A Spy Among Friends is a British espionage thriller television series, starring Guy Pearce, Damian Lewis, and Anna Maxwell Martin. It is based on the book by Ben Macintyre, adapted by Alex Cary and directed by Nick Murphy. It was available to stream on ITVX in the United Kingdom from December 2022, Amazon Prime Video in Canada from February 2023, and MGM+ in the United States from March 2023.
Contents
Synopsis
In 1963, Nicholas Elliott is working for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) as an intelligence officer and is left in turmoil when he learns his close friend and colleague, Kim Philby, has been secretly working as a double agent for the KGB since 1934. Elliot interviews him in Beirut and then Philby defects to the Soviet Union.
Cast
Damian Lewis as Nicholas Elliott
Guy Pearce as Kim Philby
Anna Maxwell Martin as Lily Thomas
Adrian Edmondson as Sir Roger Hollis
Stephen Kunken as James Jesus Angleton
Nicholas Rowe as Sir Anthony Blunt
Thomas Arnold as Guy Burgess
Daniel Lapaine as Donald Maclean
Monika Gossmann as Galina
Karel Roden as Col. Sergei Brontov
Anastasia Hille as Flora Solomon
Edward Baker-Duly as Ian Fleming
Radosław Kaim as Konstantin Dmitrievich Volkov
Production
A Spy Among Friends is based on the book by Ben Macintyre, adapted by Alex Cary and directed by Nick Murphy.
Principal photography took place in London, England, and Romania, and finished in spring 2022.
Broadcast
Broadcast in the United Kingdom on the streaming service ITVX was moved with a delay in the launch of ITVX from 1 November 2022 to 8 December 2022. In February 2023, the series became available in Canada via Amazon Prime Video. The series became available on MGM+ from 12 March 2023 in the United States. In the UK, it was first broadcast on free-to-air ITV1 in July 2023.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 88% approval rating based on 25 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "'More cerebral than outright thrilling, A Spy Among Friends is an intelligent tale of espionage elevated by a pair of sterling performances." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave a score of 74 out of 100 based on ning critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian writing, "There are plenty of small thrills to be had from a world built on codes and double meanings." Stephanie Bunbury of Deadline Hollywood wrote that the "unfolding of their negotiations" was "not seat-of-your-pants televisual excitement, but it is the stuff of sustained intrigue". Jay Skelton of Reel Mockery called A Spy Among Friends "frustrating to watch". Nick Hilton of The Independent wrote that "there is much to enjoy about A Spy Among Friends".
Accolades
The series was nominated in the best miniseries category at the British Academy Television Awards, announced in March 2023.