BritBox UK, the streaming service created by ITV and the BBC, and Spectrum Originals, the U.S. destination for Spectrum video subscribers, will globally debut A SPY AMONG FRIENDS, a limited series based on the New York Times best-selling book written by Ben Macintyre. In collaboration with Sony Pictures Television, ITV Studios and Veritas Entertainment Group, the limited series produced in the UK stars Golden Globe® and Emmy® Award-winning actor, Damian Lewis (Homeland, Billions) and Emmy® Award-winner, Guy Pearce (Jack Irish, Mare of Easttown). Lewis will also serve as executive producer through his production company, Ginger Biscuit Entertainment. The series has begun production in London this week and also will shoot in Romania.
From British writer Alexander Cary, producing alongside ITV Studios’ BAFTA award-winner Patrick Spence (Adult Material, Fortitude), the six-episode limited series will have a worldwide premiere airing exclusively on BritBox in the UK and Spectrum’s On Demand platform in the U.S. in the fall of 2022.* “How could I resist the opportunity to dramatize the true story of Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis) and Kim Philby (Guy Pearce) — two spies and lifelong friends, one of whom was betraying the other all along?” said Cary. “A friendship that resulted in the gutting of British and American intelligence at the height of the Cold War and shaped the field of play for the dangerous game against Russia that we’re still trying to win today. Macintyre’s books about spies from recent history are relevant and exciting because they examine the larger universal themes of human behavior that drive individuals among us, and like us, to excel in the murky world of espionage and, for better or worse, leave a lasting impact on the world.”
Additional cast includes: Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland, Line of Duty) and Stephen Kunken (Billions, The Handmaid’s Tale) and Adrian Edmondson (Back to Life, The Pact).