0:00:05 > 0:00:07CALL TO PRAYER
0:00:12 > 0:00:16RECORDING: 'They think I'm a bloody communist.You must fight like hell.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18'I'm offering you a lifeline.'
0:00:40 > 0:00:43'I rather thought it would be you.'
0:00:43 > 0:00:47Intuition.'Must be.'
0:00:50 > 0:00:53The conversation that followed is one of the
0:00:53 > 0:00:56most important documents of the Cold War.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01A confrontation between two friends and two spies.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04The brutal culmination of a deadly game.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09'So, to what do I owe the pleasure?'
0:01:09 > 0:01:12It's business, unfortunately.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Unfortunately? We've new information.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20Lord, do we really have to go over that rubbish again?
0:01:20 > 0:01:24'Your past has caught up with you, Kim. The game's up.'
0:01:24 > 0:01:28So you're here to interrogate me? To persuade an innocent man to confess?
0:01:28 > 0:01:31For God's sake, we know you're a Soviet agent, Kim!
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Don't you understand?
0:01:34 > 0:01:37If you knew what I know...
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Kim Philby is the most famous double agent in history.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49But a quarter century after his death,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53he has become a caricature, the gentleman master spy.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59The real Kim Philby was a man of contradictions.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04Charming and courteous, but also a fanatic and a ruthless killer.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07He deceived everyone around him.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13'There's no getting away, Kim.'
0:02:13 > 0:02:16RECORDING SKIPS:'There's no getting, there's no getting away, Kim...
0:02:16 > 0:02:18'This is over my head.'
0:02:18 > 0:02:20Yes. I suppose it would be.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26I thought I was talking to a friend. So did I, Kim, so did I!
0:02:26 > 0:02:29You took me in for years.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32I looked up to you, you know? I was on your side.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36My God, I despise you now.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40I only hope you have the decency left to understand why.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Philby had lived a double life for decades.
0:02:54 > 0:02:55And the key to his success
0:02:55 > 0:03:00and his survival lay in his friendship with Nicholas Elliott,
0:03:00 > 0:03:05the colleague in MI6 who befriended him, defended him
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and unwittingly supplied him with secrets...
0:03:08 > 0:03:10until he discovered the truth.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16Their showdown in a Beirut apartment marked the final chapter
0:03:16 > 0:03:20in an extraordinary story of espionage, murder
0:03:20 > 0:03:23and intimate betrayal.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37CHEERING
0:03:37 > 0:03:39BAND PLAYS A ROUSING TUNE
0:03:42 > 0:03:46The story began in Berlin in 1939.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52The occasion - Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55One of the largest military parades in history.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00An orchestrated exhibition of Nazi hero worship.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15The parade was watched by a 22-year-old Englishman
0:04:15 > 0:04:17named Nicholas Elliott.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21Standing on the balcony of a Berlin apartment,
0:04:21 > 0:04:26he viewed the Nazi celebrations with a mixture of awe and horror.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Elliott was a young man of simple but firm convictions.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34He believed in king and country.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38But he was also a romantic and an adventurer,
0:04:38 > 0:04:42brought up on spy novels and tales of derring-do.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47When Elliott left Berlin, he returned home convinced
0:04:47 > 0:04:52of two things - that Hitler must be stopped at all costs,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55and his best way of contributing to that cause
0:04:55 > 0:04:58would be to become a spy.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05It was all very easy.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08One moment, Nicholas Elliott was standing here at Ascot
0:05:08 > 0:05:12watching the favourite, Quashed, come romping home at 7-2...
0:05:14 > 0:05:17..and the next he was sharing a drink
0:05:17 > 0:05:20with his father's friend Sir Robert Vansittart,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23or "Van", who just happened to have been
0:05:23 > 0:05:26the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Elliott explained to Van that he thought
0:05:31 > 0:05:35he might like to join the intelligence service.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40Vansittart had close links with the Secret Intelligence Service,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42better known as MI6.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44He simply smiled and said,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47"I am relieved you have asked me for something so easy."
0:05:47 > 0:05:52"And that," as Nicholas Elliott wrote many years later, "was that."
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Elliott was born to rule, and membership of the
0:05:57 > 0:06:00most exclusive club in Britain
0:06:00 > 0:06:03seemed like a pretty good place to start.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07By the time war broke out in September 1939,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Elliott was already a member of the British secret service,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15and found himself, somewhat to his surprise, in prison.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24Wormwood Scrubs, the Victorian prison in west London, had been
0:06:24 > 0:06:29adopted as the wartime headquarters of the British Security Service.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35It was a bizarre place to work - malodorous and dingy,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38with some of the inmates still in residence.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43But Elliott adored his new life. He was now running double agents.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45These were enemy spies who had been intercepted
0:06:45 > 0:06:48and persuaded to spy for Britain.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Elliot was fighting a war that was important,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54exciting and deadly secret.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01As the Blitz hammered London, Elliott was elated by
0:07:01 > 0:07:04the feeling of camaraderie in the bomb-battered city.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09One of his fellow intelligence officers
0:07:09 > 0:07:12was a man who would define the rest of his life.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15His name was Harold Adrian Russell Philby,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18better known as Kim.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Kim Philby and Nicholas Elliott
0:07:29 > 0:07:33were cut from the same, rather expensive cloth.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Both had been formed by their public schools,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39both their fathers had been to Trinity College, Cambridge,
0:07:39 > 0:07:43where they became friends, and both sons had obediently followed
0:07:43 > 0:07:47in their fathers' footsteps to the very same college.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58My father had a very conventional English upper-class upbringing.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02His father, Claude Elliott, was a don at Cambridge.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07He was raised by nannies, and he was the kind of person who
0:08:07 > 0:08:13actually was happiest in an all-male environment all throughout his life.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20He loved Eton, he loved White's club, an all-male club,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23he loved the gentlemen's pavilion at Lord's.
0:08:23 > 0:08:29And at close of play he was 55 not out, and half-cut at that!
0:08:29 > 0:08:33'I think Kim and my father very much did speak other's language,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37'because of their similar backgrounds.'
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Kim was as close a friend as he ever had.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48War is going to play havoc with the averages.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50Did you know Eddie Paynter was averaging 60 a test
0:08:50 > 0:08:52before Adolf stopped play?
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Well, at least there is still some cricket at Lord's.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Jolly good for morale. Was thinking we might set something up ourselves.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03A team? Yes, what do you think?
0:09:03 > 0:09:05I haven't played since prep school, old boy.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07In any case, I'm rather suspicious of all that exercise.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Heavy drinkers shouldn't make sudden or violent movements
0:09:10 > 0:09:14in my opinion - it upsets the body system and causes headaches.
0:09:15 > 0:09:21In addition to Kim's enormous charm, he had a wonderful ability,
0:09:21 > 0:09:27actually, to make you feel that you were the most important person
0:09:27 > 0:09:30in his world at that time...
0:09:30 > 0:09:33to whom he would give his full attention.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37You're a Trinity man, aren't you? Yes, went up in '30.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Oh, me too, '35. Barely scraped a third.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Triumph over the examiners. Sterling effort.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45NICHOLAS LAUGHS
0:09:45 > 0:09:49Philby loved to laugh and he loved to listen.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52He looked into your eyes with perfect sincerity
0:09:52 > 0:09:54and rapt curiosity.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56As one contemporary said of him,
0:09:56 > 0:09:58"You didn't just like him, admire him,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00"agree with him...
0:10:00 > 0:10:02"you worshipped him."
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Philby's admission into the secret services had been as swift
0:10:10 > 0:10:14and easy as that of Elliott, and by much the same informal route.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19He simply dropped a few hints here and there
0:10:19 > 0:10:24and waited for the old-boy network to invite him into the club.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30In the summer of 1940, Philby arrived here
0:10:30 > 0:10:36at St Ermin's Hotel, just off St James's Park, in London.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39Here he met Miss Marjorie Maxse,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43Chief of Staff of Section D - MI6's training school
0:10:43 > 0:10:48for propaganda, sabotage and covert paramilitary operations.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51The D stood for "destruction".
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Young Kim Philby was just the sort of chap Miss Maxse was looking for.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03He had been to the right sort of school and the right university.
0:11:03 > 0:11:08And she had a watertight guarantee from the deputy head of MI6,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12who gave what may be the quintessential definition
0:11:12 > 0:11:15of Britain's old-boy network -
0:11:15 > 0:11:18"I was asked about him, and said I knew his people."
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Philby, like Elliott, was now a member
0:11:21 > 0:11:24of the most exclusive club in the country.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37The friendship between the two men grew closer when they were
0:11:37 > 0:11:41deployed to Glenalmond, a large Victorian house in St Albans
0:11:41 > 0:11:47codenamed "War Station XB", some 20 miles north of the capital.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51It is now, rather charmingly, a nursery school.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57XB was code for "counter intelligence".
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Elliott was responsible for attacking German espionage
0:12:00 > 0:12:04in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, while Philby
0:12:04 > 0:12:06was in charge of counter-intelligence
0:12:06 > 0:12:08in Spain and Portugal.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13In this line of work...Yes.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17I can imagine.It goes with the job.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Philby and Elliott, the Young Turks of MI6,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26would now be fighting the spy war shoulder to shoulder.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Did you say we'd be sharing an office?
0:12:31 > 0:12:35I believe so. It rather depends on the formidable Miss Pettigrew.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37So she's the boss, is she?
0:12:39 > 0:12:43Philby was adored by one and all, but nobody admired him more
0:12:43 > 0:12:47than Nicholas Elliott, who saw him as a role model,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50the epitome of the gentleman spy,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54a man who played by the most honourable rules.
0:12:57 > 0:13:03In 1942, Philby's friend Nicholas Elliott was promoted.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06He left the leafy confines of St Albans for
0:13:06 > 0:13:10the rather more exotic climes of Istanbul.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Here, he took up a new role - combating German espionage
0:13:13 > 0:13:19on the ground in neutral Turkey, and reporting back to MI6...and Philby.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Once in Istanbul, Elliott was technically attached
0:13:24 > 0:13:28to the embassy as a junior diplomat.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31But in reality, his task was to attack the Abwehr,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34German military intelligence, which ran a large
0:13:34 > 0:13:39and highly efficient network of agents throughout the country.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46The job was dangerous, exciting and unconventional.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51It involved a great deal of hanging around in bars and nightclubs,
0:13:51 > 0:13:56including the glamorous Pera Palace and the seedy Taksim's.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Taksim's was a restaurant, nightclub, cabaret
0:14:00 > 0:14:02and casino all rolled into one.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08But it was also the spy centre of Istanbul.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11It was run by a Russian who took bribes from everybody
0:14:11 > 0:14:14and did his best to seat rival spies
0:14:14 > 0:14:17at adjacent tables, to makes eavesdropping easier.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21As Elliott wrote, "There are more people involved in skulduggery here
0:14:21 > 0:14:25"than any other city in the world."
0:14:30 > 0:14:34Elliott fell in love with Istanbul and with his secretary,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37a vivacious 21-year-old of impeccable breeding
0:14:37 > 0:14:40called Elizabeth Holberton.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47My parents both talked about their time in Istanbul with
0:14:47 > 0:14:49a great deal of love and affection.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55They wound up falling in love and having a romance.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59And of course it was the most wonderful romantic milieu,
0:14:59 > 0:15:04right out of Casablanca, in a way, with all these dubious characters.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07You know, Yaroslav Stenko, Popovski - people,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09you know, with marvellous names,
0:15:09 > 0:15:13dubious Hungarian countesses,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15intrigue, you name it.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20I mean, it's paradoxical because the war was being fought.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23It was a wonderful time in their lives.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28The war made it impossible
0:15:28 > 0:15:31for Philby to get to Istanbul for the wedding.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33But within months,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35the two old friends were working together again
0:15:35 > 0:15:38on what would turn out to be
0:15:38 > 0:15:40one of the greatest intelligence breakthroughs
0:15:40 > 0:15:42of the Second World War.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48In 1943, a young German Catholic, Erich Vermehren,
0:15:48 > 0:15:53decided to take a personal stand against Adolf Hitler.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58He believed that the Fuhrer was destroying his beloved homeland.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03As an officer in German military intelligence,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06based in Istanbul,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Vermehren had access to a treasure trove of Nazi secrets.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Now, after months of soul searching,
0:16:12 > 0:16:17he decided to hand this cache over to British intelligence.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Two days after Christmas,
0:16:24 > 0:16:26at about seven in the evening,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28Erich Vermehren made his way here,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32to an apartment in a smart residential area
0:16:32 > 0:16:33of central Istanbul.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Nicholas Elliott was about to pull off
0:16:36 > 0:16:39the biggest coup of his career.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Vermehren was understandably nervous
0:16:44 > 0:16:48but Elliott and handled him with skill and patience.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50He reassured him that defecting
0:16:50 > 0:16:53was an act of supreme moral courage
0:16:53 > 0:16:56that would inflict a devastating blow on Nazism,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00but arranging his escape to Britain would take time.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Under Elliott's direction,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Vermehren began to gather every scrap of damaging information
0:17:13 > 0:17:16in the files of German intelligence,
0:17:16 > 0:17:21including a complete description of the German spy network in Istanbul.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26But time was running out.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30The Germans already suspected Vermehren of disloyalty
0:17:30 > 0:17:32and they were closing in.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38On 27th January,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Erich Vermehren and his wife attended a cocktail party
0:17:42 > 0:17:45at the Spanish Embassy in Istanbul.
0:17:47 > 0:17:48As they were leaving,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52they were seized by two men and bundled into a waiting car.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55The scene was stage-managed by Nicholas Elliott,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59to buy time by making it seem as though they had been kidnapped.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02The couple were driven to a remote point on the Turkish coast
0:18:02 > 0:18:05and transferred to a fast motor launch.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Within hours they were in Cairo,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17still wearing their party clothes.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22From there, they were flown to London
0:18:22 > 0:18:27where they were greeted by none other than Kim Philby,
0:18:27 > 0:18:29who had offered his mother's flat in South Kensington
0:18:29 > 0:18:32as the ideal spot to debrief Vermehren.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35For the next fortnight,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Kim Philby and Nicholas Elliott extracted every detail
0:18:38 > 0:18:41from this high-level German defector.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44This is an absolute treasure trove!
0:18:44 > 0:18:47If it's all true.If?
0:18:49 > 0:18:51What if he's a double agent?
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Hasn't it occurred to you? If this is a set-up...
0:18:53 > 0:18:57You've looked in his eyes the same as I have, Nick.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59What did you see there?
0:18:59 > 0:19:01Conviction.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06That man would do anything to stop the Reds taking over his country
0:19:06 > 0:19:08as soon as this is all said and done.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12And who can blame him?
0:19:16 > 0:19:19This is an absolute bloody triumph, Nick.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22It's your triumph.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30Hitler exploded with rage when told of Vermehren's treachery.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34He was now convinced that the German intelligence service
0:19:34 > 0:19:36was riddled with traitors.
0:19:39 > 0:19:40In a matter of weeks,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43the German secret service was dismantled
0:19:43 > 0:19:45and its leaders ousted,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48leaving Germany vulnerable at a critical moment,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52with just three months to go before D-day.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56Elliott was now the darling of MI6.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00But Nicholas Elliott's great triumph
0:20:00 > 0:20:03was not really a triumph at all.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06Philby had a secret
0:20:06 > 0:20:09that his friend knew nothing about.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Two years earlier,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Kim Philby travelled from St Albans to London
0:20:19 > 0:20:22carrying a bulging briefcase.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29After completing a round of visits to MI5 and MI6,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33he descended into the depths St James's Park Tube.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39He let the first train leave without boarding.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Then he waited until every other passenger
0:20:42 > 0:20:44had boarded the next train,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47before slipping on just as the doors closed.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51Two stops later,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53he alighted
0:20:53 > 0:20:56and caught a train in the opposite direction.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04When he was certain that he was not being followed,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Philby made his way to Regent's Park.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11Here, a stocky, fair-haired man was waiting for him on a bench.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13They shook hands,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Philby handed over a bundle of papers
0:21:16 > 0:21:19and then returned home to St Albans.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Had his good friend Nicholas Elliott examined the papers,
0:21:23 > 0:21:28he would have been first shocked and then mortified.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Here was a detailed description of British counter-intelligence,
0:21:31 > 0:21:36its personnel, operations, aims, successes and failures,
0:21:36 > 0:21:41all written out in Kim Philby's neat, tiny handwriting.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43But there was one passage in particular
0:21:43 > 0:21:46that would have left Elliot aghast.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53"Mr Nicholas Elliott. 24, 5' 9",
0:21:53 > 0:21:56"brown hair, prominent lips, black glasses.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00"Ugly and rather pig-like to look at.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02"Good brain, good sense of humour.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04"Likes a drink but was recently very ill and now,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07"as a consequence, drinks little."
0:22:07 > 0:22:10Elliott would have been still more astonished
0:22:10 > 0:22:12to discover that his so-called friend
0:22:12 > 0:22:15was an agent of Stalin's intelligence service,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19an experienced Soviet spy of eight years' standing,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22with his own codename - "Sonny."
0:22:27 > 0:22:31So, while Philby and Elliot may have seemed like brothers,
0:22:31 > 0:22:33they couldn't have been more different.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Kim Philby led a life that Nicholas Elliott,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39his dear friend and closest colleague,
0:22:39 > 0:22:42knew nothing about.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47He did not know that Philby had joined MI6
0:22:47 > 0:22:50not as an eager patriot like himself
0:22:50 > 0:22:52but in Philby's own words
0:22:52 > 0:22:55as a "penetration agent in the Soviet interest".
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Did you say we'll be sharing an office?
0:22:58 > 0:23:02I believe so. It rather depends on the formidable Miss Pettigrew.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Oh, so she's the boss, is she?
0:23:05 > 0:23:09He didn't know that during their long, convivial evenings together,
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Philby was hard at work,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15absorbing his friend's secrets as fast as the gin,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18and passing it all on to Moscow.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Elliott had spent his time at Cambridge enjoying himself,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28immune to the violent political currents which swept up Philby
0:23:28 > 0:23:32and many other clever, angry, ideological young men.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Among them was Guy Burgess,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39a flamboyant homosexual with a streak of devilry,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42who had also wormed his way into British intelligence.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46And Donald Maclean,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49a highly strung and highly intelligent linguist
0:23:49 > 0:23:52who had already distinguished himself at the Foreign Office.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58With Fascism on the march across Europe,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02to many, communism seemed the only viable alternative.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Philby and his friends believed
0:24:05 > 0:24:09they were taking a moral and ideological stand.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14At least, that is how their secret revolution began.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18These three men left Cambridge
0:24:18 > 0:24:21secretly and entirely committed to communism.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26They were the most unlikely of revolutionaries,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30members of the British Establishment hellbent on destroying it.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34The recruitment of Kim Philby
0:24:34 > 0:24:37was straight out of a cheap spy novel.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41In June 1934, he came here, to Regent's Park,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44to meet a man he knew only as Otto.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47Otto would induct him into the Russian secret service
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and set him on the path to high treason.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Otto's real name was Arnold Deutsch.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58He was short and stout, in his early 30s,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01with curly fair hair and piercing blue eyes.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04He would become the prime architect
0:25:04 > 0:25:07of what would later be known as the Cambridge spy ring.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Otto instructed Philby in the art of spy craft -
0:25:14 > 0:25:18how to arrange a meeting, where to leave messages,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21how to detect if his telephone was bugged.
0:25:21 > 0:25:27Otto also presented Philby with a new camera to copy documents.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31Philby memorised Deutsch's lessons like poetry.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33His double life had begun.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39One of his first jobs was to spy on his own father.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43St John Philby was a noted explorer and scholar
0:25:43 > 0:25:47who the KGB wrongly believed was also in intelligence.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50But if asking Philby to spy on his father
0:25:50 > 0:25:52was a test of his resolve and commitment,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Philby passed it easily.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57He did whatever was asked of him.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02He even reported on his wife Aileen.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06"Her views are like the majority of the wealthy middle class,"
0:26:06 > 0:26:09he wrote, "bourgeois and philistine."
0:26:09 > 0:26:13"She believes in upbringing, the Royal Navy, personal freedom,
0:26:13 > 0:26:17"honour, the constitutional system and democracy.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21"I am sure I can cure her of these confusions."
0:26:24 > 0:26:27This, then, was Kim Philby,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31a man who was happy to spy on his father, his wife
0:26:31 > 0:26:34and his best friend.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38This is an absolute treasure trove! If it's all true.
0:26:38 > 0:26:44When, in 1943, Elliott brought in the German defector Erich Vermehren,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47all was not quite as it seemed.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50This is an absolute bloody triumph, Nick.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55And it's your triumph.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02One of the most important items of information
0:27:02 > 0:27:06passed on by the Vermehrens to Elliott and Philby
0:27:06 > 0:27:09was a list of influential Germans who opposed communism
0:27:09 > 0:27:12and were determined to build a new Germany
0:27:12 > 0:27:14without Soviet influence.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20With the Red Army poised to march into Germany from the East,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23MI6 did not pass this list on to Moscow.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27But Philby did.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30He supplied a ready-made shopping list of undesirables
0:27:30 > 0:27:33to be liquidated as the Red Army advanced.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37After the war, Allied officers went in search
0:27:37 > 0:27:39of these anti-communist activists
0:27:39 > 0:27:42and found none of them.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45The Vermehrens believed they were alerting MI6
0:27:45 > 0:27:49to the men and women who would save Germany from communism.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54Unwittingly, they handed them over to Moscow's death squads.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Thanks to Kim Philby's betrayal,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00Elliott's moment of greatest triumph
0:28:00 > 0:28:04was a secret, sordid tragedy.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12With the Allied defeat of fascism in 1945,
0:28:12 > 0:28:14Philby and Elliott,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17like so many others who had come of age in the war,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20began to wonder what they would do with their lives
0:28:20 > 0:28:22now that it was all over.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26They decided to remain in the intelligence game
0:28:26 > 0:28:28and make a career of it.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Both had distinguished themselves in the arcane arts of espionage,
0:28:32 > 0:28:35both were destined for rapid promotion.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39And both saw their ambitions realised
0:28:39 > 0:28:42when a new war, the Cold War, began.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46From Stettin in the Baltic
0:28:46 > 0:28:49to Trieste in the Adriatic,
0:28:49 > 0:28:53an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59The West's new enemy lay behind the Iron Curtain.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01The game had changed.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04But Kim Philby's allegiance had not.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10To cope with the looming Soviet menace,
0:29:10 > 0:29:15MI6 set up a new section, Section IX.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18Philby, the Soviet mole,
0:29:18 > 0:29:22set to work to ensure that HE was chosen to run it.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26Everybody spoke well of him,
0:29:26 > 0:29:29people who worked with him,
0:29:29 > 0:29:33and he would be an obvious choice.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38He was very quick and very vocal, he could talk well, you know?
0:29:38 > 0:29:41He could put his ideas into words and be convincing.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49Philby was seen as a rising star in British intelligence.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57And in late 1944, he was told that he would be in command
0:29:57 > 0:29:59of Britain's new anti-Soviet unit.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05The fox was now not just guarding the hen coop
0:30:05 > 0:30:09but building it, running it and planning its future.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Moscow was ecstatic.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14And so was Nicholas Elliott,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18still completely unaware that his friend Philby
0:30:18 > 0:30:20was playing for the other side.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26As the new conflict grew chillier,
0:30:26 > 0:30:29Soviet defectors began to flee to the West,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32bringing with them some of the Soviet Union's
0:30:32 > 0:30:34most precious secrets.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38On September 4th 1945,
0:30:38 > 0:30:43a senior Soviet intelligence officer named Konstantin Volkov
0:30:43 > 0:30:46appeared at the British Consulate in Istanbul.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50In a state of terror,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53he announced that he wished to defect to the West with his wife.
0:30:56 > 0:31:01Here was a potential espionage coup of spectacular proportions,
0:31:01 > 0:31:03a treasure trove of secrets
0:31:03 > 0:31:07that could alter the balance of power in international espionage
0:31:07 > 0:31:08at a stroke.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10But there was more.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15Volkov also offered to identify
0:31:15 > 0:31:19a key Soviet spy inside British intelligence.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23The spy in question, he tantalisingly announced,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26was currently the head of a counter-espionage section
0:31:26 > 0:31:28within MI6.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32When Volkov's report arrived in London,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34it was delivered to the desk
0:31:34 > 0:31:38of the new head of anti-Soviet intelligence operations.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47Philby read it with mounting horror
0:31:47 > 0:31:51as it sunk in that the spy hinted at by Volkov must be him.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55This lone defector had enough information
0:31:55 > 0:31:57to expose and destroy him.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02"That evening I worked late," Philby later wrote.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04"The situation seemed to call
0:32:04 > 0:32:08"for urgent action of an extra-curricular nature."
0:32:10 > 0:32:13He then arranged a hasty meeting with his Soviet controller
0:32:13 > 0:32:16and told him what had happened.
0:32:16 > 0:32:21His instructions were, "Stall, stall, stall."
0:32:21 > 0:32:23Volkov would be dealt with.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27The ruthless machinery of Soviet intelligence
0:32:27 > 0:32:29swung into action.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35The next morning, Philby was in his boss's office
0:32:35 > 0:32:39to discuss what to do about Volkov's extraordinary offer.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44The obvious candidate to handle the case was Nicholas Elliott,
0:32:44 > 0:32:48who had already extracted one important defector from Istanbul.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52But the competent Elliott
0:32:52 > 0:32:55was the very last person that Philby wanted to take over the case.
0:32:55 > 0:33:00Instead, he suggested that he should go to Istanbul
0:33:00 > 0:33:03and handle the defection of Volkov himself.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10His boss agreed, and Philby was given the job.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14He then did everything he could to drag his feet
0:33:14 > 0:33:16and give the Soviets time to act.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20For three more days, he dawdled.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27He was still packing
0:33:27 > 0:33:31when the Turkish consulate in Moscow issued visas
0:33:31 > 0:33:34authorising two Soviet diplomatic couriers
0:33:34 > 0:33:36to travel to Istanbul.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42It was not until 26th September
0:33:42 > 0:33:45that Philby finally arrived in Istanbul,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49some 22 days after Volkov's first contact.
0:33:51 > 0:33:56The city was looking particularly beautiful in the late-summer sun.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00Philby reflected that if he could not stop Volkov's defection,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03this might be the last memorable summer
0:34:03 > 0:34:05he was destined to enjoy.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12When Philby was asked why MI6 had not sent someone sooner,
0:34:12 > 0:34:14he offered a bland lie.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19"Sorry, old man, it would have interfered with leave arrangements."
0:34:19 > 0:34:21It was not until many years later
0:34:21 > 0:34:25that officials began to question why it had taken Philby quite so long
0:34:25 > 0:34:27to get to Istanbul.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32We all completely trusted him.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36And nobody ever thought anything, nobody had a suspicion.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Even people who'd known him a long time.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44He must have been an extremely good actor.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48When a call was eventually made to Volkov,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Philby and his colleagues at the embassy were told...
0:34:51 > 0:34:54TRANSLATION:
0:34:56 > 0:34:59Then there was the sound of a scuffle
0:34:59 > 0:35:01and the line went dead.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06To Philby, it all made perfect sense.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08The case was dead.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12And so, by this point, was Volkov.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Volkov left no traces behind.
0:35:17 > 0:35:18No photograph,
0:35:18 > 0:35:20no file in the Russian archives
0:35:20 > 0:35:24and no evidence about his real motives.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27Neither his family, nor that of his wife,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30has ever emerged from the darkness of Stalin's state.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36Volkov was not merely liquidated, he was expunged.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41Philby told his bosses back in London that Volkov
0:35:41 > 0:35:45had mysteriously disappeared, and the case was closed.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49But he knew perfectly well what had really happened.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53He later wrote that Volkov was a "nasty piece of work"
0:35:53 > 0:35:55who "got what he deserved".
0:35:57 > 0:36:00The failure of the Volkov case did nothing to impede Philby's
0:36:00 > 0:36:02rise up the ranks.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05He was now a prime candidate to run MI6.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08In 1946, he was informed
0:36:08 > 0:36:11that he was to follow in Elliott's footsteps,
0:36:11 > 0:36:14as MI6 Station Chief in Istanbul.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16He was briefed by Elliott.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18Any tips?
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Yes, watch out for the guards on the Anatolian Express.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23They're all in Soviet pay.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27And spend a lot of time in Taksim's.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29It's a rather...exciting place.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31HE CHUCKLES
0:36:31 > 0:36:33Absolutely crawling with spies.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35I was there one night.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39There was this beautiful belly dancer with jet black hair,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42shimmying about and all sorts.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45The next thing I know, I look up
0:36:45 > 0:36:48and she's collapsed in a heap, must have turned her ankle or something.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50Know what she said?
0:36:50 > 0:36:51"Bugger!"
0:36:51 > 0:36:55THEY LAUGH Turns out she was from Bradford!
0:36:55 > 0:37:00Well, so much for the exotic East.Well, quite!
0:37:06 > 0:37:08Philby, like Elliott before him,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11was pleased with his first foreign posting.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14He rented a villa on the shores of the Bosphorous
0:37:14 > 0:37:16and installed his growing family.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19Armed with Elliott's introductions,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23he slipped easily into the spy society of Istanbul.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28His main task was infiltrating anti-communist agents
0:37:28 > 0:37:32into the Soviet bloc along a broad front -
0:37:32 > 0:37:36the Ukraine, the Crimea, Georgia,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38Armenia and Azerbaijan.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44Philby found the work fascinating...
0:37:44 > 0:37:46and so did Moscow.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52So, with one hand, Philby set up infiltration operations,
0:37:52 > 0:37:55and with the other, he unpicked them.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59According to his Soviet controllers, they knew in advance
0:37:59 > 0:38:03of every operation that took place by land, air or sea.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Philby later wrote,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09"I do not know what happened to the parties concerned,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12"but I can make an informed guess."
0:38:15 > 0:38:19Philby's work for MI6 and the Soviets was going swimmingly.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23The same could not be said for his marriage.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28His wife Aileen knew nothing of his spy activities.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33She thought he was a straightforward diplomat.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36But she, too, had her secrets.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43In March 1949, Aileen was found lying by a country road
0:38:43 > 0:38:47bleeding from a nasty wound to the head.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50She claimed she had been attacked by a Turkish man,
0:38:50 > 0:38:52who had hit her with a rock.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56But Turkish police could find no evidence of the crime
0:38:56 > 0:39:01and when questioned, Aileen became increasingly evasive and hysterical.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04Her doctors were baffled.
0:39:06 > 0:39:11In this moment of crisis, Philby turned to his old friend,
0:39:11 > 0:39:14who was now based in the Swiss city of Bern.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18Two days to see this chap, this...specialist,
0:39:18 > 0:39:21and he doesn't even have the results.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24What did he say? Nothing that makes any sense.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27There's not a doctor here can find a damn thing wrong with her.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30I'll find someone, old chap. The clinics here are top notch.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33Give me a day or two. You can rely on me, Kim.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35Thanks, old chap.
0:39:38 > 0:39:44Elliot sprang into action and within days, Aileen was settled into
0:39:44 > 0:39:49a comfortable clinic in Bern, while Philby moved in with the Elliotts.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55But within days of her arrival, Aileen tried to set fire
0:39:55 > 0:39:59to her hospital room and slashed her arm with a razor.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03The Swiss doctor quickly established that the head injury
0:40:03 > 0:40:05was also self-inflicted.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10The story of the attack in Istanbul had been entirely invented.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14Philby was livid.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18For years, unknown to her husband,
0:40:18 > 0:40:22Aileen had been suffering from what we now call Munchausen syndrome,
0:40:22 > 0:40:25a severe psychological condition that meant
0:40:25 > 0:40:29that she craved the attention that came with illness and injury.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33She would often inject herself with urine,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36causing her body to erupt with boils.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Philby complained bitterly to Elliott
0:40:42 > 0:40:46that Aileen had hoodwinked him, and he could never forgive her.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51Elliott believed it was an affront to Philby's professional pride,
0:40:51 > 0:40:54that he, an intelligence officer trained to spot deception,
0:40:54 > 0:40:59had been tricked, as he put it, by his own wife.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04The deceiver had been deceived, and he hated it.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21In the summer of 1949,
0:41:21 > 0:41:26British intelligence awarded Philby its top foreign posting...
0:41:28 > 0:41:31..MI6 Station Chief in Washington DC.
0:41:34 > 0:41:39Philby was now at the centre of the international intelligence world,
0:41:39 > 0:41:44with access not only to the secrets of MI5 and MI6,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47but also those of the CIA and the FBI.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Philby was delighted by what he called
0:41:54 > 0:41:58the "unlimited possibilities" for espionage
0:41:58 > 0:42:01on behalf of his Soviet masters.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08In the US, Philby would be responsible for maintaining
0:42:08 > 0:42:11the Anglo-American intelligence relationship,
0:42:11 > 0:42:16linking up with the FBI and CIA, and even handling secret
0:42:16 > 0:42:20communications between the British Prime Minister and the President.
0:42:20 > 0:42:25MI6 could not have given him a more emphatic vote of confidence.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32Philby did not even consult Aileen before moving his family
0:42:32 > 0:42:37into a large, two-storey house at 4,100 Nebraska Avenue,
0:42:37 > 0:42:40which was soon a riot of children's toys,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43full ashtrays and empty bottles.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49Philby loved Washington, and Washington loved him.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51Here was a family man,
0:42:51 > 0:42:56the quintessential English gentleman, a man you could trust.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00Within weeks he had made contact and, frequently, friends
0:43:00 > 0:43:04with just about everybody of note in American intelligence.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07Philby's charm was transatlantic.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14Philby charmed one CIA officer in particular.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17Both Philby and Elliott had got to know him
0:43:17 > 0:43:22in London during the war, and they had all got on famously.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25His name was James Jesus Angleton.
0:43:29 > 0:43:34In intelligence circles, Angleton was thought to possess more secrets
0:43:34 > 0:43:39than anyone else, and to grasp their meaning better than anyone else.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43Philby saw him as the driving force within the CIA
0:43:43 > 0:43:47and couldn't have been happier with their renewed friendship.
0:43:47 > 0:43:52Philby and Angleton used to dine in the smartest restaurants
0:43:52 > 0:43:56in Washington, to gossip over the starched tablecloths
0:43:56 > 0:43:59and full glasses.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04Once again, Philby used friendship and charm to extract secrets.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07This time, American secrets.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09Angleton told him
0:44:09 > 0:44:12all about the CIA's covert operations
0:44:12 > 0:44:15in Cuba, Chile, Greece, Iran,
0:44:15 > 0:44:20but perhaps most significantly, they discussed Operation Valuable.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25Operation Valuable was one of the most ambitious
0:44:25 > 0:44:27Cold War missions of them all.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29The target was Albania.
0:44:30 > 0:44:34Sandwiched between Yugoslavia and Greece, the tiny,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37sparsely populated country was to become a rather unlikely
0:44:37 > 0:44:42battleground in the undeclared war between East and West.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Politically volatile,
0:44:46 > 0:44:50Albania had fallen under the iron rule of the hard-line Marxist
0:44:50 > 0:44:52Enver Hoxha,
0:44:52 > 0:44:56who set about transforming the country into a Stalinist state.
0:44:59 > 0:45:04Hoxha's brutal rule had forced thousands of Albanians into exile.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08Many of these were now itching to return to their homeland
0:45:08 > 0:45:11and oust the communists.
0:45:15 > 0:45:16So, for the spy masters
0:45:16 > 0:45:19of Washington and London,
0:45:19 > 0:45:23Albania seemed the perfect place to wage secret war on communism.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27The idea was simple.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31Trained anti-communist guerrillas would be slipped into Albania
0:45:31 > 0:45:35to start a civil war that would topple the communist regime.
0:45:35 > 0:45:40And the man in charge of passing the details between MI6 and the CIA,
0:45:40 > 0:45:44and then on to Moscow, was Kim Philby.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50Philby served his two masters with brutal efficiency.
0:45:50 > 0:45:55Anti-communist insurgents did indeed arrive in Albania,
0:45:55 > 0:45:59but when they did, the Albanian security forces were primed
0:45:59 > 0:46:03and waiting, tipped off in advance.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09Carnage ensued.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13For each guerrilla, dozens of family members were shot
0:46:13 > 0:46:16or thrown into prison, where many died.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21The precise death toll will never be known.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28Operation Valuable was a stunning disaster,
0:46:28 > 0:46:32of which the British and American public remained entirely unaware.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36But Philby later gloried in what he had done -
0:46:36 > 0:46:39"They knew the risks they were running," he said.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41"I have no regrets."
0:46:44 > 0:46:48Back in London, with the fear of communism growing, there was some
0:46:48 > 0:46:52anxiety that official secrecy was not quite as tight as it might be.
0:46:52 > 0:46:57Among those called in for a friendly chat was Nicholas Elliott,
0:46:57 > 0:46:59who later described the conversation.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01KNOCK ON DOOR
0:47:01 > 0:47:05Come in, sit down, I want to have a frank word with you.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07As you wish, Colonel.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11Does your wife know what you do?Yes.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13And how did that come about?
0:47:13 > 0:47:15She was my secretary for two years
0:47:15 > 0:47:18and I think the penny must have dropped.Ah, quite so.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20And what about your mother?
0:47:20 > 0:47:24She thinks I'm a member of the Secret Intelligence Service.
0:47:24 > 0:47:25Good God!
0:47:25 > 0:47:27How did she come to know that?
0:47:27 > 0:47:30She was told by a member of the Cabinet,
0:47:30 > 0:47:31at a cocktail party.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33And what about your father?
0:47:33 > 0:47:35Ah, he thinks I'm a spy.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38Why should he think you're a spy?
0:47:38 > 0:47:42The Chief of MI6 told him at the bar at White's club.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44Ah!
0:47:46 > 0:47:48And that, once again, was that.
0:47:52 > 0:47:53But in America,
0:47:53 > 0:47:58code-breakers were closing in on some REAL communist spies.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02Due to a single blunder by the Soviets, Russian intelligence
0:48:02 > 0:48:06messages sent by wireless during the war could now be read,
0:48:06 > 0:48:09at least in part.
0:48:09 > 0:48:14What they revealed was staggering, and terrifying -
0:48:14 > 0:48:17Soviet spies had penetrated both the US
0:48:17 > 0:48:21and the British Government at a senior level.
0:48:21 > 0:48:26One name in particular stood out - Homer,
0:48:26 > 0:48:29the codename of an agent who had been leaking secrets
0:48:29 > 0:48:33from within the British Embassy in Washington in 1945.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38The identity of this mole was still a mystery,
0:48:38 > 0:48:42but it was assumed that Homer was most probably
0:48:42 > 0:48:45an embassy employee - a cleaner, perhaps, or a clerk.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49Philby knew better.
0:48:49 > 0:48:53Donald Maclean, his old Cambridge friend
0:48:53 > 0:48:55and fellow Soviet spy,
0:48:55 > 0:48:59had been First Secretary at the Washington Embassy in 1945.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03Maclean was Homer.
0:49:06 > 0:49:11If Maclean was exposed, Philby knew he would not be far behind.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13The net was closing.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17Fearing the worse, he discreetly lobbied London to send him
0:49:17 > 0:49:20advance notice of any decoding breakthroughs.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24But as he prepared for the worst,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27Philby received a letter that would change the rest of his life.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30"Dear Kim, I have a shock for you.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33"I have been posted to Washington.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35"Can I come and stay with you, only for a few days,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38"while I find somewhere to live?"
0:49:38 > 0:49:42The letter was from another of the Cambridge spy ring,
0:49:42 > 0:49:45the irrepressible Guy Burgess who, like Maclean,
0:49:45 > 0:49:48was now working at the Foreign Office.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53Philby and Burgess had been friends for more than 20 years.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56They had discovered communism together at Cambridge
0:49:56 > 0:49:59and they remained locked in service to Moscow.
0:49:59 > 0:50:04Burgess was one of the only people to whom Philby could speak openly.
0:50:05 > 0:50:10And, crucially, Burgess was also a friend of Donald Maclean.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15But Aileen Philby, still in a fragile state,
0:50:15 > 0:50:17hated everything about Burgess,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19and the last thing she wanted
0:50:19 > 0:50:22was this dissolute drunk as a house guest.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26Philby insisted. His old friend must be made welcome.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29A furious row followed, duly reported back
0:50:29 > 0:50:33by both parties to Elliott.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35I hear Burgess is with you.Yes.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39It's the very least we can do for an old friend.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42It's only for few days. Two weeks at the absolute most.
0:50:42 > 0:50:43Have you gone raving mad, Kim?
0:50:43 > 0:50:47He'll be drunk all the time, and Aileen does detest him.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49He's not worth your marriage, is he?
0:50:49 > 0:50:52I can keep my eye on him better here than if he's roaming the streets,
0:50:52 > 0:50:55and besides, he is rather fun.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59Don't you remember our boozy evenings a trois in Pruniers?
0:50:59 > 0:51:02If insulting everyone he meets is entertaining,
0:51:02 > 0:51:06I suppose you're right, but don't say I didn't warn you.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08I've got to Kim.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14Soon after Burgess was installed in Nebraska Avenue,
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Philby told him about the hunt for Homer,
0:51:17 > 0:51:21and the increasing risk that Maclean might be exposed and confess all.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28Both Burgess and Philby knew that Maclean was a liability.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30He'd recently got drunk,
0:51:30 > 0:51:34smashed up a flat belonging to two embassy secretaries, ripped up
0:51:34 > 0:51:39their underwear, and hurled a large ornamental mirror into their bath.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42He'd been sent home and then, amazingly,
0:51:42 > 0:51:47promoted to run the American desk at the Foreign Office.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51Even drunken, unhinged knicker-shredding, it seemed,
0:51:51 > 0:51:55was no bar to advancement in the British Diplomatic Service...
0:51:55 > 0:51:57if you were the right sort.
0:52:00 > 0:52:06In March 1951, the news that Philby had been dreading came through -
0:52:06 > 0:52:10the identity of Homer had been confirmed.
0:52:10 > 0:52:15Philby immediately told his Soviet handler and demanded that Maclean be
0:52:15 > 0:52:20extracted from the UK and spirited off to Moscow before he compromised
0:52:20 > 0:52:25the entire British spy network, most importantly, Philby himself.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29But first Maclean needed to be warned
0:52:29 > 0:52:32that he was in acute danger.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36The ideal messenger, Philby concluded, was close at hand,
0:52:36 > 0:52:39in the disreputable shape of Guy Burgess.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44The two spies dined in downtown Washington to rehearse the plan.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48Burgess would return to London, pass on the warning
0:52:48 > 0:52:52and the Soviets would arrange Maclean's escape to Moscow.
0:52:52 > 0:52:58"Don't you go too," said Philby, "If you do, that'll be the end of me."
0:53:00 > 0:53:03But unknown to Philby, the Soviets
0:53:03 > 0:53:06had insisted that Burgess must accompany Maclean to Moscow.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09Burgess had at first objected,
0:53:09 > 0:53:12pointing out that he had no desire to defect and found the prospect
0:53:12 > 0:53:15of life in Moscow quite ghastly,
0:53:15 > 0:53:18but finally, he was persuaded to go.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24With the news that Burgess and Maclean had disappeared,
0:53:24 > 0:53:27the Foreign Office sent out an urgent telegram to embassies
0:53:27 > 0:53:32and MI6 stations throughout Europe, with instructions that Burgess
0:53:32 > 0:53:37and Maclean must be apprehended "at all costs and by all means".
0:53:39 > 0:53:43Elliott gave orders that the Soviet Embassy in Switzerland
0:53:43 > 0:53:46also be placed under surveillance.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50One of his colleagues prepared a decanter of poisoned Scotch,
0:53:50 > 0:53:54just in case the notoriously thirsty fugitives turned up
0:53:54 > 0:53:57and needed to be immobilised.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00But by that time,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03Burgess and Maclean were being toasted by the Soviets...
0:54:03 > 0:54:05in Moscow.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Back in Washington, Philby was called to the embassy
0:54:10 > 0:54:15by Geoffrey Paterson, the MI5 representative, and told the news.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21Patterson told Philby, "The bird has flown."
0:54:21 > 0:54:25"What bird?" asked Philby, feigning surprise. "Not Maclean?"
0:54:25 > 0:54:28"Yes, Maclean," replied Paterson,
0:54:28 > 0:54:32"but worse than that, Burgess has gone with him."
0:54:32 > 0:54:35Philby was now genuinely alarmed.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43Philby told Paterson he was going home for a stiff drink, behaviour
0:54:43 > 0:54:47that anyone who knew him would have considered perfectly normal.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49TYRES SQUEAL
0:54:51 > 0:54:54But once back at Nebraska Avenue, Philby headed
0:54:54 > 0:54:58not for the drinks cabinet, but for the potting shed.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08Here, he extracted from its hiding place a Russian camera,
0:55:08 > 0:55:11given to him by the Soviets to copy documents.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15Next he got a trowel.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21He then placed the camera, a tripod and some film in the boot
0:55:21 > 0:55:26of his car, gunned the engine, and drove north up Nebraska Avenue.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32Philby knew that his association with Burgess was a time bomb.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38Very soon, the FBI and MI5 would come asking questions.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45On a deserted stretch of road, with woods on one side
0:55:45 > 0:55:48and the river on the other, Philby parked,
0:55:48 > 0:55:52extracted the containers and trowel, and headed into the trees.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00Philby emerged a few minutes later,
0:56:00 > 0:56:04casually doing up his flies, just in case anyone happened to be passing.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09Somewhere in these woods, in a shallow hole,
0:56:09 > 0:56:14lies a cache of Soviet Spy equipment that has remained buried
0:56:14 > 0:56:19for more than 60 years, a secret memorial to Philby's spy craft.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27If Philby was going to make his escape
0:56:27 > 0:56:32and join Burgess and Maclean in Soviet exile, now was his moment.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41But he did not run.
0:56:41 > 0:56:43He decided to stay and bluff it out.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50He knew that when the mole-hunters started to look into his past,
0:56:50 > 0:56:53they would find the evidence was mostly circumstantial.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00To his masters in MI6, Philby had always been an exemplary officer
0:57:00 > 0:57:02with an unblemished record.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12And Philby had one other weapon in his arsenal
0:57:12 > 0:57:15and that was his talent for friendship.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20He had powerful allies on both sides of the Atlantic who had
0:57:20 > 0:57:23known him and trusted him for years.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28Philby knew he could rely on his friends to defend him,
0:57:28 > 0:57:30and one above all.
0:57:31 > 0:57:33Nicholas Elliott.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39But friendship and loyalty only stretch so far.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43Could a man with so many secrets really carry on
0:57:43 > 0:57:45deceiving everyone around him?
0:57:53 > 0:57:56In the next episode, the net tightens...
0:57:56 > 0:57:59Nick, they think I'm a bloody communist!
0:57:59 > 0:58:01..MI5 closes in...
0:58:01 > 0:58:04They're calling me "the third man".
0:58:04 > 0:58:07..and Philby is out in the cold.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10The only mark against you is your association with Burgess.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13Thankfully, I have other friends that I CAN rely upon.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16Once again Elliott, stands by his friend,
0:58:16 > 0:58:19but for how long?