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Spy drama - recommend a good one, please

Aladdin said:
Ah...great!! I am going to look these up.
I've seen Homeland but none of the rest.
Will check Netflix for them.
Click to expand...

All on Amazon, I'm afraid.

On Netflix there's The Courier; Page Eight; The Good Shepherd; and Munich, The Edge of War; all worth a watch.
 
Some other ones that have come to mind...

TV

  • Collateral - Espionage-adjacent drama, with a police officer happening upon shenanigans when investigating a run-of-the-mill murder. Similar in vibe to State Of Play but with a different focus. With Carey Mulligan, Nathaniel Martello-White, Jeany Spark, Nicola Walker, John Simm, Kim Medcalf and Billie Piper. (Available free on Netflix; £ on Prime Video/Google Play/Sky Store)
  • Edge Of Darkness - Loyal Special Branch cop starts to question everything when tragedy strikes at home, leading him to shine a light onto all sorts of furtive fumblings between the state and the private nuclear industry. With Bob Peck, Joanne Whalley, Jack Watson, Joe Don Baker, Charles Kay, Ian McNiece and Tim McInnerny. (Available £ on Prime Video/Google Play/Sky Store)
  • Glória - Cold War politicking and back alley espionage set in Portugal in the fag-end of the Salazar years, with the protagonist a PTSD-stricken former soldier now deployed to an American-run radio relay station. With Miguel Nunes, Matt Rippy, Stephanie Vogt and Carolina Amaral. (Available on Netflix)
  • Kleo - Gaudy, frenetic, silly, fun post-Mauerfall Stasi assassin dramedy. At first I thought it would be a Deutschland 83/96/89 knockoff spliced with Atomic Blonde, but it is so much more enjoyable than that would have been. With Jella Haase, Dimitrij Schaad, Julius Feldmeier, Vladimir Burlakov and Vincent Redetzki. (Available on Netflix)
  • London Spy - Rather tender exploration of a lost Londoner's love for a man who is taken away from him suddenly. Based on the spy-in-a-suitcase affair, with Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Edward Holcroft, Samantha Spiro, Charlotte Rampling, Clarke Peters and Mark Gatiss. (Available £ on AppleTV)
  • Secret City - Dogged political journo digs deep into shady goings on between the Australian government state and various other actors. Old fashioned shoe leather investigative thriller, with Anna Torv, Jacki Weaver, Daniel Wyllie, Alex Dimitriades, Damon Herriman, Alan Dale and Huw Higginson. (Available on Netflix)
  • The Defeated - Again, more spook-adjacent than actual espionage, with an American cop assigned to bombed-out, defeated Germany in the immediate post-war era to bolster law enforcement in the ruins of Berlin. Plenty of spy/crime interface though. With Taylor Kitsch, Logan Marshall-Green, Nina Hoss, Benjamin Sadler, Tuppence Middleton, Michael C Hall and Sebastian Koch. (Available on Netflix)
  • The Game - Like a Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy tribute act, or an own-brand knock-off of a better known premium product, here we are in grimy early seventies London where a thoroughly compromised MI5 attempts to regain its lustre. Whilst nowhere near as good as that which it imitates, it is still pretty decent. With Tom Hughes, Brian Cox, Paul Ritter, Shaun Dooley, Chloe Pirrie and Victoria Hamilton. (Available £ on AppleTV)
  • The Last Enemy - Two brothers get caught up in efforts to hide government overreach in a barely-future Britain. With Benedict Cumberbatch, Anamaria Marinca, Max Beesley, Robert Carlyle, Eva Birthistle and Geraldine James. (Available £ on ITVX Premium/Britbox/Prime Video/Google Play)
  • The Worricker Trilogy - Strictly speaking three separate TV movies (Page Eight, Turks & Caicos, Salting The Battlefield), with Bill Nighy as a Smiley-ish MI5 brainbox trying to untangle various balls of knotted string whilst being leaned on by careerist bosses, governmental masters and rich influence-pedlars. Written and directed by stage dramatist David Hare, with Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Judy Davis, Helena Bonham Carter, Rupert Graves, Ewen Bremner, James McArdle, Winona Ryder, Christopher Walken, Dylan Baker. (Partially available £ on AppleTV)
  • Traitors - A lowly British clerk is recruited by OSS in grimy postwar London, and faces sexism, sees racism, and is forced to consider the nature of loyalty. With Emma Appleton, Luke Treadaway, Michael Stuhlbarg and Keeley Hawes. (Available on Netflix)
 
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FILMS

  • Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within - Straight-forward biopic about Aldrich Ames, a high-ranking Russian mole in the CIA. With Timothy Hutton, Joan Plowright, Elizabeth Peña and C. David Johnson. (Available free on YouTube)
  • Bankier Van Het Verzet AKA The Resistance Banker - A Dutch banker in Occupied Amsterdam treads a fine line as he helps finance the Resistance under the noses of the Nazis. With Barry Atsma, Jacob Derwig, Pierre Bokma, Fockeline Ouwerkerk, Raymond Thiry. (Available on Netflix)
  • Breach - Straight-forward biopic about Robert Hanssen, a high-ranking Russian mole in the FBI. With Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert, Caroline Dhavernas and Gary Cole. (Available $ on Prime Video US)
  • Bridge Of Spies - Cold War back-and-forth in the 60s, with a Soviet illegal being hunted and caught in America and then prisoner swaps in Germany. With Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan and Alan Alda. (Available on Netflix)
  • Cleanskin - Jaded soldier-turned-private sector spook gets drawn into a hunt for jihadi plotters. Despite meagre ingredients, a fairly taut and efficient thriller with the occasional creative flair at work. Sean Bean, Tom Burke, Abhin Galeya, Charlotte Rampling, Peter Polycarpou and Tuppence Middleton. (Available £ on Prime Video/AppleTV/YouTube/Sky Store/Google Play)
  • The Coldest Game - Chess and spying, with a pisshead pawn-broker forced to play a big match with a Russian grandmaster so spooks can use it as cover to do spooky things. With Bill Pullman, Lotte Verbeek, James Bloor and Robert Więckiewicz. (Available on Netflix)
  • The Courier - True story of a mild-mannered commercial traveller recruited by MI6 to act as an inbetween with a Soviet defector behind the Iron Curtain. With Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley and Angus Wright. (Available on Netflix)
  • Defence Of The Realm - A cynical newspaper snapper gets drawn into conspiracy in Thatcher's Britain. Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott and Ian Bannen. (Available £ on Prime Video/AppleTV)
  • El Hombre De Las Mil Caras AKA Smoke & Mirrors - A Spanish spook who was forced out plans his revenge. At the talkier end of the spectrum, and more crime drama than anything else, but a refreshingly different take from the usual anglocentric emphasis in espionage fiction. With Eduard Fernández, José Coronado, Marta Etura and Carlos Santos. (Not currently available to stream but it was on Netflix UK; available € on Prime Video/AppleTV ES)
  • Fair Game - Torn-from-the-headlines stuff, with a CIA officer's cover blown by the White House in revenge for her diplomat husband's public discrediting of its narrative about reasons for invading Iraq. With Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Noah Emmerich, Ty Burrell, Sam Shepard, Polly Holliday and Bruce McGill. (Available £ on Prime Video/Google Play/YouTube)
  • Flammen & Citronen AKA Flame & Citron - Grim Danish underground resistance fighter movie, centred around a pair of assassins hunting down collaborators and Nazis whilst their world becomes smaller and smaller through betrayal and trauma. With Thure Lindhardt, Mads Mikkelsen and Stine Stengade. (Available FWA on Filmzie; or £ on AppleTV)
  • Hidden Agenda - American human rights lawyers investigate British government collusion in Northern Ireland. With Frances McDormand, Brian Cox, Brad Dourif, Mai Zetterling, John Benfield and Maurice Roëves. (Available £ on AppleTV)
  • L'Armée Du Crime AKA The Army Of Crime - Ragtag group of immigrant communist résistants in France fight back against Nazi occupiers and Vichyist collaborators from the shadows and under constant fear of denunciation. With Virginie Ledoyen, Simon Abkarian, Robinson Stévenin, Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Lola Naymark. (Available £ on Prime Video/AppleTV)
  • Official Secrets - A GCHQ analyst, uncomfortable with the twisting of raw intelligence to justify the Iraq War, leaks information and is investigated. With Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Rhys Ifans, Adam Bakri and Ralph Fiennes. (Available £ on Prime Video/AppleTV/Google Play/YouTube)
  • Shoot To Kill - Powerful drama about the Stalker Inquiry into allegations of a shoot-to-kill policy in an SAS-trained RUC unit, and the ends the British state would go to to protect its intelligence sources. (Available free on YouTube)
  • Spy Sorge - A German diplomat in wartime Japan secretly spies for the Soviets whilst pretending to be a Nazi. With Iain Glen, Masahiro Motoki, Kippei Shiina, Takaya Kamikawa, Toshiya Nagasawa and Riona Hazuki. (Available free on YouTube)
  • The Angel - A privileged Egyptian is recruited by Mossad to supply them with intelligence. With Marwan Kenzari, Toby Kebbell, Sasson Gabai and Waleed Zuaiter. (Available on Netflix)
  • The Falcon And The Snowman - Smart young man caught adrift in life ends up in a dead-end job at a private intelligence contractor before being drawn into helping his idiot friend sell secrets to the Soviets. With Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Pat Hingle, Joyce Van Patten and Richard Dysart. (Available £ on AppleTV)
  • The Report - Senate staffers are tasked with investigating allegations about the CIA's interrogation techniques in the War on Terror, but no one really wants to hear their findings, and both government and intelligence community stymie their work. With Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Ted Levine, Michael C Hall, Tim Blake Nelson, Corey Stoll, Maura Tierney, Jon Hamm and Douglas Hodge. (Available £ Prime Video/AppleTV)
  • The Shadow Line - Starts off a straight two-sides-of-the-coin mystery drama, with both cops and criminals running their own investigations into a murder, before veering off into spook territory. With Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Eccleston, Rafe Spall, Lesley Sharp, Antony Sher and Stephen Rea. (Available free on UKTV Play)
  • Wasp Network - Cuban spies disrupt right-wing emigré groups in Florida. With Penélope Cruz, Édgar Ramírez, Gael García Bernal, Ana de Armas and Wagner Moura. (Available on Netflix)

Of course some of them have been submitted since it TOOK ME SO FUCKING LONG TO WRITE OUT :mad: 😭🤣
 
Last edited:
DaveCinzano said:
FILMS

  • Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within - Straight-forward biopic about Aldrich Ames, a high-ranking Russian mole in the CIA. With Timothy Hutton, Joan Plowright, Elizabeth Peña and C. David Johnson. (Available free on YouTube)
  • Bankier Van Het Verzet AKA The Resistance Banker - A Dutch banker in Occupied Amsterdam treads a fine line as he helps finance the Resistance under the noses of the Nazis. With Barry Atsma, Jacob Derwig, Pierre Bokma, Fockeline Ouwerkerk, Raymond Thiry. (Available on Netflix)
  • Breach - Straight-forward biopic about Robert Hanssen, a high-ranking Russian mole in the FBI. With Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert, Caroline Dhavernas and Gary Cole. (Available $ on Prime Video US)
  • Bridge Of Spies - Cold War back-and-forth in the 60s, with a Soviet illegal being hunted and caught in America and then prisoner swaps in Germany. With Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan and Alan Alda. (Available on Netflix)
  • Cleanskin - Jaded soldier-turned-private sector spook gets drawn into a hunt for jihadi plotters. Despite meagre ingredients, a fairly taut and efficient thriller with the occasional creative flair at work. Sean Bean, Tom Burke, Abhin Galeya, Charlotte Rampling, Peter Polycarpou and Tuppence Middleton. (Available £ on Prime Video/AppleTV/YouTube/Sky Store/Google Play)
  • The Coldest Game - Chess and spying, with a pisshead pawn-broker forced to play a big match with a Russian grandmaster so spooks can use it as cover to do spooky things. With Bill Pullman, Lotte Verbeek, James Bloor and Robert Więckiewicz. (Available on Netflix)
  • The Courier - True story of a mild-mannered commercial traveller recruited by MI6 to act as an inbetween with a Soviet defector behind the Iron Curtain. With Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley and Angus Wright. (Available on Netflix)
  • Defence Of The Realm - a cynical newspaper snapper gets drawn into conspiracy in Thatcher's Britain. Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott and Ian Bannen. (Available £ on Prime Video/AppleTV)
  • El Hombre De Las Mil Caras AKA Smoke & Mirrors - A Spanish spook who was forced out plans his revenge. At the talkier end of the spectrum, and more crime drama than anything else, but a refreshingly different take from the usual anglocentric emphasis in espionage fiction. With Eduard Fernández, José Coronado, Marta Etura and Carlos Santos. (Not currently available to stream but it was on Netflix UK; available € on Prime Video/AppleTV ES)
  • Fair Game - Torn-from-the-headlines stuff, with a CIA officer's cover blown by the White House in revenge for her diplomat husband's public discrediting of its narrative about reasons for invading Iraq. With Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Noah Emmerich, Ty Burrell, Sam Shepard, Polly Holliday and Bruce McGill. (Available £ on Prime Video/Google Play/YouTube)
  • Flammen & Citronen AKA Flame & Citron - Grim Danish underground resistance fighter movie, centred around a pair of assassins hunting down collaborators and Nazis whilst their world becomes smaller and smaller through betrayal and trauma. With Thure Lindhardt, Mads Mikkelsen and Stine Stengade. (Available FWA on Filmzie; or £ on AppleTV)
  • Hidden Agenda - American human rights lawyers investigate British government collusion in Northern Ireland. With Frances McDormand, Brian Cox, Brad Dourif, Mai Zetterling, John Benfield and Maurice Roëves. (Available £ on AppleTV)
  • L'Armée Du Crime AKA The Army Of Crime - Ragtag group of immigrant communist résistants in France fight back against Nazi occupiers and Vichyist collaborators from the shadows and under constant fear of denunciation. With Virginie Ledoyen, Simon Abkarian, Robinson Stévenin, Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Lola Naymark. (Available £ on Prime Video/AppleTV)
  • Official Secrets - A GCHQ analyst, uncomfortable with the twisting of raw intelligence to justify the Iraq War, leaks information and is investigated. With Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Rhys Ifans, Adam Bakri and Ralph Fiennes. (Available £ on Prime Video/AppleTV/Google Play/YouTube)
  • Shoot To Kill - Powerful drama about the Stalker Inquiry into allegations of a shoot-to-kill policy in an SAS-trained RUC unit, and the ends the British state would go to to protect its intelligence sources. (Available free on YouTube)
  • Spy Sorge - A German diplomat in wartime Japan secretly spies for the Soviets whilst pretending to be a Nazi. With
  • Iain Glen, Masahiro Motoki, Kippei Shiina, Takaya Kamikawa, Toshiya Nagasawa and Riona Hazuki. (Available free on YouTube)
  • The Angel - A privileged Egyptian is recruited by Mossad to supply them with intelligence. With Marwan Kenzari, Toby Kebbell, Sasson Gabai and Waleed Zuaiter. (Available on Netflix)
  • The Falcon And The Snowman - Smart young man caught adrift in life ends up in a dead-end job at a private intelligence contractor before being drawn into helping his idiot friend sell secrets to the Soviets. With Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Pat Hingle, Joyce Van Patten and Richard Dysart. (Available £ on AppleTV)
  • The Report - Senate staffers are tasked with investigating allegations about the CIA's interrogation techniques in the War on Terror, but no one really wants to hear their findings, and both government and intelligence community stymie their work. With Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Ted Levine, Michael C Hall, Tim Blake Nelson, Corey Stoll, Maura Tierney, Jon Hamm and Douglas Hodge. (Available £ Prime Video/AppleTV)
  • The Shadow Line - Starts off a straight two-sides-of-the-coin mystery drama, with both cops and criminals running their own investigations into a murder, before veering off into spook territory. With Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Eccleston, Rafe Spall, Lesley Sharp, Antony Sher and Stephen Rea. (Available free on UKTV Play)
  • Wasp Network - Cuban spies disrupt right-wing emigré groups in Florida. With Penélope Cruz, Édgar Ramírez, Gael García Bernal, Ana de Armas and Wagner Moura. (Available on Netflix)

Of course some of them have been submitted since it TOOK ME SO FUCKING LONG TO WRITE OUT :mad: 😭🤣
Click to expand...

Ya done good.

There's some classics there. The Shadow Line was brilliant and bonkers. The Gatehouse/Glickman scene was an absolute standout and a pleasure to see the two actors face off. Hugo Blick has written some good telly over the years.
 
Kleo has had a couple of mentions now. I thought it was silly, whimsical, pap, and dumped it half an hour into E1.

Did I miss something?
 
Spymaster said:
Kleo has had a couple of mentions now. I thought it was silly, whimsical, pap, and dumped it half an hour into E1.

Did I miss something?
Click to expand...
LDC said:
No, I think it started off OK and then degenerated into a sub-par comedy thing, was disappointing.
Click to expand...

I started off on E1 and was expecting one thing, and it was disappointing; but then I flipped my expectations and accepted the broadness, and it all felt much more enjoyable. It's cones vs rods 🤷‍♀️
 
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If you want some scifi in your spyfi, check out Counterpart (on prime but I think you need one of those bolt-on subscriptions so I condone stealing it).

Cold war spy thriller, but what if the other side was a parallel universe instead? Stars JK Simmons on top form as the mild-mannered this-world bureaucrat who gets mixed up in his that-world spy counterpart's business. All the actors play two versions of themselves and have great fun doing so. Two 10ep seasons and wraps up all the loose threads but then creates a brand new one just in case they got picked up for a third. They didn't, so just ignore it.
 
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manji said:
Kleo as well. German she’s a deep cover agent in The Stasi It’s set slap bang during the fall of the Berlin Wall. Doesn’t portray it how the media did.
It was utter chaos both sides suffering badly. Some excellent track suits as well. Oh Netflix as well.
Click to expand...
Season 2 arrives on 25th July (UK Netflix) :oldthumbsup:
 
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