The Cold War drama A Spy Among Friends is now coming to television after previously only being available on ITVX.
The mini-series is based on a true story from the 1960s, but where was it filmed?
Where was A Spy Among Friends filmed?
The boroughs of Islington, Camden and Haringey in London were all used as filming locations.
Film Fixer, a company that manages around 8,000 film shoots a year, says that Goodenough College on Mecklenburgh Square in Camden was used as a double for The Courtauld Gallery.
St James Church Gardens, Sekforde Street and Clerkenwell Close in Islington were also spots used for filming, as well as Etheldene Avenue in Haringey.
Luke Wilson, Senior Film Officer, FilmFixer, said: “Our behind-the-scenes photos show how the convincingly moody atmosphere was created, with the special effects team manually moving the rain stands during filming, to cleverly create a highly realistic windy rain effect.”
Is A Spy Among Friends a true story?
Yes, but elements have been changed. Based on the bestselling book by Ben Macintyre, the six-episode series dramatises the true story of Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis) and Kim Philby (Guy Pearce), two British spies and lifelong friends.
Philby was the most notorious British defector and Soviet double agent in history. In 1963 he was exposed as a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring. They had divulged British secrets to the Soviet Union for many years. When his cover was blown Philby fled to the Soviet Union. He died there 25 years later.
MI6 officer Elliott had been good friends with Philby for decades when his secret was exposed and he was asked to secure Philby’s confession when suspicions had been raised.
The programme notes say: “This is a story of intimate duplicity; of loyalty, trust and treachery. Philby’s deeply personal betrayal, uncovered at the height of the Cold War, resulted in the gutting of British and American Intelligence.”
Ben Macintyre said of the drama: “It’s all about deception and betrayal and adventure and romance.”
How the relationship between the two men played out, he added, is “still debated in MI6 and it hasn’t gone away. It is still a contemporary debate.”
“Human intelligence [spying] is about looking into someone’s eyes and trying to work out it they’re lying to you. That is the absolute essence of this story.”
Maxwell Martin, who plays the invented character, Lily Thomas, said it was a “real privilege” to act in the show.
A Spy Among Friends was adapted by Alex Cary and is from the producers of Homeland.
Ed Power, writing for i, said of the drama: “Underneath the misery lurks a compelling tale of sleuthing, festering secrets and class angst.
“Goodness, though, there’s a lot of grime and despair to get through before the story moves up a gear and we flash back to Philby’s origin story as a double agent.”
Who stars in A Spy Among Friends?
The cast includes:
- Guy Pearce as Kim Philby
- Damian Lewis as Nicholas Elliott
- Anna Maxwell Martin as Lily Thomas
- Adrian Edmondson as Sir Roger Hollis
- Jennifer Marsala as Iris
- Stephen Kunken as James Jesus Angleton
- Monika Gossmann as Galina
- Karel Roden as Sergei
- Thomas Arnold as Guy Burgess
- Nicholas Rowe as Sir Anthony Blunt
- Puiu Mircea Lascus as a Russian Drunk
How can I watch it?
A Spy Among Friends is available on ITVX – if you have a BritBox subscription you can watch ad-free.
A Spy Among Friends also airs on Sunday 9th July at 9pm on ITV1.
There are six episodes of A Spy Among Friends, with each lasting around an hour long.
