Spymasters: The Great Spy Writers

Spymasters: The Great Spy Writers (2026- )

RunningDocumentary show

Spymasters: The Great Spy Writers explores the lives, works, and secrets of some of the most brilliant spy authors in literature.
They have shaped what has become a hugely popular genre, weaving intricate plots, clandestine operations, and intense suspense into their novels, and sometimes exploring political issues and international relations with unsettling and often cynical insight.

Successful film and television franchises have been built around spies, while spy novels sell in great numbers. Lying behind recurring plots based on the successful negotiation of risk and betrayal safely exposed is an altogether bleaker world, based on violence, and incessant surveillance by state actors to benefit state activities.

The series explores the interlocking world of public and private, state and individual and combines analysis of the biographies of the writers and their work, together with an examination of the geopolitical settings in which they operate. 

Network
Scheduleevery Tuesday at 21:00 (60 min)

Last Episode

Len Deighton to Mick Herron
Season 1Episode 460 min

Len Deighton to Mick Herron

This episode looks at recent intelligence history, from the defection of Oleg Gordievsky to the killing of Osama bin Laden. Film extracts include Bridge of Spies and Zero Dark 30.

Apr 21, 2026

Recent Episodes

EpisodeNameAirdate
S01E04Len Deighton to Mick HerronApr 21, 2026
S01E03Ian Fleming to James BondApr 14, 2026
S01E02Alistair MacLean to John le CarréApr 7, 2026
S01E01Kipling to Graham GreeneMar 31, 2026
View all episodesView all seasons

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