Best TV spy dramas

Socking cast: Slow Horses is carried by the 'sheer quality' of Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb

(Image credit: Alamy / Album)

published 20 November 2024

From James Bond to Austin Powers, spies have long been a staple of the big screen, said Michael Hogan in The Telegraph. But espionage makes a "fascinating backdrop" for television drama, too.

And lately, a "new wave" of TV spy thrillers are "rewriting the narrative", said Morgan Cormack on Stylist. "Think female-focused, modern remakes of beloved classics – equally engaging, but with a touch more allure."

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Phoebe Waller-Bridge's "darkly comic" spy thriller made an "instant splash" when it "blazed" onto our screens, said Hogan in The Telegraph. It is a "deadly game of cat and mouse" between Jodie Comer's "psychopathic assassin" Villanelle and "bored" MI5 agent Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), which soon unfurls into a "mutual obsession". The series, which ran for four seasons before ending in 2022, is packed with "shock twists", "city-hopping locations" and a series of killer Comer outfits. It's a "stylishly subversive treat".

This "brilliant" US espionage thriller "spiralled in many directions" during its nine-year run, said Tim Glanfield in The Times. Based on the Israeli series "Prisoners of War", the show follows CIA operative Carrie Mathison (Clare Danes in "one of the performances of her life"). She suspects US marine Nicholas Brody has been "turned" after being held in captivity by al-Quaeda, and is plotting a terrorist attack on American soil. The show skilfully weaves cliffhangers, new characters and plot twists into a "spy-thriller gift that just keeps giving".

The "faultlessly directed" spy thriller "Slow Horses" returned for a fourth series in September and has once again proved it "never lets itself go stale", said Jack Seale in The Guardian. The show follows a group of disgraced British intelligence agents who have been "consigned to the purgatory of Slough House" to carry out drudge work. Evoking the "intelligence" of "classic spy thrillers", it's carried by the "sheer quality" of Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb and Kristin Scott Thomas as the "wonderfully angular and withering" Diana Taverner The latest instalment adds "new blood" to "what is already a luxuriously fine cast": James Callis plays "smooth weasel" MI5 boss Claude Whelan, while Ruth Bradley is "excellent" as "MI5's new attack dog", Emma Flyte.

This seven-part 1979 adaptation of John le Carré's 1974 novel remains a "true classic among spy shows", said Glanfield in The Times. Set at the height of the Cold War, the BBC show follows "master of espionage" George Smiley (Alec Guinness), who is called out of retirement to track down a Soviet mole hidden within MI6. Taking "bluffs, double bluffs, twists and turns to new levels", it's a must-watch.

This modern and "sumptuously shot" John le Carré adaptation was a roaring success for the BBC in 2016, said Hogan in The Telegraph. And with two "long-awaited sequel series finally in production", now is the time to add it to your watchlist. The action follows Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston), a former British soldier turned Cairo hotel manager who is recruited by intelligence officer Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) to "infiltrate the inner circle" of dodgy international arms dealer Dicky Roper (Hugh Laurie). "The A-list cast, slow-burn storytelling and jet-set locations" make for "slick, superior drama".

Eddie Redmayne's "innate slipperiness" makes him perfect for his latest role as an "unknowable and deadly assassin" in "The Day of the Jackal", said Esther Zuckerman in The New York Times. Based on Frederick Forsyth's 1971 novel of the same name, but set in the present day, the show follows MI6 officer Bianca (Lashana Lynch) as she "runs around trying to uncover the Jackal's identity". The two leads are the "twin engines propelling the plot": while Redmayne's portrayal of the Jackal is "fascinatingly coy", Lynch tackles the role of Bianca with a "stirring mix of impulsivity and cunning".

In this eight-part "spy caper", the 2005 film of the same name is almost entirely "reimagined", said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. Donald Glover and Maya Erskine play the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie lead roles of two strangers who "sign their lives over to a mysterious (but well-paying) organisation" and pretend to be a married couple. Erskine's "unshowy strength" is the perfect match for Glover's "light-footed grace and charisma", and each episode unfolds like "a tiny slice of 'Mission: Impossible'". A "glorious and moreish treat", it's a show to be savoured and enjoyed.

"The story of Kim Philby is perhaps too good to make up", said Daniel D'Addario in Variety. The notorious British intelligence officer became the most successful double agent for the Soviet Union during the Cold War period. His "powerfully told" story is the subject of this gripping espionage series. Adapted from Ben Macintyre's book of the same name, the show follows Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis) as he discovers his close friend Philby (Guy Pearce) has been working for the KGB for decades. Pearce is "suitably charming", but it's Lewis who's "at the heart of things", playing out the intimate betrayal "beautifully".

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Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.