

The ruling said: 'We are satisfied that it is significantly more likely than not that she was and is not a Russian agent.'

However, it added: 'We cannot exclude the possibility that we have been gulled – but, if we have been, it has been by a supremely competent and rigorously trained operative.'

Right, so: “We don’t think you’re bluffing, but if you are we’ve called you on it anyway.”

Tori Amos; Cultural Olympiad; Review Show

Back from a pre-record of the Review Show for the Premier Radio Drive Time slot due to be aired at 4pm on 14 November. This followed a morning at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane for a press conference about the Cultural Olympiad (The Guardian was concerned about the cost of free cultural events during a time of recession; The Times wanted to know more about a major art installation by the Manhattan artists' collective YesYesNo which will span the length of Hadrian's Wall and The Telegraph wondered whether actors spouting Shakespeare along the walk from Westminster to the Southbank might be a bit too much for "grumpy Londoners" to take) - and an evening at the Hammersmith Apollo being blown away by Tori Amos (Suede; A Sorta Fairytale).

On the Review Show we discussed:

1) Film: Amélie (10 year anniversary dvd)
2) Book: Just Want To Be Loved for Me.
3) CD: Kingsway triple pack.

And here is a picture from inside the Theatre Royal today:

Quite.