On Her Majesty's Secret Service

On Her Majesty's Secret Service has quietly become one of the more dependable crime dramas currently available in the UK on ITVX Premium. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. With 2,169 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. George Lazenby's performance alone is worth the time investment. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on ITVX Premium.

Whatever else is competing for your attention this week, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is worth clearing space for. At its heart, On Her Majesty's Secret Service understands what makes crime drama work — character first, plot second. With the help of Marc-Ange Draco, head of the Unione Corse crime syndicate, and Draco's troubled daughter Tracy, James Bond tracks his archnemesis, Ernst Stravro Blofeld, to a mountaintop retreat in the Swiss Alps, where he is training an army of beautiful, lethal women. The writing gets a boost from George Lazenby and Diana Rigg, who sell every scene they're in. It was released in 1969. What makes On Her Majesty's Secret Service hold up is that the resolution matters less than how the characters get there. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Viewers who think they have seen every crime drama tend to find On Her Majesty's Secret Service proves them wrong. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. George Lazenby's performance is the kind that shows up on best-of lists years later. If you have been looking for something to fill the gap left by a recently finished story, this is a reliable answer.