Home / Series / Storyville / Aired Order / Season 2013 / Episode 22

The Spy who Went into the Cold: Kim Philby, Soviet Super Spy

Documentary exploring the murky circumstances behind the escape of one of Britain's most notorious spies. In 1963, at the height of the Cold War, a well-educated Englishman called Kim Philby boarded a Russian freighter in Beirut and defected to Moscow from under the nose of British Intelligence. For the best part of thirty years he had been spying for the Soviet Union, much of that time while holding senior jobs in MI6. Fifty years on, more questions than answers still surround his defection. Had he really confessed before he went? Was his escape from justice an embarrassing mistake or part of the plan? This film, shot in Beirut, London and Moscow, sets out to find the answers, revealing the blind spots in the British ruling class that made it so vulnerable to KGB penetration.

English
  • Originally Aired November 18, 2013
  • Runtime 75 minutes
  • Content Rating United States of America TV-PG
  • Production Code b03j450y
  • Network BBC Four
  • Created November 21, 2013 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified November 21, 2013 by
    Administrator admin
Name Type Role
George Carey Director