Circles of Deceit

Production

The production team shot the series across Yorkshire, with Leeds and its surroundings serving as the primary base. When the story required a specific location like London, Belfast, or Paris, they used establishing shots or on-screen captions rather than filming on site. In Leeds city centre, viewers can spot County Arcade, Leeds Town Hall, The Bourse, Trevelyan Square, City Square, the chessboard-patterned area on Victoria Square near the central library, the Cinder Moor, and Headingley Hill Congregational Church. Streets in Burley and Hyde Park, including Woodhouse Lane, also appear. South of the city centre, the Camp Fields area—with its canal path, back roads, waste ground, and derelict buildings—was used, though redevelopment has since made it nearly unrecognisable. Bradford’s City Hall, ten miles west of Leeds, doubled for the Palace of Westminster. Several University of Leeds buildings feature: the Brotherton Library’s interior, Parkinson Court, the Roger Stevens Building (both inside and out), and a section of the “red route” corridor in the Mathematics and Earth Sciences Building. Rural spots north east of Leeds include the villages of Linton and Sicklinghall, plus Bramham Park House near Wetherby. To the north west, filming occurred at parts of Fewston and Swinsty reservoirs and around RAF Menwith Hill. Four feature-length episodes were produced: a self-titled pilot in 1993, then a three-episode series filmed in 1995 and broadcast from 1995 to 1996. Though aired last, “Sleeping Dogs” takes place chronologically after the pilot, which was later retitled “The Wolves are Howling” for repeats and home video. In the pilot, Derek Jacobi plays Neil’s MI5 handler, using the name Randal. For the series, Susan Jameson takes over as “Zero,” credited as the Controller. The sole other recurring character is Andy, a wheelchair-using researcher and collator played by Dave Hill.