A Time to Remember story
Businessman Charles Foster is visited by MI6 agents in his office. They take him to an army base, where he is led in to meet a man he eventually recognizes as Mikhail Zigorin, a Soviet general, whom he befriended at the siege of Berlin 30 years ago. Apparently, he has defected to the West. However, MI6 is unsure whether this man is the real Zigorin, or a double sent to be a mole in their organization. Foster lists various characteristics and mannerisms he recalls of Zigorin, but at the end, he settles for one true test of the validity of his claims. Directed by: Peter Sykes. Story by: Kenneth Jupp, based on a story by James Reach.
8 total · 1 choice · 6 major · 1 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| people can change | choice | The central question entertained in the story is whether people can change over time to the extent that even a close friend might not recognize them after the passage of several decades. In particular, Charles Foster was tasked with ascertaining whether a man claiming to be his old comrade Mikhail Zigorin was actually an impostor. |
| cowardice | major | The MI6 agents were ultimately able to expose the man claiming to be General Zigorin as an impostor when he reacted courageously to an apparent active shooter bursting into the room. The real General Zigorin was a known coward, and they reasoned that he would never have behaved with such bravery in that situation. |
| espionage | major | The story centers on a group of MI6 agents attempting to devise a reliable test to determine whether Mikhail Zigorin, a high-ranking Soviet general, was truly the defector he claimed to be or an impostor seeking to infiltrate their organization. |
| friendship | major | The businessman Charles Foster was abruptly taken from his office by MI6 agents and whisked away to an army base, where he was introduced to a man named Mikhail Zigorin, who claimed to be an old friend. Charles and Mikhail reminisced about old times, but the MI6 agents were suspicious as to whether Mikhail was who he claimed to be, and wanted Charles to identify his old friend. |
| heroism | major | The man who claimed to be General Zigorin reacted courageously to an gun wielding young man bursting into the room by throwing a portable typewriter case and then disarming him. |
| remembering bygone days | major | Charles was delighted to revel in anecdotes of yore together with a man who claimed to be his Soviet friend of old, General Zigorin. |
| secret agent occupation | major | The story concerns a number of MI6 agents trying to verify the identity of a supposed Soviet defector who they suspected of wanting to infiltrate their organization. |
| World War II | minor | Charles Foster and a man who claimed to be Mikhail Zigorin reminisced over how they became friends in the immediate aftermath of the siege of Berlin in 1945. |