Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligence agencies. It was given new impetus by the development of fascism and communism in the lead-up to World War II, continued to develop during the Cold War, and received a fresh impetus from the emergence of rogue states, international criminal organizations, global terrorist networks, maritime piracy and technological sabotage and espionage as potent threats to Western societies. As a genre, spy fiction is thematically related to the novel of adventure, the thriller and the politico-military thriller.
Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky, CMG is a former colonel of the KGB who became KGB resident-designate (rezident) and bureau chief in London. He was a double agent, providing information to the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1974 to 1985. After being recalled to Moscow under suspicion, he was exfiltrated from the Soviet Union in July 1985 under a plan code-named Operation Pimlico. The Soviet Union subsequently sentenced him to death in absentia.
Mark Strong is a British actor best known for his film roles such as Prince Septimus in Stardust (2007), Archibald in RocknRolla (2008), Lord Henry Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes (2009), Frank D'Amico in Kick-Ass (2010), Jim Prideaux in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Sinestro in Green Lantern (2011), George in Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Major General Stewart Menzies in The Imitation Game (2014), Merlin in Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), Dr. Thaddeus Sivana in Shazam! (2019) and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), and John in Cruella (2021).
Walton Sanders Goggins Jr. is an American actor. He has starred in various television series, including The Shield (2002–2008), Justified (2010–2015), Vice Principals (2016–2017), The Righteous Gemstones (2019–present), Invincible (2021–present), and Fallout (2024).
Night Flight from Moscow is a 1973 French-Italian-West German Cold War spy-thriller film that was produced, cowritten and directed by Henri Verneuil and starred Yul Brynner, Henry Fonda, Dirk Bogarde and Philippe Noiret. The score was composed by Ennio Morricone.
MGM+, formerly known as Epix, is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which is itself a subsidiary of Amazon MGM Studios. The channel's programming consists of recent and older theatrically released motion pictures, original television series, documentaries, and music and comedy specials.
NCIS: Los Angeles is an American action crime drama television series combining elements of the military drama and police procedural genres, which premiered on CBS on September 22, 2009. The series follows the exploits of the Los Angeles–based Office of Special Projects (OSP), an elite division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that specializes in undercover assignments. NCIS: Los Angeles is the first spin-off of the successful series NCIS and the second series in the NCIS franchise. The series concluded on May 21, 2023, making it the second series in the NCIS franchise to end.
Homeland is an American espionage thriller television series developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa based on the Israeli series Prisoners of War which was created by Gideon Raff, who serves as an executive producer on Homeland. The series stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer with bipolar disorder, and Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a Marine Corps Scout Sniper. Brody was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, and Mathison becomes convinced that he was "turned" by the enemy and poses a threat to the United States. The series storyline grows from this premise, together with Mathison's ongoing covert work.
The Americans is an American period spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX. It originally aired for six seasons from January 30, 2013 to May 30, 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners and executive producers. Set during the Cold War, the show follows Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, two Soviet KGB intelligence officers posing as an American married couple living in Falls Church, a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., with their American-born children Paige and Henry. It also explores the conflict between Washington's FBI office and the KGB Rezidentura there, from the perspectives of agents on both sides, including the Jennings' neighbor Stan Beeman, an FBI agent working in counterintelligence. The series begins in the aftermath of the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan in January 1981 and concludes in December 1987, shortly before the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6, is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence on foreign nationals in support of its Five Eyes partners. SIS is one of the British intelligence agencies and the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service ("C") is directly accountable to the Foreign Secretary.
Berlin Station is an American drama television series created by Olen Steinhauer. The series stars Richard Armitage, Rhys Ifans, Leland Orser, Michelle Forbes, Richard Jenkins, Keke Palmer, Ashley Judd, John Doman, Tamlyn Tomita, and Ismael Cruz Córdova. Bradford Winters had been showrunner for its first two seasons, with Jason Horwitch taking over for season 3.
Graves is an American comedy television series, created by Joshua Michael Stern, that premiered on October 16, 2016, on Epix. The series stars Nick Nolte as the eponymous Richard Graves, a former President of the United States attempting to make amends for the mistakes he made in office. After two seasons, it was cancelled by Epix in 2017.
Atomic Blonde is a 2017 American action thriller film directed by David Leitch from a screenplay by Kurt Johnstad, based on the 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart. The film stars Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella, and Toby Jones. The story revolves around a spy who has to find a list of double agents that is being smuggled into the West on the eve of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Get Shorty is an American comedy-drama television series, based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. Created by Davey Holmes, it premiered on August 13, 2017, on Epix. It stars Chris O'Dowd, Ray Romano, Sean Bridgers, Carolyn Dodd, Lidia Porto, Goya Robles, Megan Stevenson, Lucy Walters, and Sarah Stiles. It has aired for three seasons, consisting of twenty-seven episodes. In December 2018, it was renewed for a third season, which began airing on October 6, 2019. Although no further seasons have been commissioned, MGM+ has not officially cancelled the show.
Condor is an American thriller television series based on the novel Six Days of the Condor by James Grady and its 1975 film adaptation Three Days of the Condor written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel. The series stars Max Irons. The series was created by Todd Katzberg, Jason Smilovic, and Ken Robinson and premiered on June 6, 2018 on Audience. In July 2018, the series had been renewed for a second season, although in January 2020, Audience announced it would be ending operations in its current format. The second season, already filmed at the time of the announcement, premiered on June 9, 2020, on C More and RTÉ2. In December 2020, its existing two seasons were picked up by Epix. They began premiering the second season on November 7, 2021.
Godfather of Harlem is an American crime drama television series that premiered on September 29, 2019, on Epix. The series is written by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein, and stars Forest Whitaker as 1960s New York City gangster Bumpy Johnson. Whitaker is also executive producer alongside Nina Yang Bongiovi, James Acheson, John Ridley and Markuann Smith. Chris Brancato acts as showrunner. On February 12, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season; which premiered on April 18, 2021. On January 13, 2022, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on January 15, 2023, on the rebranded MGM+. On November 29, 2023, the series was renewed for a fourth season.
The 355 is a 2022 American action spy thriller film directed by Simon Kinberg from a screenplay by Theresa Rebeck and Kinberg, and a story by Rebeck. The film features an ensemble cast, starring Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong'o as a group of international spies who must work together to stop a terrorist organization from starting World War III. Édgar Ramírez and Sebastian Stan also star. The title is derived from Agent 355, the codename of a female spy for the Patriots during the American Revolution.
Pennyworth, marketed as Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler for its third season, is an American television series that premiered on July 28, 2019, on Epix, based on DC Comics' Batman character of the same name. The series was developed for television and is executive produced by Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, and stars Jack Bannon as Alfred Pennyworth, a younger version of the iteration of the character previously portrayed by Sean Pertwee in Heller's and Cannon's Fox series Gotham (2014–2019), with the series serving as a prequel to both Gotham, and V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare. Ben Aldridge, Hainsley Lloyd Bennett, Ryan Fletcher, Dorothy Atkinson, Emma Paetz, Paloma Faith, Polly Walker, James Purefoy, and Jason Flemyng also star.
Treason is a British television spy miniseries created by Matt Charman for the streaming service Netflix. It stars Olga Kurylenko, Oona Chaplin, Ciarán Hinds, and Charlie Cox.
