I really enjoyed this for the first few episodes, despite the defects pointed out by other reviewers (poor lighting, confusing cutting), but in a couple of later episode (4, 6) almost nothing happens at all. The cutting backwards and forwards seems to be designed to make it all feel significant when there's not a lot going on. Also, as others have pointed out, you already have to know the basics of the Cambridge spy ring, or you won't have a clue what the whole thing is about anyway, because the series doesn't tell you.
On the other hand, Guy Pearce is excellent, and holds the attention every time he is on screen. His awkward interview after Guy Burgess' defection is particularly good. I would have liked to delve into his motivations more, especially given that he did not seem to like the reality of the Soviet Union at all, despite spying for the *ideal* of it for decades.
Damian Lewis is also quite good (not his best, though), as is the guy playing Angleton, but Mrs Thomas is nothing but a plot device with a dodgy accent. The 60s scene setting is very thorough, but I find it hard to believe that people (including women, apparently) would swear so much even in professional settings. Just modern window dressing to make it more 'gritty' I expect.
The main problem was that by the time they revealed the real reason Nicholas Elliot let Kim Philby go / Kim Philby escaped from Nicholas Elliot, I just didn't really care any more. I know they're spies, but could he not just have told Mrs Thomas this in the first interview and saved all the ridiculous running around? And why did Elliot sit on Blunt's name for so long? Did he suspect that Sir Roger was a spy (as Philby suggested)? Or did I miss something? Maybe I drifted off, or maybe it was simply to dark to see. Anyway, a disappointing morass that could have been much, much better.
On the other hand, Guy Pearce is excellent, and holds the attention every time he is on screen. His awkward interview after Guy Burgess' defection is particularly good. I would have liked to delve into his motivations more, especially given that he did not seem to like the reality of the Soviet Union at all, despite spying for the *ideal* of it for decades.
Damian Lewis is also quite good (not his best, though), as is the guy playing Angleton, but Mrs Thomas is nothing but a plot device with a dodgy accent. The 60s scene setting is very thorough, but I find it hard to believe that people (including women, apparently) would swear so much even in professional settings. Just modern window dressing to make it more 'gritty' I expect.
The main problem was that by the time they revealed the real reason Nicholas Elliot let Kim Philby go / Kim Philby escaped from Nicholas Elliot, I just didn't really care any more. I know they're spies, but could he not just have told Mrs Thomas this in the first interview and saved all the ridiculous running around? And why did Elliot sit on Blunt's name for so long? Did he suspect that Sir Roger was a spy (as Philby suggested)? Or did I miss something? Maybe I drifted off, or maybe it was simply to dark to see. Anyway, a disappointing morass that could have been much, much better.