Broadcast: a spy among friends | Television tonight

Six-part British spy drama from 2022 A spy among friends will have a Free to Air screening on SBS from next week.

This was previously shown on BritBox.

Based on the New York Times best-selling book written by Ben Macintyre, the six-episode series dramatizes the true story of Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis) and Kim Philby (Guy Pierce), two British spies and lifelong friends. Philby was the most notorious British defector and Soviet double agent in history.

This is a story of intimate duplicity, of loyalty, trust and betrayal. Philby’s deeply personal betrayal, which came to light at the height of the Cold War, resulted in the eradication of the British and American intelligence services.

Episode one:
In the aftermath of Kim Philby’s escape to Moscow, his best friend in the British Secret Intelligence Service (aka MI6), Nicholas Elliott, is investigated by Ms. Lily Thomas of the Security Service (MI5): Did he facilitate Philby’s escape because he is also a traitor working for the Russians, or is it simply that his judgment at a critical moment was clouded by their twenty-three year friendship? Or maybe, just maybe, he had the last laugh, after manipulating Philby into fleeing into the bosom of the KGB for foreign intelligence purposes.

Thursday, February 19 at 9:15 PM on SBS.