Lewis and Pearce are set to star in a new drama for BritBox – A Spy Among Friends.
Lewis has been best known recently for starring in Billions, but recently confirmed he is leaving the show. The reason for leaving after five seasons was the loss of his wife Helen McCroy earlier this year.
A Spy Among Friends is based on a best-selling book by Ben Macintyre. Macintyre is on a roll with Operation Mincemeat also coming out, based on another of his books.
The drama will be a six-part series and centers around the defection of a British intelligence officer and a KGB double agent Kim Philby, played by Pearce. The show examines espionage through their friendship, and the fallout which affects East-West relations.
Kim Philby was a British spy who defected to the Soviet Union in the 1950s, betraying secrets to the Russians during the Cold War and setting back US and UK intelligence back years. It was a major victory for the KGB.
Originally, Philby was going to be played by Dominic West before the role went to Pearce.
Starring alongside Lewis and Pearce, will be Anna Maxwell Martin, Stephen Kunken, and Adrian Edmonson. I love Edmonson, but I find it hard to see him as a ‘serious’ actor. Even in The Last Jedi, he was still funny.
Alexander Cary, who is the creator and showrunner of A Spy Among Friends, said:
“How could I resist the opportunity to dramatize the true story of Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby — two spies and lifelong friends, one of whom was betraying the other all along?
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 behaviour 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.”
Lewis wrote on Twitter recently:
“Thank you Billions thank you. A pleasure and a privilege to play Axe for 5 seasons with some of the smartest, funniest most talented cast and crew I’ve worked with…I’ll miss the Billions family. Yep, some jobs are more than just a job…. Love.”
A Spy Among Friends will be streaming on BritBox in the third quarter of 2022. So it’ll be another streaming service you’ll have to subscribe to if you want to watch it.
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