Spies of Warsaw (TV series) explained

Genre:Historical fiction
Composer:Rob Lane
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English
Num Episodes:4
List Episodes:
  1. Episodes
Location:Kraków, Warsaw
Cinematography:Wojciech Szepel
Runtime:180 minutes total
Channel:BBC Four
Num Series:1

Spies of Warsaw is a British television miniseries in which a Deuxième Bureau intelligence agent (spy) poses as a military attaché at the French embassy in Warsaw, and finds himself drawn into the outbreak of World War II.[1]

The television series takes its name from its source, The Spies of Warsaw, a 2008 spy novel by Alan Furst. The book was adapted for television in 2013 as a co-production of TVP1, BBC Four, BBC America, and ARTE and premiered in January in the United Kingdom and in April in the United States.[2] It starred David Tennant as the protagonist Colonel Jean-François Mercier and Janet Montgomery as his love interest Anna Skarbek.[3] As in other Alan Furst novels, the fictional Parisian restaurant Brasserie Heininger serves as one of the settings for dialogue.[4]

Cast

Main

Main cast includes:

Support

Support cast includes:

Episodes

There are four episodes, which have also aired as a two-part series.[5]

Reception

The two-part drama received some positive reviews in the UK, especially for the script and acting,[6] although The Guardian described it as "pallid as much of the washed-out photography".[7]

The Telegraph liked the series for many features: appropriateness for "intergenerational shared viewing, never... too visually brutal, and the playing of the minor characters... was convincingly understated".[8] The Guardian complained: "It should have been the perfect spy thriller. It had everything. Except tension".[9]

The New York Times found the series an "enjoyable, straightforward espionage tale without a lot of twists or extra layers" but deemed it "true to the original in story and in spirit", though slow-moving,[10] and the Boston Globe thought it "a strangely bloodless affair".[11]

Rotten Tomatoes rated the television series 64% from critics and 50% from average audience.[12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Spies of Warsaw. Internet Movie Database. 6 December 2017. 19 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170919160537/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2343137/. live.
  2. News: Spies of Warsaw. BBC America. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131224113305/http://www.bbcamerica.com/spies-of-warsaw/. 2013-12-24.
  3. News: Media Centre – David Tennant and Janet Montgomery star in The Spies of Warsaw. BBC. 4 April 2012. 25 December 2019. 11 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201111191320/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2012/spies-of-warsaw.html. live.
  4. News: Lonely Spy in a Love Triangle. New York Times. 2 April 2013. 12 April 2013. 24 June 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130624220047/http://tv.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/arts/television/spies-of-warsaw-a-bbc-america-mini-series.html. live.
  5. News: Alessandra. Stanley. Lonely Spy in a Love Triangle. New York Times. 2 April 2013. 5 December 2017. 6 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171206135925/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/arts/television/spies-of-warsaw-a-bbc-america-mini-series.html. live.
  6. News: Spies of Warsaw, BBC Four, review. 10 Jan 2013. Daily Telegraph. 3 April 2018. 6 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171206140141/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9791472/Spies-of-Warsaw-BBC-Four-review.html. live.
  7. News: TV review: Spies of Warsaw; The Food Inspectors. The Guardian. 9 January 2013. 17 December 2016. 4 April 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170404044201/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/jan/09/spies-of-warsaw-tv-review. live.
  8. News: Christopher. Howse. Spies of Warsaw, BBC Four, review. Telegraph. 10 January 2013. 5 December 2017. 6 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171206140141/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9791472/Spies-of-Warsaw-BBC-Four-review.html. live.
  9. News: John. Crace. TV review: Spies of Warsaw; The Food Inspectors. Guardian. 9 January 2013. 6 December 2017. 6 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171206140141/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9791472/Spies-of-Warsaw-BBC-Four-review.html. live.
  10. News: June. Thomas. Why You Should Watch 'Spies of Warsaw'. Slate. 3 April 2013. 5 December 2017. 7 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171207085341/http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/04/03/spies_of_warsaw_on_bbc_america_tonight_why_you_should_watch_video.html. live.
  11. News: Matthew. Gilbert. Spies of Warsaw: Thriller with No Thrills. Boston Globe. 2 April 2013. 6 December 2017. 7 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171207084957/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2013/04/02/spies-warsaw-thriller-with-thrills/wSfeksE5VrlYNCvexEDUfN/story.html. live.
  12. Web site: Spies of Warsaw (2013–2013). Rotten Tomatoes. 6 December 2017. 6 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171206091921/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/spies_of_warsaw/. live.

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