Cambridge Spies 

The true story of a group of Cambridge University Students who are recruited to spy for the Soviet Union in the early 1930s.

Stars:

Tom Hollander, Toby Stephens, Rupert Penry-Jones

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
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 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

Storyline

The true story of a group of Cambridge University Students who are recruited to spy for the Soviet Union in the early 1930s.

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Plot Keywords:

university | spy | traitor | betrayal | whiskey | 

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Taglines:

The most notorious double agents in British history.

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The number of episodes in this BBC spy television mini-series totals to four.

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Goofs

An exterior shot in Cambridge prominently features black-and-gold pedestrian signposts that did not appear in English cities until several decades later.

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Quotes

Anthony Blunt: Not in front of the socks, Julian.

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Connections

Version of Philby, Burgess and Maclean (1977)

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Soundtracks

Where or When
written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

User Reviews

What a joke!

Being a student in Cambridge, I am naturally curious about the show. Not that I had much expectation when I watched this TV series, but I was very disappointed with what I saw. The script is inadequate. Dialogue is corny. Abrupt cutting in between scenes. It felt as if the story was cut in such a way just to fit into a one or two hour TV time slot. It seemed that a lot of things happened between the characters, but we the audience were not told. So we don't know why some of the characters behave in such and such a way etc.

Almost all the characters in the show were portrayed as gay men, and they were either fascist or communist. Not that I doubt that there were indeed gay people, fascist people and communist people back in the old days in Cambridge, but I think the portrayal of the characters are just too one-sided and incomplete. There are no emotional depth in the portrayals.

Toby Stephens has managed to top his corny performance in Die Another Day with yet another cornier portrayal of Kim Philby.

If anyone wants to know more about the true facts of the spies or the real history of Cambridge, please go read a book on the subject, and stay away from this show.

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [UK]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 May 2003 (UK)

Also Known As:

Cambridge Spies

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Perpetual Motion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

235 min (4 parts)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1