The best spy shows on TV

Espionage has long been a "fixture on film", said Michael Hogan in The Telegraph. But "state secrets" and "surveillance" also make a "fascinating backdrop" for a TV show.

It doesn't take an undercover agent to notice just how many spy shows have "infiltrated" the streaming giants recently, said Nadia Khomami in The Guardian. Many of these thrillers feature "flawed" protagonists facing a "shadowy threat" from within their own ranks.

While we "love a bit of 007", we're now seeing a "new wave" of espionage TV shows, added Morgan Cormack in Stylist. From "modern remakes of beloved classics" to "female-focused" stories, the latest spy thrillers are pushing boundaries and "rewriting the narrative". Here are some of the best.

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Prime Target

Cambridge University postgraduate Edward Brooks is devoting his work to a theorem involving prime numbers that could pick any digital lock anywhere. Realism is not "the strong suit" of this spy drama, said Esther Zuckerman in The New York Times. The star, Leo Woodall, who has form for playing "charming cads" wouldn't be first on your list to "play a shy, conflict-avoidant mathematician". And yet, "Prime Target" has the "juicy vibe of a novel you might pick up at an airport and rip through in a single flight." It has it all: "an outlandish premise, beautiful people, and it ends on a cliffhanger every episode".
Apple TV+

The Agency

This "slick and pleasing" spy drama focuses on the premise that "it's hard work being a spy", said Margaret Lyons in The New York Times. Set mainly at the CIA's London office, the story begins with one of the agents, whose code name is "Martian" (Michael Fassbender) being suddenly pulled back from a mission in Ethiopia, where he had been undercover for six years. Based on the brilliant French show "The Bureau", the series deploys a lot of spy-show standards. But Fassbender's "mesmerising performance" is the big draw here, giving viewers a "real taste of what it's like to love a liar".
Paramount+

The Night Agent

The "no-frills, unpretentious spy thriller" is back for a second season, said Forbes. Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), a "dispatcher" for a top-secret team of US spies, spent the first season investigating corruption at the heart of government from his office at the White House. This time, we are treated to more "high-octane action" and "nefarious terrorist plots". Admittedly, it's "over the top a lot of the time" – don't expect it to be "super smart" – but it's entertaining from the off and "carries out its spycraft with workmanlike efficiency".
Netflix

Black Doves

This slick spy thriller from Netflix did not disappoint, said Stylist. Helen Webb (Keira Knightley) is the perfect wife-and-mother figure as proceedings kick off at magazine-worthy Christmas drinks receptions with her beautiful children and politician husband. But things, as always, are not as they seem: Webb is a spy and has been passing on secrets to a shady organisation, the Black Doves, for years. Sam Young (Ben Whishaw) is her long-standing friend and sidekick, a "suave, champagne-drinking assassin". This "sexy, action-packed and emotional thriller" of a series will have you inhaling it all in one binge-watching night.
Netflix

Killing Eve

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's "darkly comic" spy thriller made an "instant splash" when it "blazed" onto our screens, said Michael 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".
BBC iPlayer

Slow Horses

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.
Apple TV

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

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.
BBC iPlayer

The Night Manager

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".
BBC iPlayer

The Day of the Jackal

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".
Sky