Espionage (TV series)

British TV spy anthology series (1963–1964)

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Espionage

1963 title screenshot.

Genre| Anthology
Written by| Raymond Bowers
Norman Borisoff
John Furia Jr.
David Greene
Donald Jonson
Ernest Kinoy
Albert Ruben
Halsted Welles
Directed by| Robert Butler
Fielder Cook
David Greene
Ray Herbert
Herbert Hirschman
Seth Holt
Ken Hughes
William T. Kotcheff
Anton M. Leader
Michael Powell
Stuart Rosenberg
James Sheldon
Composers| Malcolm Arnold
Benjamin Frankel
Country of origin| United Kingdom
United States
Original language| English
No. of series| 1
No. of episodes| 24
Production
Executive producer| Herbert Hirschman
Producer| George Justin
Running time| 48 min.
Production companies| ATV
ITC Productions
Original release
Network| ITV (UK)
NBC (USA)
Release| 2 October 1963 (1963-10-02) –
20 May 1964 (1964-05-20)

Espionage is a British TV spy anthology series broadcast on the ITV network in the UK and on NBC in the USA for a single series in the autumn of 1963. Its American run lasted from October 2, 1963, until September 2, 1964.[1]

## Synopsis

[edit]

Made from actual case histories,[2] episodes used newsreel and documented narratives to show the activities of spies from various countries as far back as the American Revolution and as recent as the Cold War.[3]

## Guest cast

[edit]

Featured guest stars included:

* Martin Balsam
* David Kossoff
* Dennis Hopper
* Patricia Neal
* Joan Hickson
* Patrick Troughton
* Billie Whitelaw
* Patrick Cargill
* Jill Bennett
* Millicent Martin
* Anthony Quayle – a real-life "spy" with the Special Operations Executive during World War II.

## Production

[edit]

Herbert Hirschman[3] and Herbert Brodkin were the producers.[1]

In the United States, the series was broadcast from 9 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday nights.[2]

## Episode list

[edit]

This list is in NBC's airdate order.

Title | Air date NBC | Air date ITV | Director | Stars

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A Covenant with Death | 2 October 1963 | 12 October 1963 | Stuart Rosenberg | David Kossoff, Aubrey Morris, George Roubicek, John G. Heller, David Davies
The Weakling | 9 October 1963 | 19 October 1963 | Stuart Rosenberg | John Gregson, Dennis Hopper, Patricia Neal, Steve Plytas, Roger Avon
The Incurable One | 16 October 1963 | 5 October 1963 | Stuart Rosenberg | Ingrid Thulin, Steven Hill, Frederick Schiller, Martin Miller, Norman Mitchell, Andrew Sachs
The Gentle Spies | 23 October 1963 | 26 October 1963 | David Greene | Barry Foster, Angela Douglas, Godfrey Quigley, Joan Hickson, Michael Hordern, Eric Pohlmann
He Rises on Sunday and We on Monday | 30 October 1963 | 2 November 1963 | David Greene | T. P. McKenna, Patrick Troughton, Billie Whitelaw, Andrew Keir, Maurice Good
To the Very End | 6 November 1963 | 16 November 1963 | David Greene | James Fox, Michael Anderson Jr., Clifford Evans, Robert Cawdron, Roy Patrick
The Dragon Slayer | 13 November 1963 | 9 November 1963 | William T. Kotcheff | Sam Kydd, Patrick Cargill, Thorley Walters, Peter Dyneley, Alan Tilvern, Cyril Shaps, Ric Young, Stephen Jack, Michael Chow, Kristopher Kum, Milton Reid
The Whistling Shrimp | 20 November 1963 | 21 December 1963 | Stuart Rosenberg | Dana Elcar
The Light of a Friendly Star | 4 December 1963 | 30 November 1963 | James Sheldon | Carl Schell, Loretta Parry, Ronald Howard, Donald Pickering, George Pravda, John Herrington, Ian Fleming
Festival of Pawns | 11 December 1963 | 14 December 1963 | James Sheldon | Diane Cilento, Sam Wanamaker, Peter Howell, Dennis Edwards, Mark Hardy
A Camel to Ride | 18 December 1963 | 28 March 1964 | Fielder Cook | Bill Travers, Marne Maitland, Roger Delgado, Sandor Elès, Vernon Dobtcheff, Derek Sydney, Anthony Jacobs, Edward Underdown, Gertan Klauber, Tracy Connell
Never Turn Your Back on a Friend | 1 January 1964 | 4 January 1964 | Michael Powell | Mark Eden, Donald Madden, Julian Glover, Pamela Brown
Medal for a Turned Coat | 15 January 1964 | 11 January 1964 | David Greene | Nigel Stock, Fritz Weaver, Joseph Fürst, Sylvia Kay, Richard Carpenter, Michael Wolf, Carl Conway, David Blake Kelly
The Final Decision | 22 January 1964 | 18 January 1964 | Ray Herbert | Martin Balsam, Alan Gifford, Ann Lynn, Richard Marner, James Maxwell, Gordon Sterne
Do You Remember Leo Winters? | 29 January 1964 | 25 January 1964[a] | Robert Butler | George A. Cooper, Peter Madden, Cyril Luckham, Rhoda Lewis, Brian Peck, Mostyn Evans, Alan Haywood, David Healy
We the Hunted | 5 February 1964 | 29 February 1964 | Ken Hughes | Joseph Campanella, Anthony Dawson
The Frantick Rebel | 12 February 1964 | 1 February 1964 | Michael Powell | Roger Livesey, Stanley Baxter, Jill Bennett, Bernard Bresslaw, Max Adrian, Graham Crowden, Gordon Gostelow, Edward Jewesbury, Declan Mulholland, Edna Doré, Patsy Byrne, Pauline Boty
Castles in Spain | 19 February 1964 | 8 February 1964 | Anton M. Leader | Roland Culver, David Spenser
Snow on Mount Kama | 26 February 1964 | 15 February 1964 | David Greene | Bernard Lee, Nigel Davenport, Geoffrey Chater, Howard Lang, Ilario Bisi-Pedro
Once a Spy ... | 4 March 1964 | 22 February 1964 | David Greene | Peter Vaughan, Millicent Martin, Earl Cameron, William Lucas, Basil Dignam, Harry Landis, Eric Thompson, Shay Gorman, Glynn Edwards, Dickie Owen, Tom Bowman
The Liberators | 11 March 1964 | 7 March 1964 | Seth Holt | Donald Pleasence, Leonard Sachs, Jeremy Spenser, John Bennett, Robert Webber
Some Other Kind of World | 18 March 1964 | 14 March 1964 | Herbert Hirschman | John Hollis, Alan Tilvern, George Pastell, Jeffry Wickham, David Healy, Bruce Boa, John Tillinger, Richard Marner
A Free Agent | 21 March 1964 | 21 March 1964 | Michael Powell | Anthony Quayle, Siân Phillips, Norman Foster, John Abineri, Gertan Klauber
A Tiny Drop of Poison | 20 May 1964 | 7 December 1963 | Herbert Hirschman | Louise Sorel, Jim Backus, Jack May, Charles Lloyd-Pack

## Critical response

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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".[4] She added that the series "promises to be a most interesting addition to the network schedule."[4]

## Notes

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1. ^ This episode appears to have also aired in the UK on 29 February 1964. Either this is a repeat or the earlier showing was pulled and hence rescheduled.

## References

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1. ^ a b McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 261\. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
2. ^ a b Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. pp. 426–427\. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
3. ^ a b Terrace, Vincent (2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 311\. ISBN 978-0-7864-8641-0. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
4. ^ a b Lowry, Cynthia (3 October 1963). "ABC Quiz Show Gets Cancelled". The Marshall News Messenger. Associated Press. p. 10. Retrieved 13 September 2023 - via Newspapers.com.

## External links

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* CTA information
* Espionage at IMDb

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