A Perfect Spy (TV series)

A Perfect Spy
Created by	John le Carré
Written by	Arthur Hopcraft
Directed by	Peter Smith
Starring	Peter Egan Ray McAnally Alan Howard Rüdiger Weigang Peggy Ashcroft
Theme music composer	Michael Storey
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	7
Production
Producer(s)	Jonathan Powell Colin Rogers
Editor(s)	Clare Douglas
Running time	374 min
Distributor	BBC
Release
Original release	1987

A Perfect Spy is a BBC serial adaptation of John le Carré's spy novel A Perfect Spy. It follows the career of the British MI6 spy Magnus Pym from his early days as a schoolboy to his eventual disappearance as a suspected agent of the Czech secret service.

As a young boy Magnus Pym (played by twins, Jonathan and Nicholas Haley) sees his father Rick (Ray McAnally) imprisoned for embezzlement and his mother Dorothy (Caroline John) hospitalised by the stress. Magnus fakes a fit in order to escape the abusive uncle and alcoholic aunt with whom he has been sent to live. He is rescued from hospital by his recently released father who subsequently takes him along on the con of an elderly lady.

Magnus is sent to boarding school after his father is conscripted where staff and students disapprove of the flashy "business man". Rick returns from the war a wealthy man and involves Magnus in a plan to defraud the bomb damage compensation fund. One night Magnus is hazed by a group of boys led by his "friend" Sefton Boyd and in revenge he tags the boy's initials on the wall of the staff toilet.

Magnus (Benedict Taylor) is called in to help his father after the plan to defraud the bomb damage compensation fund goes awry. Baroness Weber has asked Rick to help her recover a treasure trove secreted by her late husband before the war and Magnus is sent to accompany her. Upon arrival in Switzerland the Baroness runs up a large bill, absconds with all the money, and leaves Magnus down and out in Bern, in a classic example of the scam known as the Spanish Prisoner.

Magnus eventually manages to secure a scholarship to study law at the university in Bern. He befriends a Silesian émigré poet called Axel, who calls him "Sir Magnus". British intelligence officer Jack Brotherhood (Alan Howard) recruits Magnus to inform on a left-wing student group called the Cosmo Club. Magnus steals the club’s membership list and Axel is revealed to be a secret member. Jack persuades Magnus to betray his friend to the Swiss authorities.

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