If you’re a fan of thrillers and espionage, ITV’s revamped streaming service, ITVX is the place to be right now. We’ve already covered their new series, Litvinenko, starring David Tennant as the assassinated Russian agent. If that’s not enough for you, you can check out A Spy Among Friends, a miniseries based on the book of the same name and starring Guy Pearce and Damian Lewis in the central roles. It explores the world of British intelligence in the 1960s and how it was infiltrated by the Soviet Union on the backdrop of the Cold War.

Lewis stars as Nicholas Elliot, a real-life MI6 intelligence officer whose life is turned upside down in 1963 when his colleague and good friend Kim Philby (played by Pearce) is actually a double agent for the KGB, having defected to the Soviets and supplying them with secrets for two decades. The incident became a scandal and an embarrassment for British intelligence, with Philby being one of a spying group that became known as the Cambridge Five. The show also stars Anna Maxwell-Martin, known for her roles on Line of Duty and Motherland; Stephen Kunken, who’s appeared in Billions and The Handmaid’s Tale; and Ade Edmonson, star of The Young Ones and Bottom. Bond author Ian Fleming is also a character in the series, played by Edward Baker-Duly.

The book of the same name that the series is based on was written by Ben Macintyre, whose work also inspired this year’s film Operation Mincemeat and the BBC’s SAS: Rogue Heroes, so you can expect similar fare here. A Spy Among Friends’ plot moves back and forth from 1963 and World War II, when Kim Philby and Nicholas Eliott became friends. As Eliott tries to deal with his personal emotions and the feeling of being stabbed in the back, the SIS (or MI6) scrambles to try and work out exactly how Philby and the other spies were able to evade detection and operate so long. It doesn’t help things that Elliot is, unsurprisingly, suspected of being an accomplice to his friend, and he must endure lengthy interrogations.

The miniseries is in six parts, all of which were released on 8th December on ITVX, meaning it’s an easy show to binge through, and you can head over to the ITVX site here. If you’re looking for more great shows to spend a cold night in with, take a look at our list of the best TV specials to watch over Christmas.




A Spy Among Friends is Available on ITVX now







FOR MORE ON THE LATEST IN ENTERTAINMENT, CLICK HERE FOR OUR DECEMBER STREAMING GUIDE.









Culture, Lifestyle

Want to receive more great articles like this every day? Join our daily email now