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Mark Kermode uncovers the cinematic and storytelling secrets of one of the most popular genres of all - the spy movie.

Mark Kermode explores one of the most distinctive and popular genres of all. The spy movie plays on our paranoia and feeds our fears as well as fulfilling our fantasies of secret missions and special skills. It has also given us perhaps the most famous hero in all of cinema – James Bond.

Spy movies capture a world not of black and white but shades of grey. But if the morality is often ambiguous, the genre is full of tried and tested conventions. Mark opens up the cinematic agent’s essential toolkit, from the spy boss to the mysterious McGuffin, surveillance techniques to a striking set of opening titles, and he traces the development of the genre from its earliest days.

Whether you’re a blockbuster superspy or a compromised cold warrior, Mark reveals all you need to survive in the murky yet thrilling world of big screen espionage.

59 minutes

Last on

Thu 30 Sep 2021 23:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Four

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:01

    Daniel Caine Orchestra

    THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E

  • 00:03

    Alberto Iglesias

    George Smiley

  • 00:07

    Not Credited

    On The Rocks

  • 00:12

    Jerry Goldsmith

    Our Man Flint: New York Skyline

  • 00:14

    Nancy Sinatra

    You Only Live Twice

  • 00:15

    Shirley Bassey

    Moonraker

  • 00:15

    Chris Cornell

    You Know My Name (Lyric Version)

  • 00:16

    Nicholas Dodd

    Jinx Jordan

  • 00:18

    Γ‰ric Serra

    Learning Time

  • 00:18

    James Newton Howard

    Escaping The Cia

  • 00:18

    James Newton Howard

    Attack On St. Bart's Cathedral

  • 00:19

    David Bowie

    Cat People (Putting Out Fire)

  • 00:22

    Reinhard Lakomy Ensemble, Angelika Mann

    Champus-Lied

  • 00:27

    John Barry

    The Search

  • 00:31

    John Barry

    Dialogue 'I Just Love The Army'

  • 00:31

    John Barry

    Dialogue 'A Fair Appraisal'

  • 00:32

    Bernard Herrmann

    The Airport

  • 00:35

    Lorne Balfe

    Good Evening, Mr. Hunt

  • 00:38

    John Powell

    Jason Phones It In

  • 00:44

    Lorne Balfe

    Scalpel and Hammer

  • 00:50

    Not Credited

    The Wild Ride

  • 00:51

    Madonna

    Die Another Day

  • 00:59

    Julio Iglesias

    La Mer (En Directo)

Credits

Presenter Mark Kermode
Writer Mark Kermode
Writer Kim Newman
Writer John Das
Executive Producer John Das
Series Producer Nick Freand Jones

Broadcasts

Featured in...

  • Secrets and Spies

    The super spies from Smiley to Bond - and their real-life equivalents.