Spy City

Spy City is a television miniseries created by William Boyd about spies in 1961 Berlin, during the Cold War. The series first aired in Germany, and AMC+ picked up the rights to stream in the United States at MIPTV.

Spy City
GenreSpy fiction
Created byWilliam Boyd
Written byWilliam Boyd
Directed byMiguel Alexandre
Starring
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
  • William Boyd
  • Dominic Cooper
  • Thomas Augsberger
  • Bill Block
  • Michael Schuld
  • Sven Philipp
  • Wolfgang Feindt
  • Annika Schmidt
Producers
  • Mischa Hofmann
  • Britta Meyermann
  • Ann-Kathrin Eicher
Production companies
Release
Original network
Original releaseDecember 3, 2020 (2020-12-03)

Synopsis

A British spy is sent to Berlin in 1961 to uncover a mole in the United Kingdom's Embassy or among the Allies, shortly before the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Cast and characters

Episodes
No.TitleDirected by [1]Written by [1]Original release date [2]
1"Operation Beethoven"Miguel AlexandreWilliam BoydDecember 3, 2020 (2020-12-03)
In March 1960, British intelligence agent Fielding Scott narrowly evades an attempt to kill him in Berlin by an assailant whom Scott kills in self-defence. The assailant turns out to be Haldane, another British agent, and Scott is suspended from duty as a result whilst an investigation is carried out as to the circumstances. One year later, Scott is reinstated to duty by senior intelligence official Ian Stuart-Hay and sent back to Berlin to work under British station chief Aldous Petrie, who resents Scott's presence as Haldane had been a friend of his. Scott also reunites with Severine Bloch, a French agent and a former lover of his, and Conrad Greer, an American agent whom Scott served with during the Second World War. The three agents work on a joint operation to extract Manfred Ziegler, a German scientist working on top-secret rocket technology for the Soviets, from the Soviet-controlled East Berlin into the American sector of West Berlin. Scott liaises with Ziegler to plan his defection operation and kills a Stasi agent who caught the pair together, forcing Scott and Bloch to act quicker than planned to extract Ziegler and his family. However, they are too late and find Ziegler and his family dead in their home after a visit from Stasi agents. Meanwhile, Scott's secretary and covert Stasi spy, Eliza Hahn, comes under increasing pressure from her Stasi superiors to provide intelligence on Scott and is threatened with the arrest of her boyfriend Reinhardt if she doesn't comply.
2"Out of the Past"Miguel AlexandreWilliam BoydDecember 3, 2020 (2020-12-03)
3"My Enemy's Enemy"Miguel AlexandreWilliam BoydDecember 3, 2020 (2020-12-03)
4"The Flower Market"Miguel AlexandreWilliam BoydDecember 3, 2020 (2020-12-03)
5"Dark Imaginings"Miguel AlexandreWilliam BoydDecember 3, 2020 (2020-12-03)
6"The Wall"Miguel AlexandreWilliam BoydDecember 3, 2020 (2020-12-03)

Production

Spy City entered development in 2014, when Boyd created and began writing the show. It was initially planned to be a ten-episode series.[3] In 2019, Dominic Cooper was cast in the lead role.[4] The series was shot in Roudnice nad Labem, Plzeň, Prague in Czech Republic, from 27 August to 30 November 2019, subbing for Berlin in 1960s.[5] The series was co-produced by H&V Entertainment GmbH, ZDF, Seven Stories (UK) and Wilma Film (Czech Republic) and was supported by FFF Bavaria, Nordmedia, German Motion Picture Fund and Czech Film Fund.[6]

Release

Originally, all episodes were released in Germany on December 3, 2020 to the Magenta TV streaming service.[2] The series will be broadcast in Germany on ZDF in Fall 2021. ViacomCBS Global Distribution has the international distribution rights, and at MIPTV, AMC Networks purchased the rights for the United States for AMC+.[7] AMC+ is releasing the episodes on a weekly basis starting April 15, 2021.[8] Britbox aired the series in the UK on December 23, 2021.

Reception

The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 70% approval rating, based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10.[9] Metacritic, calculated a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10]

References
  1. Bonaime, Ross (23 March 2021). "Dominic Cooper Delivers '60s Swagger in First Images From AMC+ Espionage Drama 'Spy City'". Collider.
  2. "Spy City: Drama-Serie mit Spionage-Charakter | Telekom". telekom.de (in German). Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  3. Keslassy, Elsa (October 10, 2014). "Gaumont TV France Set To Produce William Boyd's 'Spy City' With Pascal Chaumeil Set To Direct". Variety. Penske Media Corporation.
  4. D'Alessandro, Anthony (11 July 2019). "Dominic Cooper To Star In Miramax-H&V-ZDF Series 'Spy City'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation.
  5. "Spy City". Czech Film Commission. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021.
  6. "Spy City". Odeon Film. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021.
  7. Roxborough, Scott (April 12, 2021). "MIPTV: AMC+ Takes 'Spy City'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  8. "Shows A-Z – Spy City on AMC Plus | TheFutonCritic.com". Futon Critic. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  9. "Spy City". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  10. "Spy City – Series Overview". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
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