El Ministerio del Tiempo/The Ministry of Time — Series 3: Episode 2 —Tiempo de espías/A Time of Spies — A Review.

21st May, 2019.

There are times unemployment’s a drag.

Seriously.

You are time rich … but cash poor.

And, if you miss an appointment with your work coach, like I did, you risk getting sanctioned.

Having you benefits withdrawn as punishment, on a temporary basis.

Yes, I missed an appointment: and, effectively, I’m getting docked a chunk of money.

Quite a bit, if I’ve understood things correctly.

There’s nothing I can do about that, right now.

But I will — in the morning — ask for what’s called a mandatory reconsideration.



An appeal, in other words.

In my defence?

I arranged the appointment as soon as I realised what had happened.

It’s the first time I’ve missed an appointment.

And, not least, the penalty will mean I have to take out a hardship loan.

We’ll have to see what happens.

~≈§≈~

At any rate … ?



At any rate, it’s a quiet night.

A quiet night usually means watching a film … or a documentary … 

Or a TV show.

Given that — last night — I started watching the third series of El Ministerio del Tiempo/The Ministry of Time?

You can possibly guess what I’ve watched, tonight, can’t you … ?

~≈§≈~

Episode 2 — Tiempo de espías/A Time of Spies — sees Salvador (Jaime Blanch) visit the dying Lola Mendieta (Natalia Millán).

Lola potentially has information Salvador needs: to solve the mystery of how someone killed a captured Soviet agent.

Lola … knows nothing … … leaving Salvador saddened and angered.

Meanwhile?

This episode opens in 1943.   Where a member of the French resistance is due to meet a contact from an unnamed English intelligence agency.

The French Resistance member (Macarena García)?



Is armed … fluent in English … and has forged papers vital for the success of Operation Mincemeat*.

Oh … 

And is the younger version of the treacherous Lola … 

Now … 

Is this a good time time to mention the Ministry’s having something of a recruitment issue … ?

~≈§≈~



Lordy, but the Ministry’s done it again.



“Done what?”, I hear you ask.

Many series suffer something of a decline by their third series.

As fantastic as I felt Penny Dreadful is, for example — and Penny Dreadful is seriously good — I’m also sure its third series was its weakest.

By comparison … ?

By comparison, these two episodes of El Ministerio del Tiempo’s third season are two of their strongest.

Spain’s most secret government department?

Has gone and done soon superb work

More power to them!

*        Mincemeat was a deception operation designed to convince the Nazi regime that the Allies projected invasion of Italy would go through Greece: and not through Sicily, as actually happened.   The operation was built on a memo originally written by James Bond creator, Ian Fleming: then working for the Royal Navy’s Naval Intelligence Division.   There’s a reason James Bond is a Commander …