X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

Philby, Burgess and Maclean

In the late 1940s, British intelligence believes they have a Russian spy in their midst. They narrow the list to five or so individuals, one of whom is Donald Maclean, who was assigned to the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., and had full access to U.S. atomic secrets. As they slowly build their case against Maclean, they assign Kim Philby to Washington, D.C. as the senior liaison officer to the C.I.A. He is soon joined there by an old friend, Guy Burgess. When Philby gets wind that Maclean is about to be arrested, he dispatches Burgess to warn him and both defect to the Soviet Union. Philby is thoroughly investigated, and while there is a general consensus that he too is a Russian spy, there is no concrete proof and, publicly at least, is cleared. Eight years later, in 1963, Philby also defects to the Soviet Union and it is revealed that he has been a K.G.B. Colonel for over twenty years. Based on actual events.

Loading. Please wait...

Content not available in your region? ExpressVPN can help you stay connected wherever you are. Get 4 extra months FREE with TV Guide's exclusive offer.

Cast & Crew See All

Anthony Bate
Kim Philby
Derek Jacobi
Guy Burgess
Michael Culver
Donald Maclean

Awards

  • 1978 - BAFTA TV Award - Best Single Play - nominated
  • 1978 - BAFTA TV Award - Best Actor - nominated

You May Also Like See All

The Office
The Staircase
Homicide: Life on the Street
The Sopranos

Popular Shows See all shows

Matlock

3 Seasons
After achieving success in her younger years, the brilliant septuagenarian Madeline Matlock, played by Academy & Emmy Award Winner Kathy Bates, rejoins the workforce at a prestigious law firm where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases and expose corruption from within. Inspired by the classic television series of the same name.
74   Metascore
2024 Suspense, Drama

Marshals

2 Seasons
Y: Marshals stars Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton. With the Yellowstone Ranch behind him, Dutton joins an elite unit of U.S. Marshals, combining his skills as a cowboy and Navy SEAL to bring range justice to Montana, where he and his teammates must balance family, duty and the high psychological cost that comes with serving as the last line of defense in the region’s war on violence.
57   Metascore
2026 Action & Adventure, Suspense, Drama

Will Trent

5 Seasons
Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) is determined to use his unique point of view to make sure no one is abandoned like he was.
71   Metascore
2023 Suspense, Drama

The Last Thing He Told Me

2 Seasons
Based on the novel The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen's sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother. As Hannah's increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered; as the FBI arrests Owen's boss; as a US Marshal and FBI agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn't who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen's true identity--and why he really disappeared. Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth, together. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen's past, they soon realize they are also building a new future. One neither Hannah nor Bailey could have anticipated.
50   Metascore
2023 Drama, Suspense

Fire Country

5 Seasons
A male prisoner joins a firefighting unit to try to shorten his prison sentence. As they are trying to prevent bushfires, he tries to adapt to a new lifestyle and does everything that he possibly can to reconnect with his friends and family.

The Pitt

3 Seasons
Emergency medicine doctors juggle personal crises, workplace politics, and high emotions in this drama series.