{"id":15710,"date":"2021-10-06T09:40:23","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T13:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/damian-lewis-guy-pearce-star-spy-among-friends\/"},"modified":"2021-10-06T11:10:28","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T15:10:28","slug":"damian-lewis-guy-pearce-to-star-in-a-spy-among-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/damian-lewis-guy-pearce-to-star-in-a-spy-among-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Damian Lewis &amp; Guy Pearce to Star in A Spy Among Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BritBox UK and Spectrum Originals in the U.S. are joining forces to globally debut <em>A Spy Among Friends<\/em>, starring Damian Lewis (<em>Homeland<\/em>, <em>Billions<\/em>) and Guy Pearce (<em>Jack Irish<\/em>, <em>Mare of Easttown<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>The limited series is based on the <em>New York Times<\/em> best-selling book written by Ben Macintyre. Lewis will also serve as executive producer through his production company, Ginger Biscuit Entertainment.<\/p>\n<p>The six-episode series will have a worldwide premiere airing exclusively on BritBox in the U.K. and Spectrum\u2019s On Demand platform in the U.S. in fall 2022. It comes from Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning British writer Alexander Cary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow could I resist the opportunity to dramatize the true story of Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis) and Kim Philby (Guy Pearce)\u2014two spies and lifelong friends, one of whom was betraying the other all along?\u201d said Cary. \u201cA 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&#8217;re still trying to win today. Macintyre\u2019s books about spies from recent history are relevant and exciting because they examine the larger universal themes of human behavior 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Will Harrison, BritBox UK&#8217;s managing director, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve sought out the highest caliber writing, acting, directorial and production talent to create exceptional original British programming for BritBox. <em>A Spy Among Friends<\/em> is the epitome of this and will provide a new and thrilling, must-watch show for subscribers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m incredibly excited about collaborating with BritBox UK and ITV Studios along with our partners at Sony on this project,\u201d said Katherine Pope, head of Spectrum Originals. \u201cThis emotional thriller examines espionage through a deeply personal lens, and we are lucky enough to be in the hands of the brilliant Alex Cary, Nick Murphy, Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce, whose dedication will yield a distinctly special series.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlex and I have worked together over the years so I was thrilled when we finally got him to join the Sony family,\u201d said Lauren Stein, executive VP of drama development at Sony Pictures Television. <em>A Spy Among Friends<\/em> was the first project he brought us, and with the combination of Alex\u2019s creative vision and the talent of Damian and Guy, we immediately knew this was a dream project. I couldn\u2019t be more excited to be working on something so special.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m excited to be producing and starring in <em>A Spy Among Friends<\/em>,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cThese fabulous scripts by Alex Cary take an up-close look at friendship\u2014a friendship that was blinded by love, class and membership to the right clubs, and ended in betrayal and the deaths of thousands. It\u2019s been a fantastic creative process developing <em>Spy<\/em>,\u00a0and now I can\u2019t wait to start filming with Guy and all the other brilliant actors who\u2019ve happily agreed to join us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s an honor to be a part of this thrilling project,\u201d said Pearce. \u201cI\u2019ve always been fascinated by the intriguing MI6 history and getting to go on this journey with Damian makes it all the more brilliant. I\u2019m also very happy to be working again with the wonderful and talented Nick Murphy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the moment I finished reading Ben Macintyre\u2019s manuscript of <em>A Spy Among Friends<\/em>, I knew there was a stellar television event to be produced from it,\u201d said Bob Bookman, executive producer for Veritas Entertainment Group. \u201cMy partners and I at Veritas feel honored to be collaborating with Alex Cary, Nick Murphy and our dream cast to make this passion project become a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlex, Damian, Guy, Nick and Chrissy\u2014every producer dreams of bringing together a team as good as this. Bring it on,\u201d added Patrick Spence of ITV Studios.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Lygo, BritBox Originals&#8217; creative chief and ITV\u2019s director of TV, concluded, \u201c<em>A Spy Among Friends<\/em> is a brand-defining original commission starring world-class British talent. We are really looking forward to sharing it with our subscribers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BritBox UK and Spectrum Originals in the U.S. are joining forces to globally debut A Spy Among Friends, starring Damian Lewis (Homeland, Billions) and Guy Pearce (Jack Irish, Mare of Easttown).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":15711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[3979,3123],"class_list":["post-15710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-britbox-uk","tag-spectrum-originals","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Damian Lewis &amp; Guy Pearce to Star in A Spy Among Friends - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/damian-lewis-guy-pearce-to-star-in-a-spy-among-friends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Damian Lewis &amp; 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