A Spy Among Friends

Based upon the real life events of the Russian infiltration of the British security services from around the rise of Nazi Germany through to the early 1960s when the infiltration was exposed and 'agents' fled Britain.

This is not an action spy drama, it's a drama based upon intrigue and strategic thrust and parry - as such it's very successful and weaves a gripping tale. Just what exactly is going on? Whom can we trust? Is this opportunism or another move in the long game, or both...?

The three leads, Lewis, Martin & Pearce each offer nuanced performances that between them create and carry the bulk of the show's dramatic tension - and they each do a fine job of conveying a sense of the 'times they lived in' - times overshadowed by the cold war, memories of fascism and an horrendous world war, and of a looming new world struggling to shake off these attachments and mires of the old world.

The unfolding of the story is a little complicated, with frequent time shifts, which clarify and re-clarify understanding - so this is not a casual viewing show. It demands the audience pay full attention and think about and consider what they're witnessing. It all adds up to a very satisfying experience if you're prepared to invest the time - but mostly, you'll simply get sucked into the story and crave resolution.

On the production side, the world created is a very convincing one depicting, primarily, London in the 60s.

Superb!

Based on the true story of a notorious British secret agent, watching A Spy Among Friends feels like a journey back in time to those classic '60s spy thrillers, with various plot threads that gradually weave into focus. Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce are excellent in their respective roles as conflicted old friends and Anna Maxwell Martin is superb as the sharp, dogged MI5 investigator trying to drill down to the truth. With locations including London, Beirut, Istanbul and Moscow, it takes a while to fathom what's going on. And it does a great job of exposing the smug superiority of the old boys' network that ruled MI6.

Written by Alexander Cary of Homeland fame, and also starring Damian Lewis of Homeland fame alongside Australia's own Guy Pearce, A Spy Amongst Friends tells the story of disgraced British double agent Kim Philly (Pearce) - by all accounts, one of the biggest intelligence coups of the Cold War, on either side - and his friendship with Nicholas Elliott (Brody, who is brilliant) and the defection of Philby to Russia. Elliott is being debriefed by British officials in the aftermath of that defection. This is one of those shows, similar to the early seasons of Homeland, where you need to pay very close attention to everything going on. A slow burn series, but a very good one.

One of the first commissions for new UK Streamer ITVX this six part drama has quality written all over it. The production values are high and there is a premium cast led by Damian Lewis, Anna Maxwell Martin and Guy Pearce.

Its a fascinating story that focuses on Philby and how MI5 played their hand once they conclusively worked out that he had been a long term Soviet agent.

For me the strength of it was in the production and the acting. I think some will find a bit slow moving and dull as the setup involves lot of scenes of interrogation and relatively little action seen in occasional flashbacks. Its more 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' than Mission Impossible' which is fine unless you're expecting the latter.

Quibles, as usual it was photographed way too darkly, it was sometimes hard to see the actors at all. Anna Maxwell is a great actress but if the story demanded a strong female character from Durham couldn't we have had an actress authentically from the area? The shifts in time were also hard to follow and over-used.

But for fans of the genre its definitely one to savour and enjoy.

In the 1950s, John Le Carre (as he wasn't yet known) had to leave his job in the British secret service following the defection of the Kim Philby. Le Carre adopted his pen name and took up a new career as a writer of spy thrillers; and most directly fictionalised the Philby story in his most famous novel, 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'. This was adapted into a brilliant, talky television drama, featuring many of the outstanding British actors of the 1970s. It was more recently made into a film; but in a very different style. 'A Spy Among Friends' is new, less fictionalised account of Philby's defection, but it's far more like the 1970s version of Le Carre's work than the later film. Guy Pearce, Damian Lewis and Anna Maxwell Martin, among others, sit around talking. I should absoultely love it, given how much I adore its spritual predecessor, and it is good; but it's a little bit too clever, and it can be hard to follow all the subtle twists of plot. The Australian Pearce in particular is very good (and convincingly English) as Philby, but it's a muted affair.