Review: Sherlock’s Benedict Cumberbatch Discovers T.I.A. in ‘The Last Enemy’

'The Last Enemy' is part of the Masterpiece Contemporary series on PBS.

Since I watch Netflix streaming to ‘get sleepy’ each night, I’m always on the lookout for a multi-episode whodunit or conspiracy thriller. To my delight, ‘The Last Enemy’ gave me both.

Listeners to PID Radio will know that Derek and I have been discussing Total Information Awareness (T.I.A.) for years, but the surprise here is that T.I.A. is not only public information, it’s open touted on talk shows!

The setting is a post-‘Victoria Bombing’ UK, where CCTV cameras and National IDs provide tracking information for Her Majesty’s subjects. To link all the hundreds of private and government databases is the ultimate dream, and it’s provided in the form of Total Information Awareness (complete with a polite and oh-so-helpful female voice).

Following the death of his brother Michael, Stephen Ezard (played by Cumberbatch) returns to London from China, where he’s spent the previous 4 years in self-imposed isolation ‘to keep his mind pure’ for mathematics (Ezard is a math genius). I won’t give away the plot, but let’s just say that Stephen knew very little about his brother’s life in Afghanistan (where Michael died when his jeep hit a mine). Michael’s charity organization had been helping out with Hepatitis B inoculations, which had precipitated dozens of unexplained deaths. Stephen falls down the rabbit hole in London and never climbs out. T.I.A. knows all…but what about the old world Scottish spy played by Robert Carlyle? Is he a good guy or a bad guy?

Find out by streaming or ordering the DVD for ‘The Last Enemy’.

Genres:
TV Shows, Dramas, British TV Shows, Miniseries, British Movies, British Dramas
This show is:
Gritty, Suspenseful
Availability on Netflix:
Streaming and DVD