SECRETS &SPIES

GUY PEARCE and DAMIAN LEWIS on their true-life espionage thriller, the jewel in the crown of new streaming service ITVX

Launching new content on Thursday 8 December, ITVX, which has replaced ITV Hub, will premiere a range of new dramas, comedies and documentaries each week – months before they air on ITV1. A library of classic series and films will also be available.

You can watch online at itvx.com, through an app on your phone or tablet, or via your smart TV or streaming device.

ITVX is free to view, but there will also be an advert-free version for £5.99 per month, which includes Britbox UK.

A SPY AMONG FRIENDS FROM THU 8 DEC, ITVX DRAMA

At the height of the Cold War in 1963, the shocking defection of MI6 agent Kim Philby to Moscow became one of the most-notorious scandals in the history of British espionage. But what did his monumental betrayal mean for those closest to him?

Six-part drama A Spy among Friends, inspired by Ben Macintyre’s non-fiction book of the same name and airing on ITV’S brand-new streaming service ITVX (see our guide, left), reveals how Kim

(Mare of Easttown’s Guy Pearce) spied for the Soviets from within the heart of the British Establishment without detection for almost 30 years.

The series also explores the devastating impact his treachery had on his MI6 colleague and longstanding friend Nicholas Elliott (Homeland star Damian Lewis).

TV Times caught up with Guy, 55, and Damian, 51, to get their take on the story…

LITVINENKO

DRAMA

A powerful four-part factual drama explores the police investigation into the poisoning of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko (David Tennant) in 2006.