''Espionage'' is a British TV spy anthology series broadcast on the

ITV network ITV, legally known as Channel 3, is a British free-to-air public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television network. It is branded as ITV1 in most of the UK except for central and northern Scotland, where it is b ...

in the UK and on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in the USA for a single series in the autumn of 1963. Its American run lasted from October 2, 1963, until September 2, 1964.

Synopsis

Made from actual case histories, episodes used newsreel and documented narratives to show the activities of spies from various countries as far back as the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and as recent as the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Guest cast

Featured guest stars included: *

Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television. An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New ...

David Kossoff David Kossoff (24 November 1919 – 23 March 2005) was a British actor. In 1954 he won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his appearance as Geza Szobek in '' The Young Lovers''. He played Alf Larkin in TV sit ...

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. He was considered one of the key figures of New Hollywood. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Internatio ...

Patricia Neal Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal; January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. She is well known for, among other roles, playing World WarII widow Helen Benson in ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (195 ...

Joan Hickson Joan Bogle Hickson (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series '' Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number of ...

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor. He became best known for his roles in television, most notably starring as the Second Doctor, second incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the lo ...

Billie Whitelaw Billie Honor Whitelaw (6 June 1932 – 21 December 2014) was an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and was regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works. She was als ...

Patrick Cargill Patrick Cargill (3 June 191823 May 1996) was an English actor remembered for his lead role in the British television sitcom ''Father, Dear Father''. Early life Cargill was born to middle-class parents living in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. After edu ...

* Jill Bennett *

Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satirical show ''That Was the Week That Was'' (known as TW3; 1962–1963), and won a ...

Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969). He also played impor ...

– a real-life "spy" with the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

during World War II.

Production

Herbert Hirschman Herbert Hirschman (April 13, 1914 – July 3, 1985) was an American television producer and director. He produced shows as ''Perry Mason'' and the fourth season of ''The Twilight Zone''. Hirschman died in July 1985 of an illness A dis ...

and

Herbert Brodkin Herbert Brodkin (November 9, 1912 – October 29, 1990) was an American producer and director of film and television. Brodkin was best known as the producer of the television shows ''Playhouse 90'', '' The Defenders'', the miniseries ''Holoc ...

were the producers. In the United States, the series was broadcast from 9 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday nights.

Episode list

This list is in NBC's airdate order.

Critical response

Cynthia Lowry, in a review of the premiere episode for the Associated Press, wrote, "It was well produced and had a fine cast of actors". She added that the series "promises to be a most interesting addition to the network schedule."

Notes

References

External links

CTA information
* 1960s British drama television series 1963 British television series debuts 1964 British television series endings 1960s American crime drama television series 1960s British anthology television series American spy drama television series Black-and-white British television shows British drama television series British military television series British spy television series British English-language television shows ITV television dramas Television series by ITC Entertainment NBC television dramas {{ITCDistributions-stub