Cambridge Spy Ring – Page 3

A Spy Among Friends Review: An Elegant Cold War Thriller

On March 9, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

A Talky Espionage Caper

by Manuel Betancourt | AV Club | March 8, 2023

The title for A Spy Among Friends, last year’s British thriller that makes its MGM+ premiere on March 12, intentionally flirts with the glaring tension its narrative rests on. The spy genre, after all, depends on a timeless mantra—“trust no one”—that seems to stand in clear contradistinction to what one expects from one’s friendships. Writer Alex Cary and director Nick Murphy have taken Ben Macintyre’s nonfiction book, an account of a famed British espionage Cold War disaster, and punched it up to ask whether it can be possible to not only be but survive being, yes, “a spy among friends.”

One would imagine the answer to be self-evident. Could anyone in the intelligence community, after all, truly put friendship above idealism, above national loyalty, above politics? And yet with every passing episode, this elegantly mounted period drama does keep you guessing as to whether the friendship at the heart of this narrative could well prove to be the exception to the rule.

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How Much Watching Time Do You Have This Weekend?

On March 9, 2023March 10, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Jazzy Spy Craft

by Staff | New York Times | March 9, 2023

A Spy Among Friends begins Sunday on MGM+. The personal is political in this juicy period drama, based on a true story about two British spies (played by Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce) who form an intimate friendship over decades – except one of them was working for Russia the whole time. Even the characters aren’t quite sure which is the worse betrayal, that of country or confidant, and the show finds depth in both its emotional wounding and its jazzy spy craft. If you still think about The Americans a lot, or if you like shows where repressed fussy British men let loose at Christmastime only to regret even that fleeting moment of happy pleasure. try this.

A Spy Among Friends premieres Sunday, March 12th on MGM+ (formerly Epix).

Read the rest of the original article at New York Times

A Spy Among Friends Interviews Print Media Review

In ‘A Spy Among Friends,’ B.F.F. Betrayal at an International Level

On March 3, 2023March 3, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

A Twisty MGM+ Series

by Roslyn Sulcas | New York Times | March 3, 2023

A twisty MGM+ series tells the story of Kim Philby, a British agent secretly working for the Soviet Union, and Nicholas Elliott, his closest friend. Stream beginning March 12.

“Why wasn’t he in custody?” asks the MI5 officer Lily Thomas. It is January 1963, and Thomas is talking about Kim Philby, a British intelligence agent who, after being exposed as a Soviet spy, has escaped to Moscow. Nicholas Elliott, Philby’s closest friend and a fellow member of the foreign intelligence agency MI6, looks slightly nonplused. “Well, that’s not how we —” he begins, before coming to an abrupt halt.

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A Spy Among Friends Interviews Print Media Review

A Spy Among Friends Cast Previews the Real-Life ‘Brilliantly Interesting’ Friendship

On February 24, 2023March 10, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Preview: Riveting Cat-and-Mouse Conversations

by Kate Hahn | TV Insider | February 24, 2023

If you learned your closest friend was a spy, would you help him evade justice? That’s the looming question in A Spy Among Friends, a slow-burn adaptation of Ben Macintyre’s nonfiction bestseller about an infamous U.K. traitor.

The limited series opens in 1963 with reserved British intelligence man Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis) being questioned by no-nonsense Lily Thomas (Anna Maxwell Martin) of the U.K.’s domestic intelligence agency MI5. The topic: Elliott’s role in the defection of his chum since the ’40s, charming Kim Philby (Guy Pearce), who has been outed as a double agent.

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A Spy Among Friends Print Media Trailer Video

A Spy Among Friends MGM+ Official Trailer

On February 2, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Espionage Series Hits MGM+ in March

by Charles Barfield | The Playlist | February 2, 2023

Being a spy requires a lot of discretion. You have to not only keep most of what you do at work a secret, but you sometimes even have to lie to those closest to you to protect that work. But what happens when your best friend is also a spy? And not only that, what if that best friend who is a spy might also be a double agent, working for the enemy? That drama is what propels the plot of the new limited series, “A Spy Among Friends.”

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A Spy Among Friends: The Making of the Espionage Drama

On January 13, 2023March 14, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Two Lifelong Friends, One Double Agent

by Michael Pickard | Drama Quarterly | January 13, 2023

Stars Damian Lewis and Anna Maxwell Martin join the team behind A Spy Among Friends to discuss the making of this ITVX espionage drama, which is based on the true story of two lifelong friends and British spies – one of whom is a double agent. When he was initially approached to star in A Spy Among Friends, Damian Lewis didn’t know which of the two leads he would play.

In this DQTV interview here, star Damian Lewis, who plays Elliott, and writer Alex Cary discuss why they wanted to give viewers a peek behind the curtain of this notorious spy story. They talk about why Elliott emerged as the focal point of the drama, their roles behind the scenes as executive producers and the fallout from the damaged friendship at the heart of the story.

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Damian Lewis Attends Television Critics Association Panel for A Spy Among Friends

On January 10, 2023February 1, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

MGM+ Unveils A Spy Among Friends at TCA Winter Press Tour

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | January 10, 2023

For the first time in three years since the pandemic, the in-person Television Critics Association press tour returned. The event was held at The Langham, Huntington in Pasadena, California beginning Monday, January 9, 2023. Not all television networks appeared, but MGM+ was there to discuss upcoming content available on its new streaming platform, including A Spy Among Friends. After first debuting on ITVX in the U.K. in December 2022, A Spy Among Friends staring Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce will get its US premiere on MGM+ on March 12, 2023, as EPIX will become MGM+ on January 15, 2023. The six-episode series is based on the Ben Macintyre book of the same name, written by Alexander Cary and directed by Nick Murphy. ITV produces in collaboration with Sony Pictures Television and Damian’s own Ginger Biscuit Entertainment.

Those attending the TCA panel discussion in-person were Anna Maxwell-Martin, Nick Murphy and Alexander Cary, and joining remotely via video call were Damian and Guy Pearce. During the discussion Damian said Guy Pearce plays the rock star Kim Philby and he plays the sap Nicholas Elliott. Anna Maxwell-Martin said her scenes with Damian were thrilling, “It’s just about being with Damian in a room.” Alex Cary shared that he centered the story of A Spy Among Friends around relationships, friendship and betrayal to make it relevant to today’s audience. Photos from the event can be viewed here.

Continue reading Damian Lewis Attends Television Critics Association Panel for A Spy Among Friends