YMMV / The Clocks

• Magnificent Bastard: Millicent Pebmarsh is a stoic, determined Soviet agent working undercover in England in the guise of an ordinary hard-working schoolteacher. Intent on ridding herself of "softness" to devote all her life to her cause, Millicent gives her daughter Sheila away to be raised by her sister. When Millicent's eyesight begins to fail, she does not let it discourage her, taking a course in Braille so that she would be able to teach blind children — and to use Braille books for sending sensitive information to the USSR. When a British agent finds her out, Millicent has her associate kill him in a hit-and-run before he can reveal anything. After a murdered man is found in Millicent's house (killed by people who have nothing to do with her), she astonishes the police with her composure, reasonable attitude, and detailed testimony, taking care to comfort the shocked young typist who found the body but neglecting to tell said typist she is her own daughter. Millicent's cover is only blown because the agent run over by the car lives just long enough to scribble down the vital clue pointing to her. After her attempt to stab Colin, the one to expose her, fails, Millicent accepts her defeat with grace and refuses Colin's offer of an escape with a two-hour head start. She tells him that even in prison, there are opportunities to recruit people for her cause, and waits calmly for the police to arrive.