5. London Spy
Party animal Danny (Ben Whishaw) ends up falling for the mysterious Alex (Edward Holcroft) and it doesn't take long before the two start a relationship. When Alex dies a violent death, Danny discovers the truth behind his beloved; he was a spy. Despite a lack of expertise, Danny dives deep in the shady network of secret agents to discover the truth behind Alex's death. London Spy has an interesting point of view and is not necessarily exciting. It is loving, intimate and a bit tragic at times. These are topics that are usually left out of spy series.
4. The Night Manager
Veteran Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) is working as a manager in a luxurious hotel in Cairo during the Arab spring. After the death of a guest, the secret service recruits Pine to take out dangerous arms trader Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) and as a result of that he ends up in a world of espionage and international criminality. The Night Manager is based on a book of John le Carré from 1993, but this serialization is remarkably modern. Add to that the beautiful scenery, an exciting storyline and great actors and you've got one hell of a show.
3. Killing Eve
When in all of Europe various diplomats, politicians, businessmen and other powerful figures end up murdered, underpaid MI5 employee Eve (Sandra Oh) suspects that the murderer is a woman. Her bosses don't believe her and that's when she decides to go on the hunt herself. What comes next is a cat-and-mouse game between Eve and the dangerous psychopath Villanelle (Jodie Comer). This hunt becomes a bit of a mutual obsession for both women. Killing Eve is a refreshing series that playfully uses the known cliches of the espionage world. The series is so great because of the two - well, actually three - fantastic lead characters and their actors.
2. The Game (2014)
When the Russians come up with a dangerous plan in 1972, MI5 creates a committee to figure out what they're up to. There's just one problem; someone in the committee is a mole. MI5 boss Daddy (Brian Cox) asks his top agent Joe Lambe (Tom Hughes) to figure out the identity of the mole. The Game (2014) promises enough intrigue, mystery and scenic Cold War footage that it could've been written by John le Carré or Tom Clancy.
1. Spooks
The crème de la crème of British espionage series. Spooks was a phenomenon. For ten seasons, the agents of MI5 that were led by Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) kept their country save from extreme right-wing supporters, jihadis, Russians and even their own agents. A shocking death in the second episode showed that terrorists don't kid around, and this was a prelude to the horrible fate that awaited a lot of their colleagues. It made the point that the lives of spies don't necessarily involve exotic locations, beautiful women and absurd villains with complicated plans to conquer the world. Spooks is raw, intelligent and surprisingly modern and is thus a well-deserved number one in this list.
Now, there are quite a few more British spy series. Spooks, for example, had its own spin-off on BBC Three, which was called Spooks: Code9. Other, more recent, titles are The Little Drummer Girl (2018) and Hunted. And if you dig a little deeper, you'll probably find shows such as The Avengers and Danger Man. Alas, there's a lot more spying to do. And if you're not a big fan of series such as these, you can find a lot more genres in the other top-five lists that have already been written.
