IMDb > "Cambridge Spies" (2003)

"Cambridge Spies" (2003) More at IMDbPro »TV mini-series

Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   591 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Contact:
View company contact information for Cambridge Spies on IMDbPro.
Seasons:
1 full episode list
Release Date:
9 May 2003 (UK) more
Genre:
Drama | History more
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 win & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
'Firefly' star leads ABC's 'V' invasion
 (From Hitfix. 8 March 2009, 11:09 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
BBC Production of the highest class more (13 total)

Cast

 (Series Cast Summary - 14 of 16)

Tom Hollander ... Guy Burgess (4 episodes, 2003)
Toby Stephens ... Kim Philby (4 episodes, 2003)

Rupert Penry-Jones ... Donald Maclean (4 episodes, 2003)

Samuel West ... Anthony Blunt (4 episodes, 2003)
Stuart Laing ... Jack Hewit (3 episodes, 2003)
Darrell D'Silva ... Henry (2 episodes, 2003)
Anna-Louise Plowman ... Melinda Maclean (2 episodes, 2003)
Ronald Pickup ... Colonel Winter (2 episodes, 2003)
Marcel Iures ... Otto (2 episodes, 2003)
Angus Wright ... Guy Liddell (2 episodes, 2003)

Patrick Kennedy ... Julian Bell (2 episodes, 2003)
Colin Higgins ... Porter (2 episodes, 2003)

John Light ... James Angleton (2 episodes, 2003)

Imelda Staunton ... The Queen (2 episodes, 2003)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
235 min (4 parts)
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Stereo
Certification:
Netherlands:12
Filming Locations:
Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain more
Company:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) more

Fun Stuff

Goofs:
Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the very first scene, in the chapel, the choirs lips do not match what they are singing. more
Quotes:
Kim Philby: It's a simple, unavoidable choice, Donald. Communism or fascism. Everything in the middle has gone to sleep. To fight fascism you have to be a communist. Anything else is appeasement. more
Movie Connections:
Version of Philby, Burgess and Maclean (1977) (TV) more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful.
BBC Production of the highest class, 27 February 2008
10/10
Author: Rhodaus from United Kingdom

This BBC presentation is, like the 4 spies involved, quintessentially British. The settings are supreme, particularly the depictions of life at Cambridge as an undergraduate, which is where we first meet the 4 characters whose effect on 20th century history, may never be fully appreciated. The story follows their lives and adventures up until Burgess and McLean defect in 1951. The settings apart, what lifts this production out of the ordinary and into the sublime, is the casting and the performances from everyone involved. The 4 leads played by Samuel West as Blunt, Toby Stephens as Philby, Tom Hollander as Burgess, Rupert Penry-Jones as McLean are, all of them, perfectly cast. And.............. there are also memorable contributions from Anthony Andrews, moving and dignified as King George VI, Imelda Staunton, wonderfully cryptic and tart as the late queen mother, John Light as the outsmarted and frustrated James Angleton and not least Marcel Lures as the dignified KGB officer who acted as contact to the four. I have already watched this twice and will do so again as there is so much to enjoy with repeated viewings. Particularly memorable scenes include their outrageous celebrations on their last day at Cambridge, Philby getting himself and his companions out of a jam in Vienna by dint of his unshakable belief in the power of his British Passport (One of many delicious ironies), McLean's unconventional courting of future wife Melinda, Blunt's scenes with the Royals and unforgettably, Burgess' way of getting himself declared "persona-non-grata" in USA. Hollander's "God Bless America" scene is one of the many highlights in the production and is as good a piece of bravura acting as anything that might come from a Brando, a Pacino or a De Niro. But there are goodies everywhere. You will not need to be a History Buff to enjoy this, but you will conclude as I did, that yet again,

"Nobody comes close to doing this kind of thing quite as well as the Beeb."

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