Tag: MI5

A Spy Among Friends ITV Review: Four Stars

by Dan Einav | Financial Times  | December 5, 2022

★★★★☆

In the second world war, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) had among their ranks one of the most successful spies in history. Trouble was, Harold “Kim” Philby was so adept at espionage that not only did he deceive his enemies, but also his allies at MI6.

An original series made for ITV’s shiny new streaming service, ITVX, A Spy Among Friends is an carefully crafted intelligence thriller about Philby — the Englishman who was outed as a double agent for the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. Like the recent BBC hit SAS Rogue Heroes, the show is a dramatisation based on an immersive history by the author Ben Macintyre. But where the former was a hot-headed affair, this six-parter is poised, patient and, fittingly for a story largely set during the cold war, touched by a certain froideur.

Continue reading REVIEW: Guy Pearce and Damian Lewis In a Poised Tale of Betrayal

“Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce Act Their Socks Off”

by Joel Golby | The Guardian  | December 3, 2022

Double agents are everywhere. Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce act their socks off. But nobody knows what ITVX is – no matter what the secret service say. The thing with A Spy Among Friends is that it’s very good – intricate, deft and thrilling with just the right sort of TV set pieces to keep things rollicking around – but also a lot of it is just “two people having a conversation in a room, both of them smoking in a very 60s way”, and you do have to actively watch it to know what’s going on.

There’s fun old-school espionage and big old-fashioned tape recorders and men in their shirtsleeves sweating in rooms while listening to a bug, and everyone keeps offering each other tea in a way that seems too deliberately innocuous to be anything other than a ruse. Guy Pearce is playing opposite Damian Lewis and they are both acting their absolute heads off, which is always fun. And there is no way this whole thing doesn’t end with a clever twist.

Continue reading A Spy Among Friends: An Extremely Good Espionage Thriller

“A Grown Up, Intelligent, Riveting Espionage Tale”

by Benjie Goodhart | Saga Magazine  | December 2, 2022

A Spy Among Friends – Episode 1/6 – Thursday 8th December – ITVX

On the basis of the first episode, A Spy Among Friends is well worth a look. The six-part drama series is based on Ben Macintyre’s bestselling factual account of secret service agent Kim Philby’s 30-year career spying for the Soviet Union, and his defection to the USSR in 1963.

Guy Pearce stars as Philby, and the story primarily centers around his friendship with fellow Secret Intelligence Service spook Nicholas Elliott, played with characteristic aplomb by Damian Lewis. The story jumps backwards and forwards in time (sit up straight and pay attention, this is not one to watch while doing a Su Doku on your phone) but the gist of it is that Elliott feels profoundly betrayed by his erstwhile friend and colleague.

Continue reading Saga Magazine Review: A Spy Among Friends