Cambridge Spies (2003) [2 of 4]

Episode 2 (May 16 2003) : Burgess, Blunt, Philby and Maclean, still ardent communists and working for the KGB, must follow instructions and cover their political leanings. They now have to convince the powers that be that they have outgrown their juvenile leanings towards socialism and become members of the British establishment to become moles on the inside. Burgess is hired by the BBC and offers his services to MI6, whilst Maclean joins the Foreign Office and Blunt gains the confidence of the British royal family. Philby is sent to Spain to report on the civil war, where he fails to carry out orders from his Soviet control, Otto, to assassinate General Francisco Franco. Philby flees Spain and survives, but his betrayal costs Otto his life. When Stalin signs a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, all four feel betrayed as their struggles against fascism have been turned upside down.

Cambridge Spies is a four-part British drama miniseries written by Peter Moffat and directed by Tim Fywell, that was first broadcast in May 2003 and is based on the true story of four brilliant young men at the University of Cambridge who are recruited to spy for the Soviet Union in 1934.

Plot :The series is set from 1934 to 1951 and follows the lives of the best-known quartet of the Cambridge Five Soviet spies, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt and Donald Maclean, who whilst studying at the University of Cambridge are courted by Soviet agents and recruited into a world of covert intelligence and espionage. Fueled by youthful idealism, a passion for social justice, a talent for lying and a hatred for fascism, the four take huge personal risks to pass Britain's biggest secrets to Moscow. Across almost twenty years of spying and treachery, the four are bound by their beliefs, the secrets they know about one another, and the knowledge that they stand or fall together.

The series was directed by Tim Fywell and stars Tom Hollander, Toby Stephens, Samuel West, and Rupert Penry-Jones. The theme music composer is John Lunn.