Charming, Elegant and Ruthless
Wellingham, the silver-haired string-puller, is examined by David Koukol.

Who’s worse: a dirty, disheveled thug who robs you at knifepoint; or an elegant, gentlemanly fellow who purrs with social grace and good manners — and then lies and sells you short in order to further his own ambitions?

At least the thug’s appearance betrays his intentions, but the moral is not to judge others on outward appearances alone, least of all Sir Geoffrey Wellingham. Ian Mackintosh displayed a literary quality rarely found in television writers: his characters are multi-faceted and endlessly fascinating.

Fewer are more complex than Sir Geoffrey Wellingham, brought to life via superb performances by Alan MacNaughtan. Here is a character who, by his own admission, is a slave to his natural courtesy. Wellingham is, in my opinion, the most dangerous character featured in The Sandbaggers.

This is due, in part, to the aforementioned fa¡ade, but also to his position as Permanent Undersecretary of State at the Office of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. He can be as selfish as Burnside with the added advantage of access to the Prime Minister and the political mechanisms of the British government.

Baron Wellingham
True, he cannot, for example, send an officer on an unauthorized assassination mission; but he can pull other equally powerful strings. Wellingham’s motivations and ambitions, unlike his methods, seem quite straightforward. In his own words. 'I intend to retire as Baron Wellingham.’

He has worked damned hard to get where he is. His concern is also for the welfare of the United Kingdom, but as his fortunes are inextricably linked to the political well being of the UK, we must not rank this above his own self-interest.

Though, to be fair, a thin strand of patriotism may run through his character, but it seems less of a driving force to him. By far, Burnside values patriotism further. Global affairs seem of consequence only in so far as they affect Wellingham’s position, his ambitions, and the political and economic well-being of the UK — probably in that order.

In First Principles, the Norwegians lose a spy plane in Russia, Wellingham only cares about whether Norway can be wooed into buying British missiles if SIS mounts the rescue operation. His utter disregard for the human lives involved is quite apparent — once more, Burnside is the one who seems more concerned with the moral and compassionate issues.
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