BBC One has announced the cast of Toby Whithouse’s forthcoming new spy drama, The Game.
First announced last year, the series tells the story of the invisible war fought by MI5 as they battle to protect the nation from the threats of the Cold War.
On Friday the BBC confirmed Tom Hughes, Brian Cox, Paul Ritter, Shaun Dooley, Chloe Pirrie, Victoria Hamilton, Jonathan Aris and Judy Parfitt as the lead cast members.
Toby Whithouse described the cast as “some of the finest actors working in television today” and said it was “an honour to have them on our show.’
When a defecting KGB officer reveals the existence of a devastating Soviet plot, codenamed Operation Glass, the charismatic but paranoid head of MI5, known simply as Daddy (Cox), assembles a secret committee to investigate.
Maybe they’re the best, maybe they’re just the ones he trusts. They are Bobby Waterhouse (Ritter), the louche and ambitious head of counter-espionage; Sarah Montag (Hamilton), his dry-witted and fiercely clever deputy; her husband Alan (Aris), the ‘nosey-parker’, their cheerful and guileless expert in bugging and interception; Jim Fenchurch (Dooley), a stoic and sceptical Special Branch detective; Wendy Straw (Pirrie), the naïve and impressionable secretary.
The final operative is Joe Lambe (Hughes), the troubled but genius interrogator, able to read every tic and turn of human nature, but hiding dark secrets of his own.
The exact nature of the threat is unclear. All they know is that the Soviets are reactivating sleeper agents across the UK and giving them all a task.
Every episode our team receive a new name on the list. Each name is a new traitor to investigate, a mission into the unknown and a step closer to understanding Operation Glass.
The six-part series begins filming in Birmingham, London and Wales this month.
