Episode 2 Kim Philby - His Most Intimate Betrayal


Episode 2

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Transcript


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'Let's be gentlemen about this.'

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I'm sure we can work something out.

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'Your past has caught up with you, Kim.'

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The game's up.

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'We've penetrated the KGB.'

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You see how foolish this seems.

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It's astonishing, totally absurd.

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You know it's absurd.

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Do you want me to give you my version of your work for the Russians?

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Do you want me to spell it out for you?

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-Are you serious?

-Yes, Kim.

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I am.

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'Is Nedosekin your contact?'

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'I don't have a bloody contact.'

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Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby, fellow officers in MI6,

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had been the closest of friends for more than 20 years.

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These were spies cut from the same cloth.

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Yet, they could not have been more different.

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These friends were, in reality, bitter enemies,

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fighting on opposite sides of the Cold War.

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This peculiarly British friendship between two spies

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offers an extraordinary insight

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into one of the most important secret chapters of that conflict.

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OK.

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Here's...

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PHILBY CHUCKLES

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H-Here's the scoop.

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'H-Here's the scoop.'

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'H-Here's the scoop. H-Here's the scoop.'

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14 years earlier,

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37-year-old intelligence officer, Harold "Kim" Philby,

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was bound to the US aboard one of Cunard's finest luxury liners.

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He had been offered a top job.

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Philby was a rising star in MI6,

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Britain's secret intelligence service.

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He arrived in Washington as the new Head Of Station,

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one of MI6'S plum postings.

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As the liaison between MI6 and the CIA,

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Philby was now a key player in the Cold War,

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with access to America's most closely-guarded secrets.

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But Philby had a secret of his own, one that he did not share.

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Philby led a double life,

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one as a loyal and supremely charming British intelligence officer

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and the other as a Soviet agent.

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Philby appeared to be the quintessential English patriot.

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But for more than 15 years,

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he had been feeding British and American secrets to Moscow,

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causing the deaths of hundreds of people.

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Philby's code name was Stanley

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and he was the Soviet Union's most important spy.

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Moscow couldn't have been happier with Agent Stanley.

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London was also pleased with him.

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He was even being considered as a future chief of MI6.

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He'd been always talked about as this wonderful man

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who was a leading light in the office.

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Of course, Philby just seemed so completely un-spylike,

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you didn't think of him as a spy.

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You believed in him.

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But then came disaster.

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This is the BBC Home Service and here is the news.

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On Monday, 11th June, 1951,

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Kim Philby was urgently recalled to London

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and, as he put it, "I knew I'd landed in the soup."

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A fortnight earlier, two British diplomats,

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Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean,

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had suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.

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Mr Morrison has made a statement in the House of Commons

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about the disappearance of the two Foreign Office officials.

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He said there had been no confirmed news of their whereabouts,

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security aspects of the case were being investigated

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and it was not in the public interest to disclose them.

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In the test match at Nottingham, England 419...

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Philby knew the missing diplomats

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and he knew that both of them were also Soviet spies.

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Burgess was a close friend.

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A few weeks earlier,

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he'd been sharing Philby's house in Washington.

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Through his work for MI6, Philby had discovered

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that Maclean was under surveillance and about to be arrested.

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So Philby had sent Burgess to London to warn Maclean

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that his cover was about to be blown

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and together they had fled to Russia.

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Now, Philby's links with the two missing diplomats

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had made him a target of suspicion.

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He was invited to Leconfield House in Mayfair

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for questioning by MI5, the domestic security service.

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Waiting for him was Dick Goldsmith White,

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the chief of counter-intelligence.

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The son of a Kentish ironmonger, White was a veteran spy hunter,

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polite, relentless and completely ruthless.

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It was White's job to snoop and pry.

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He had authority to bug, burgle

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and spy on anyone he considered a threat to national security.

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And what he needed to know was whether Philby was in league

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with the two Soviet agents, Burgess and Maclean.

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Had a third man tipped them off to flee to Moscow

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and, if so, was Philby that third man?

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Their meeting was a polite, slightly embarrassed affair,

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but both men knew that a brutal game of cat-and-mouse had begun.

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White began by telling Philby

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that he was simply aiding an investigation

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into this horrible business of the two missing diplomats.

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He reassured him that he was not the target of an investigation himself.

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"Was it remotely possible," White asked,

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"that Burgess could have been a secret Soviet spy?"

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"Absolutely inconceivable," said Philby,

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he'd known Burgess since Cambridge.

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The man was a drunk, a flagrant homosexual

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and totally unsuitable to be a spy, let alone a Soviet one.

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Dick White suspected that Philby was lying,

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but the case against the MI6 man was circumstantial.

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MI5 needed hard evidence.

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Despite his growing certainty that Philby was a spy,

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Dick White had to tread cautiously.

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Philby's powerful friends in the foreign intelligence service, MI6,

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were already rallying to his side in Westminster,

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and one in particular.

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Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby were birds of a feather.

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Products of public school and Cambridge,

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born into Britain's ruling elite,

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they had risen together through the ranks of MI6.

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Elliott shared everything with Philby,

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but Philby had never revealed his own secret,

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the one that really mattered.

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This was an old-fashioned sort of friendship,

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between two upper-class Englishmen, who seldom discussed their feelings.

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It was based on cricket, clubs, alcohol and jokes.

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But this most intimate of friendships

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disguised the most intimate betrayal.

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Kim probably meant as much to my father, apart from my mother,

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as anybody in his life.

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They had tremendously convivial times together.

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And so, in that circumstance,

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it was such an incredibly disturbing thought to him

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that Kim could possibly be a traitor.

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My father couldn't countenance the idea of betrayal.

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Elliott flatly refused to entertain even the possibility

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that his closest friend could be a Soviet spy.

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They had joined MI6 together, they'd both been to Cambridge.

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For God's sake, the man was a member of the Athenaeum.

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71 runs. Oh, to be at Trent Bridge.

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It was a damn fine display, though.

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Those South African chaps, they are a jolly good bowling outfit.

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I hope you can join me at Lords next week.

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I wouldn't miss it for the world.

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Who would have thought they'd be one up?

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I rather hope all of this with Burgess will be sorted by then.

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I don't know.

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Dick White wants to talk to me again.

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And he wants me to surrender my passport too.

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Oh, Kim, you must fight like hell.

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If I were accused of treachery, I'd complain to the Prime Minister.

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Nick, they think I'm a bloody communist,

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how would I get close to the PM?

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Well, we are not going to stand by and let your reputation

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be traduced by a... a bunch of half-baked rumours.

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I can't drag you into this mess.

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It's OUR mess, Kim.

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And we will sort it out, no matter what Dick White says.

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Elliott defended his friend against all accusers,

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loudly declaring his innocence and bombarding MI5 with complaints

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about the way Philby had been treated.

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With the MI5 investigators closing in,

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Philby was now given his own code name, Peach.

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Dick White summoned Philby to his Mayfair office

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to give him another grilling, this time much less courteous.

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After the interrogation, Peach headed home,

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but now he was no longer alone.

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Officers from MI5's surveillance unit, the watchers,

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were on his tail.

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Most of the watchers were ex-policemen,

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selected for their sharp hearing, good eyesight

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and average height, in order not to be conspicuous.

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But they were also instructed to wear trilby hats and raincoats,

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which made them look exactly like spies.

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As an experienced intelligence officer,

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Philby quickly sensed that he was being followed.

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But the watchers also had company.

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The streets of Mayfair were witnessing

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a Cold War battle of wits

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because the Russians also had Philby under surveillance,

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and his watchers.

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Moscow was alarmed, worried that its top mole, Agent Stanley,

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might be exposed, captured and even turned and used against them.

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The investigation into Kim Philby drove a wedge between MI5 and MI6.

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MI5 were convinced that Philby had tipped off Burgess and Maclean.

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The head of MI6 refused to believe it, but he was left with no choice.

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Philby had to go.

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With great sadness, Major General Sir Stewart Graham Menzies,

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or C for short, called Philby in to give him his marching orders.

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Reluctantly, the head of MI6 told Philby that he must do

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the honourable thing and resign, for the good of the service.

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Philby's glittering career as an intelligence officer was over.

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Elliott was outraged by his friend's dismissal from the firm.

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He vowed that Philby wouldn't be frozen out of MI6 for long

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and he promised to get him back into the service as soon as possible.

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Only weeks earlier, Philby had been a key player

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in the glamorous American capital.

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Now unemployed, he found himself house-hunting near Rickmansworth

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in the quiet Hertfordshire commuter belt.

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He and his wife, Aileen, and their five children,

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were crammed into this rented Victorian cottage called Sun Box.

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The name hardly matched Philby's mood.

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Eventually, Philby found a job, filling out paperwork,

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importing Spanish oranges.

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The work was boring and the commute was dreary.

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He was miserable, argumentative and frequently drunk.

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Philby was out in the cold.

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Month after month, MI5 watched Philby at home and bugged his telephone.

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The recordings of Philby's home phone,

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Chorleywood 9-7, remain secret.

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But one intimate source of information

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has recently been declassified.

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In 1951, the deputy head of MI5 was Guy Maynard Liddell.

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He kept a meticulous diary,

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chronicling the daily incremental progress of the investigation.

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Liddell's diary was so secret, it was locked in its own safe,

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and even had its own code name - Wallflowers.

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But if MI5 had hoped to catch Philby

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chatting on the telephone to his Soviet masters,

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they were disappointed.

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Philby was too canny to say anything incriminating.

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instead he was often overheard in conversation

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with his friends in MI6.

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Philby knew that his every word was being recorded and analysed.

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Eventually, the telephone intercepts would fill 33 volumes,

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but Philby never gave anything away.

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He was pathologically discreet.

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But the intercepts do contain a fascinating new insight

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into the effects of Philby's betrayal.

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Philby's wife, Aileen, was a woman of conventional patriotic loyalties

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and she had become a close friend of Nicholas Elliott.

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But she was also unstable and unhappy.

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Unlike Elliott, she suspected

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that her husband HAD tipped off Burgess and Maclean,

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that he really was the third man.

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This entry is dated 4th August, 1951,

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shortly after Philby was asked to resign.

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TC, that's telephone intercepts, disclosed

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that Philby was going yachting from Chichester with a friend.

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His wife had said, apparently in jest, to Nicholas Elliott,

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"I don't suppose he's doing a dis?" A disappearing act.

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Elliott reassured Aileen there was no danger of her husband defecting,

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since he was entirely innocent.

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but Aileen was not convinced of Philby's loyalties.

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In her increasingly agitated state,

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she began to believe that her husband was plotting an escape.

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One day, Aileen made another urgent telephone call

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to Nicholas Elliott, in a state of hysteria.

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"Kim's gone" she said. "Where?" asked Elliott.

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"To Russia."

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"How do you know?" "He sent me a telegram."

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At this, even Elliott's granite loyalty to his friend began to crumble.

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"What did the telegram say?" he asked.

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"It said, "Farewell forever, love to the children."

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Elliott was stunned. He immediately called MI5.

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An alert was issued to all ports and airports with instructions

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to intercept Philby if he attempted to leave the country.

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But when Elliott then checked with the Post Office

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to try to find a copy of Philby's telegram,

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he was told it did not exist.

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So where was Philby?

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TELEPHONE RINGS

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Chorleywood 9-7.

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Oh, Kim, it's you, thank God.

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'Who were you expecting?'

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Er...I'm just glad you're at home.

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Where else would I be?

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'Ha.'

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The next time I see you

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I'll tell you where else you could have been tonight.

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HE CHUCKLES

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'Good night.'

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-'Chorleywood 9-7.'

-'Kim, it's you, thank God!'

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-'Who were you expecting?'

-'I'm just glad you're at home.'

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'Where else would I be?'

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'The next time I see you I'll tell you where else you could have been tonight.'

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'Good night.'

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Aileen's warning turned out to be a false alarm,

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but she had been remarkably close to the truth.

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Philby had often considered making a run for Moscow.

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Anxious and uncertain, he relied on Elliott more than ever.

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Elliott supported his friend unconditionally.

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He paid Philby's bills and he bolstered his flagging spirits.

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Philby genuinely valued this friendship.

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In his strange double world, he relied on Elliott's kindness

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and advice, while lying to him and betraying him.

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On Tuesday 25th October 1955,

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Philby took a morning train into Central London.

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He had an important appointment in town.

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Philby knew he was still being watched by MI5,

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so on arrival, he went shopping for a new hat and raincoat.

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And then, he performed something rather more out of the ordinary.

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What Philby called the cinema trick.

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He bought a movie ticket,

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but instead of sitting back to enjoy the show,

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he surreptitiously surveyed the audience.

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Before the film was over, Philby slipped out,

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making sure he wasn't being followed.

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He had other plans, a meeting with his Soviet controller.

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The MI5 watcher couldn't give himself away by simply

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standing up and following him out.

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Philby had thrown off his tail.

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The KGB had arranged a meeting with Philby to reassure him

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of their continued moral and financial support.

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The rendezvous went according to plan, but then Philby got a shock.

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Returning home,

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Philby saw a headline that made his blood run cold.

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He'd been identified as a Soviet spy during a parliamentary debate

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and his name was all over the Evening Standard.

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The accusations against Philby, kept secret for so long from the public,

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were now out in the open.

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TELEPHONE RINGS

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-Elliott.

-'Nick. It's me.'

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Have you seen the Standard?

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'My name's all over the papers. I have to do something.'

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They're calling me the third man.

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-'It's absurd.'

-Yes, it's outrageous.

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There was a reporter outside the kitchen window today.

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He scared the cook to death.

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I've had to disconnect the doorbell.

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Someone's even ripped the door knocker off.

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'Kim, calm down.'

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We need to think about this for a day or two, at least.

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'Until then, you need to keep silent.'

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-Keep silent?!

-Kim, please, you need to trust me.

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'We will respond in due course. Don't do anything now, all right?'

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I am being hung out to dry, Nick.

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'You're not alone, you know that. I'll call you tomorrow.'

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'People who had known Kim really well

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'simply would not believe that he could be a Communist spy.

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'He was charming, sympathetic and intelligent,

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'fun to talk to, a family man.'

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He seemed so genuine and so...

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Well...one trusted him completely.

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Scenting an enormous story,

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the press accused the Tory government of a cover-up.

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The authorities would now have to either prosecute Philby

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or clear his name.

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On Monday 7th November, Foreign Secretary Harold Macmillan

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addressed the House Of Commons.

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Macmillan was emphatic.

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He said there was no evidence

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that Philby had ever betrayed the interests of his country.

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He had been an able and conscientious diplomat

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with not a stain on his character.

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Philby was not the so-called third man, if there even was one.

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Why did Macmillan exonerate a man that MI5 believed was guilty?

0:25:010:25:07

Because once again, Philby's friends in MI6 had rallied to his cause

0:25:080:25:13

and convinced the Foreign Secretary of his innocence.

0:25:130:25:17

Careful, rigorous and impartial.

0:25:210:25:23

That's what he said, Kim.

0:25:250:25:27

And no evidence, no evidence.

0:25:280:25:30

Well, that's a relief, I can tell you.

0:25:330:25:37

This whole squalid affair is almost over with. Thank you.

0:25:370:25:41

Oh, there's no need, no need.

0:25:410:25:43

The whole thing was ridiculous, a storm in a teacup.

0:25:430:25:46

The only mark against you is your association with Burgess

0:25:570:26:00

and you know what I've always thought of that.

0:26:000:26:03

Thankfully, I have other friends that I CAN rely upon on.

0:26:030:26:06

Time for a swift one?

0:26:060:26:08

Tomorrow, Kim. Tomorrow.

0:26:080:26:11

You should go home, get some rest.

0:26:110:26:15

You need to prepare, the world will be watching.

0:26:160:26:19

On Elliott's advice,

0:26:290:26:30

Philby called a press conference for the very next morning.

0:26:300:26:34

It was to be held at his mother Dora's fourth floor flat,

0:26:350:26:39

here in Kensington.

0:26:390:26:41

The conference was scheduled for 11 o'clock on the dot.

0:26:460:26:49

When Philby opened the door,

0:27:000:27:02

he was greeted with proof of his new celebrity -

0:27:020:27:05

the stairwell was packed with journalists.

0:27:050:27:08

Philby ushered the world's press into Dora's sitting room.

0:27:090:27:13

What followed, as the camera bulbs popped,

0:27:130:27:17

was a dramatic tour de force,

0:27:170:27:20

a display of unrivalled public dishonesty.

0:27:200:27:24

Philby was in control.

0:27:240:27:26

Holding court, charming, smiling, supremely confident.

0:27:260:27:31

Mr Philby, Mr Macmillan, the Foreign Secretary,

0:27:310:27:34

said there was no evidence that you were the so-called third man

0:27:340:27:37

who allegedly tipped off Burgess and Maclean.

0:27:370:27:39

Are you satisfied with that clearance that he gave you?

0:27:390:27:42

Yes, I am.

0:27:420:27:43

Or if there was a third man, were you in fact the third man?

0:27:440:27:47

No, I was not.

0:27:470:27:49

Do you think there was one?

0:27:490:27:50

No comment.

0:27:500:27:52

Philby looked the world in the eye with a steady gaze

0:27:520:27:55

and lied his head off.

0:27:550:27:58

I'm debarred by the Official Secrets Act

0:27:580:28:00

from saying anything that might disclose to unauthorised persons,

0:28:000:28:05

information derived from my position as a former government official.

0:28:050:28:09

It was such a brilliant demonstration of lying,

0:28:090:28:12

that MI6 still use the footage as a training tool.

0:28:120:28:17

Mr Philby, you were asked to resign yourself from the Foreign Office,

0:28:170:28:20

a few months after Burgess and Maclean disappeared

0:28:200:28:23

and the Foreign Secretary has said that in the past you'd had

0:28:230:28:25

Communist associations, is that why you were asked to resign?

0:28:250:28:29

I was asked to resign because of an imprudent association.

0:28:290:28:33

-That was your association with Burgess?

-Correct.

0:28:330:28:36

-He gave you no idea that he was planning to go?

-Never.

0:28:370:28:41

Would you still regard Burgess, who lived with you for a

0:28:420:28:46

while in Washington, would you still regard him as a friend of yours?

0:28:460:28:49

How do you feel about him now?

0:28:490:28:50

I consider his action deplorable.

0:28:520:28:54

On the subject of friendship,

0:28:550:28:57

I prefer to say as little as possible because it's very complicated.

0:28:570:29:00

Philby played the part of a man

0:29:000:29:03

wrestling with his own conflicted feelings of duty,

0:29:030:29:07

conscience and personal loyalty.

0:29:070:29:10

A man who had been betrayed by his friend.

0:29:100:29:14

It was a virtuoso performance.

0:29:140:29:17

After some polite chitchat, Philby invited the newsmen

0:29:210:29:25

through to the dining room for drinks.

0:29:250:29:29

There was even time to meet Dora, his proud mother.

0:29:290:29:33

This was Philby's moment of triumph. His finest hour.

0:29:360:29:42

He had been officially exonerated by the British Government,

0:29:420:29:45

the world believed him innocent.

0:29:450:29:48

It was a complete vindication for Philby and for Elliott,

0:30:020:30:07

who had insisted on his friend's innocence for so long.

0:30:070:30:10

'Mr Kim Philby, please.'

0:30:150:30:18

'Kim, it's Nick. Why don't you pop down to the front?'

0:30:200:30:24

Something unpleasant again?

0:30:250:30:27

'Quite the opposite, old boy. I may have a new post for you.'

0:30:270:30:32

The Middle East, Beirut.

0:30:320:30:34

Beirut?

0:30:340:30:35

Under what cover?

0:30:380:30:40

'A journalist.'

0:30:400:30:42

Who would send me?

0:30:420:30:43

I've persuaded an old friend on The Observer to take you.

0:30:430:30:46

They'll pay you a salary and so will we.

0:30:460:30:49

How could I say no?

0:30:490:30:51

Good. The country can ill afford to be without a man of your abilities.

0:30:510:30:56

Elliott had used his influence to get Philby a new job.

0:30:590:31:03

He would be working as a foreign correspondent,

0:31:040:31:07

while simultaneously, secretly, gathering intelligence for MI6.

0:31:070:31:13

Kim Philby's re-entry into MI6 showed the old boy network

0:31:160:31:21

running at its smoothest.

0:31:210:31:24

A word in the right ear, a nod, a drink with one of the chaps

0:31:240:31:28

and Philby was back in the club.

0:31:280:31:30

Philby set off for Beirut alone,

0:31:380:31:41

leaving behind his wife Aileen and five children.

0:31:410:31:44

With the Suez Crisis looming, the Middle East was fast becoming

0:31:460:31:50

a new front in the Cold War.

0:31:500:31:53

And Beirut was a city of intrigue.

0:31:530:31:56

Exotic, tense and dangerous, a fertile ground for journalism

0:31:570:32:02

and an even better place for espionage.

0:32:020:32:06

30-year-old Dick Beeston

0:32:080:32:10

was working in Beirut as a foreign correspondent.

0:32:100:32:14

One was rather suspicious of Kim when he arrived, but actually,

0:32:150:32:20

when we got to know him very well, one sort of,

0:32:200:32:23

dropped one's suspicions and

0:32:230:32:25

he used to come round to our house

0:32:250:32:27

and we used to go on picnics and things.

0:32:270:32:29

He was very disarming, I mean,

0:32:290:32:31

he was very relaxed and, you know, easy going.

0:32:310:32:34

He got to know the children, and became a sort of family friend.

0:32:340:32:40

He never let his guard down.

0:32:400:32:42

He's a sort of split personality.

0:32:420:32:45

Just a few months after his arrival,

0:32:470:32:49

Philby began an affair with 42-year-old Eleanor Brewer.

0:32:490:32:54

Eleanor was tall, slim, sweet-natured

0:32:540:32:57

and married to one of his friends.

0:32:570:33:00

But Philby was untroubled by convention.

0:33:000:33:03

In one of the many love letters Philby wrote to Eleanor,

0:33:050:33:09

he told her that he loved her

0:33:090:33:11

because she accepted him for what he was.

0:33:110:33:14

But of course, she had no idea who he really was.

0:33:140:33:17

Then, in December 1957, Philby received an urgent telegram.

0:33:210:33:26

His wife, Aileen, had died.

0:33:270:33:29

She had been found alone at home.

0:33:310:33:34

Just before Christmas, we were in the flower market in Beirut

0:33:360:33:40

and Kim came up to us and said,

0:33:400:33:43

"Darling, I've had some rather wonderful news,

0:33:430:33:45

"let's go and have a drink and I'll tell you all about it

0:33:450:33:49

"at the Normandy Hotel," which was his sort of place.

0:33:490:33:52

And then he produced this cable saying that his wife had just died,

0:33:520:33:55

which was rather sort of chilling.

0:33:550:33:58

But, he said, "Oh, it was, you know, the best for everybody,

0:33:580:34:01

"she'd been very ill," and he was quite light-hearted about it.

0:34:010:34:04

It was rather strange really.

0:34:040:34:06

As a KGB agent, Philby was relieved.

0:34:090:34:12

He was now free of the one person

0:34:120:34:14

most convinced that he was a traitor.

0:34:140:34:18

Kim Philby and his new girlfriend, Eleanor Brewer,

0:34:200:34:23

oblivious to his treachery, were soon married.

0:34:230:34:27

For the Philbys, it was a new beginning.

0:34:290:34:32

The couple moved into a fifth floor apartment in downtown Beirut.

0:34:330:34:38

It's abandoned now, but when Philby lived here,

0:34:400:34:44

it was luxurious, even equipped with its own bar.

0:34:440:34:47

And to complete Philby's happiness, who should arrive in Beirut

0:34:500:34:53

but Nicholas Elliott, as the new MI6 Station Chief

0:34:530:34:58

and now, his new boss.

0:34:580:35:00

The two friends met for lunch

0:35:010:35:03

on the very first day that Elliott arrived in Beirut.

0:35:030:35:07

It was he said, "A most agreeable reunion."

0:35:070:35:10

I remember parties at our beach house outside Beirut.

0:35:120:35:17

Kim made a very, very vivid impression on me.

0:35:170:35:20

He was tremendously charismatic,

0:35:200:35:23

enormously charming, extremely convivial

0:35:230:35:26

and I have to say that I was fascinated with him.

0:35:260:35:30

I still feel, oddly enough, a genuine kindness that came from him.

0:35:300:35:36

That I remember quite well.

0:35:360:35:38

Elliott put his friend to work hurtling around the Middle East

0:35:400:35:43

gathering intelligence for MI6, under journalistic cover.

0:35:430:35:48

He was now Elliott's unofficial advisor.

0:35:480:35:51

His guide to Middle Eastern skulduggery.

0:35:510:35:54

The friends were once again inseparable,

0:35:540:35:57

professionally and socially.

0:35:570:36:00

Elliott often took his camera with him and his family albums are filled

0:36:000:36:04

with images of the intermingled Philby and Elliott clans.

0:36:040:36:08

Philby is in many of the photographs.

0:36:100:36:13

Often in his bathing trunks, relaxed,

0:36:130:36:16

smiling and frequently very obviously drunk.

0:36:160:36:20

Philby and Elliott were closer than ever.

0:36:220:36:24

They now met a couple of times every week to share a drink

0:36:260:36:30

and to share secrets.

0:36:300:36:32

Elliott has entitled this photograph,

0:36:330:36:36

'Dining with the Copelands'.

0:36:360:36:38

Miles Copeland was a CIA agent, you can see him here in the middle.

0:36:380:36:43

On the right is Nicholas Elliott smiling at his friends.

0:36:430:36:47

And here is Kim Philby.

0:36:480:36:51

MI6, CIA...

0:36:520:36:54

..KGB.

0:36:550:36:57

This is the Cold War captured in miniature,

0:37:000:37:04

a cosy image of gentlemen spies sharing the world's secrets.

0:37:040:37:09

An image of clubbiness that disguises a great betrayal.

0:37:090:37:14

Because once again,

0:37:150:37:16

Philby was handing everything that Elliott told him to Moscow,

0:37:160:37:21

playing his role dutifully as a loyal friend

0:37:210:37:24

and, simultaneously, a traitor.

0:37:240:37:27

But soon, the wheel of their friendship turned again.

0:37:300:37:34

In 1962, Elliott was recalled to London to take up a new post.

0:37:350:37:41

The friends were sad to part.

0:37:420:37:45

Elliott was losing one of his best agents

0:37:450:37:47

and Philby had lost his best source of information for the KGB.

0:37:470:37:52

BIG BEN CHIMES

0:37:530:37:56

Number 54 Broadway

0:37:590:38:02

was apparently home to the Minimax Fire Extinguisher company.

0:38:020:38:06

In fact, it was MI6's London headquarters.

0:38:060:38:11

And the extinguisher company had a new boss.

0:38:110:38:14

Dick White, the MI5 officer who hunted Philby throughout the '50s,

0:38:160:38:21

had by now been promoted to head MI6.

0:38:210:38:23

And just as Elliott returned,

0:38:250:38:27

White found the evidence he'd been seeking for over a decade.

0:38:270:38:31

The revelation did not come from detective work,

0:38:330:38:36

it came from a broken friendship.

0:38:360:38:39

In 1937, Philby had tried to recruit Flora Solomon,

0:38:410:38:46

a left wing friend, who'd introduced him to his future wife, Aileen.

0:38:460:38:50

Solomon refused to join his cause,

0:38:510:38:54

but she never forgot Philby's unusual offer.

0:38:540:38:58

In the intervening years, Flora had followed Philby's career

0:38:580:39:02

and the controversy surrounding it,

0:39:020:39:04

and she was appalled by the way he had treated Aileen.

0:39:040:39:07

In a chance encounter with one of Philby's former colleagues,

0:39:090:39:12

she remarked, "How is it The Observer uses a man like Kim?

0:39:120:39:17

"Don't they know he's a communist?"

0:39:170:39:20

Solomon was interviewed by the mole hunters,

0:39:210:39:25

and they believed they finally had the proof they needed.

0:39:250:39:28

Within days of Elliott's return to London, he was summoned to the firm.

0:39:290:39:34

Dick White told Elliott that there could no longer be any doubt -

0:39:350:39:40

Philby was a traitor.

0:39:400:39:43

He'd betrayed his country, his class and his club.

0:39:430:39:47

But no-one had been more comprehensively betrayed

0:39:480:39:51

than his best friend, Nicholas Elliott.

0:39:510:39:54

An intense debate now began over how to take Philby down.

0:39:560:40:01

A trial would be embarrassing.

0:40:010:40:04

Philby could be abducted or even killed,

0:40:040:40:07

but that was not really MI6'S style.

0:40:070:40:11

Elliott demanded the opportunity to confront Philby.

0:40:110:40:16

He'd known him for over half his life

0:40:160:40:18

and if anyone could extract a confession, it was surely he.

0:40:180:40:22

In January 1963, Elliott set off for Beirut in secret.

0:40:250:40:31

Before confronting Philby, he stayed with his friend, Rozanne Colchester.

0:40:320:40:37

Nicholas came out to catch Kim and tell him that his time was up,

0:40:380:40:43

that he'd been found out.

0:40:430:40:44

He was quite excited, quite tense,

0:40:450:40:49

you know, het up about it, about having to do it.

0:40:490:40:53

And, but also, completely convinced that he had to go,

0:40:530:40:59

I mean, because Philby was a terrible danger.

0:40:590:41:03

Philby was invited to take afternoon tea

0:41:110:41:14

with the new MI6 head of station, Elliott's successor.

0:41:140:41:18

It was a ruse, intended to catch Philby off guard

0:41:190:41:24

and to make him talk.

0:41:240:41:25

When Elliott answered the door,

0:41:350:41:37

Philby reacted with remarkable composure.

0:41:370:41:40

"I rather thought it would be you," he said.

0:41:410:41:43

So, how are you, Kim?

0:41:440:41:46

The two men exchanged pleasantries.

0:41:460:41:49

Perfectly tolerable.

0:41:490:41:50

Elliott asked after Philby's health

0:41:500:41:52

and Philby in turn enquired after Elliott's children.

0:41:520:41:55

But both knew what was coming.

0:41:570:42:00

Elliott secretly recorded their extraordinary conversation.

0:42:010:42:05

'To what do I owe the pleasure?'

0:42:050:42:07

What follows is based on extracts from various sources.

0:42:070:42:11

'It's business, unfortunately.'

0:42:110:42:14

'Unfortunately?'

0:42:140:42:15

We've got some new information.

0:42:160:42:18

Lord, do we really have to go over that rubbish again?

0:42:180:42:21

Your past has caught up with you, Kim. Game's up.

0:42:230:42:26

We've penetrated the KGB.

0:42:270:42:29

'So you're here to interrogate me?'

0:42:320:42:34

To persuade an innocent man to confess?

0:42:340:42:37

Oh, for God's sake, we know you're a Soviet agent, Kim!

0:42:370:42:40

Don't you understand?

0:42:400:42:42

If you knew what I know...

0:42:420:42:45

-If you were in my position...

-If I were in your position,

0:42:470:42:49

I wouldn't be talking to you the way you're talking to me.

0:42:490:42:53

How would you talk to me?

0:42:540:42:56

I'd offer you a drink.

0:42:560:42:58

Instead of this lousy tea.

0:42:580:43:00

Philby had prepared his whole adult life for this confrontation.

0:43:030:43:08

He had always feared that one day, he might be called to account.

0:43:080:43:14

But he didn't know whether Elliott was bluffing.

0:43:140:43:17

He could only guess how much his friend really knew.

0:43:170:43:20

A brutal dual now ensued.

0:43:220:43:25

The Cold War conflict was about to be played out in a small,

0:43:250:43:29

hot room, in the heart of Beirut.

0:43:290:43:32

I thought I was talking to a friend.

0:43:370:43:38

So did I, Kim. So did I!

0:43:380:43:41

You took me in - for years.

0:43:450:43:47

I looked up to you.

0:43:500:43:53

You know, I was on your side.

0:43:530:43:55

My God, I despise you now.

0:43:560:43:59

I only hope you've enough decency left to understand why.

0:44:010:44:04

You see how foolish this seems?

0:44:070:44:09

It's astonishing.

0:44:110:44:13

Totally absurd, you know it's absurd.

0:44:150:44:18

Do you want me to give you my version of your work for the Russians?

0:44:180:44:23

Do you want me to spell it out for you?

0:44:230:44:24

-Are you serious?

-Yes, Kim!

0:44:240:44:26

I am.

0:44:270:44:29

Elliott played his first card.

0:44:350:44:38

If Philby refused to cooperate, his life would be made intolerable.

0:44:380:44:44

His passport would be withdrawn, he'd never get another job.

0:44:440:44:48

Philby would spend the rest of his life as a leper.

0:44:480:44:52

But, explained Elliott, there was an alternative.

0:44:530:44:56

Elliott offered to make a deal.

0:44:580:45:01

We can only offer you immunity

0:45:010:45:02

if you give us all the information you have.

0:45:020:45:05

Firstly, we need the names

0:45:060:45:09

of all of those who've been working for Moscow.

0:45:090:45:11

I KNOW who they are, by the way.

0:45:130:45:15

Philby was in turmoil.

0:45:160:45:18

Trapped and tempted by Elliott's proposition.

0:45:180:45:21

But if he struck a deal, he would have to reveal the identity

0:45:220:45:25

of every other mole in Britain,

0:45:250:45:28

every secret he had ever passed to Moscow.

0:45:280:45:32

His every instinct resisted telling the truth.

0:45:320:45:35

OK.

0:45:370:45:38

Here's...

0:45:420:45:44

HE CHUCKLES H-Here's the scoop.

0:45:440:45:47

'But, first, you owe me a drink. I haven't had a drop for ages.'

0:45:490:45:53

I tipped off Burgess.

0:46:410:46:44

And Maclean.

0:46:450:46:47

It was out of loyalty.

0:46:490:46:51

Loyalty to a friend.

0:46:530:46:55

I'm sure you understand that much, don't you?

0:46:590:47:02

Is Nedosekin your contact?

0:47:050:47:06

'I've got no bloody contact.'

0:47:060:47:08

'I haven't been in contact with the KGB for years.'

0:47:110:47:14

Philby was still prevaricating.

0:47:140:47:17

Offering Elliott a blend of truth, half-truth and lies.

0:47:170:47:21

He'd admitted to treachery, but by raising the issue of friendship,

0:47:230:47:27

he was trying once again to manipulate Elliott's loyalty.

0:47:270:47:31

Now...

0:47:340:47:35

Let's be gentlemen...about this.

0:47:370:47:40

Why don't you come over tonight for dinner?

0:47:410:47:44

I'm sure we can sort something out.

0:47:440:47:47

I'll be in contact once I've made my report.

0:47:490:47:52

Later, Elliott made his way to Philby's apartment.

0:48:100:48:14

Elliott found Philby here, passed out on the floor,

0:48:160:48:19

having consumed an entire bottle of whisky.

0:48:190:48:23

Not for the first time, he and Eleanor carried Philby to bed.

0:48:230:48:28

That night, Elliott sent a cable to London

0:48:280:48:31

saying that his friend had finally broken.

0:48:310:48:34

Philby's career as a Soviet spy was over.

0:48:340:48:38

And then, around midnight on 23rd January, Philby vanished.

0:48:480:48:54

After one last drink alone in a hotel bar,

0:48:560:49:00

he headed to the Beirut docks

0:49:000:49:02

where he was smuggled aboard a Soviet freighter

0:49:020:49:05

en route to the Black Sea.

0:49:050:49:07

Nicholas Elliott was now dealing with a defector.

0:49:070:49:11

But how surprised was he?

0:49:110:49:13

Elliott could hardly have made it easier for Philby to escape.

0:49:140:49:19

He didn't tap his telephone

0:49:190:49:21

and he didn't have him watched.

0:49:210:49:24

The door to Moscow was left wide open.

0:49:240:49:27

Now, that was either monumentally stupid

0:49:290:49:33

or exceptionally clever.

0:49:330:49:35

MI6 and Elliott had avoided

0:49:450:49:47

an embarrassing public trial.

0:49:470:49:50

Philby was now securely behind the Iron Curtain

0:49:510:49:53

and unlikely ever to re-emerge.

0:49:530:49:56

Remarkably, news of his defection

0:50:000:50:03

was hidden from the British public for six months.

0:50:030:50:07

Then, in June, the Soviet press announced

0:50:080:50:11

that Philby had been welcomed in Moscow as a hero.

0:50:110:50:14

Philby hid behind a mask for 30 years,

0:50:170:50:20

but now, the truth was finally out.

0:50:200:50:24

He'd been a Soviet spy since the age of 20.

0:50:240:50:28

He was the "third man".

0:50:280:50:30

For me, it was extraordinary.

0:50:320:50:35

I was at Eton

0:50:350:50:37

and I walked down the stairs one day

0:50:370:50:39

and picked up the Daily Express

0:50:390:50:42

and emblazoned on the front page

0:50:420:50:45

was "Kim Philby in Moscow, Third Man Revealed", the whole nine yards.

0:50:450:50:50

I was obviously quite shocked.

0:50:500:50:53

The scandal of Kim Philby

0:50:560:50:57

would hang over British intelligence for a generation,

0:50:570:51:01

and it rumbles on today.

0:51:010:51:04

It would test friendships and alliances

0:51:040:51:07

on both sides of the Atlantic to breaking point.

0:51:070:51:10

Yet, his betrayal also left a legacy of suspicion in Moscow.

0:51:110:51:15

When he fled to Russia, Philby had expected to be made a KGB colonel...

0:51:310:51:36

..an active, high-ranking officer in Soviet intelligence.

0:51:380:51:43

But the Russians never fully trusted him.

0:51:430:51:46

He was extensively debriefed, applauded, rewarded

0:51:470:51:51

and then quietly put out to grass.

0:51:510:51:54

An Englishman in exile,

0:51:550:51:57

Philby spent his days wandering the city with a KGB minder in tow.

0:51:570:52:02

He still read The Times, but his copies arrived weeks out of date,

0:52:030:52:08

containing accounts of cricket matches long since over.

0:52:080:52:12

Philby lived in secret near Moscow's Pushkin Square.

0:52:150:52:19

His friendship with Elliott was over,

0:52:210:52:24

but the relationship between the two spies was not.

0:52:240:52:28

Shortly after Philby surfaced in Moscow,

0:52:330:52:36

an anonymous letter arrived in Elliott's letterbox.

0:52:360:52:40

The identity of the sender was unmistakable.

0:52:420:52:45

"I wonder if this letter will surprise you," wrote Philby.

0:52:460:52:50

"Our last transactions were so strange,

0:52:500:52:53

"I cannot help thinking that perhaps you wanted me to do a fade."

0:52:530:52:57

Fade is spy jargon for a defection.

0:52:570:53:01

Philby had become convinced

0:53:010:53:03

that Elliott had deliberately forced him to flee to Moscow.

0:53:030:53:08

And he was probably right.

0:53:080:53:10

The letter continues, "I am more than thankful..."

0:53:100:53:14

..for your friendly interventions at all times.

0:53:140:53:18

I would have got in touch with you earlier,

0:53:180:53:20

but I thought it better to let time do its work.

0:53:200:53:23

It is invariably with pleasure that I remember our meetings and talks.

0:53:230:53:28

They did much to help one get one's bearings in this complicated world.

0:53:290:53:33

I deeply appreciate now...

0:53:330:53:36

..as ever, our old friendship.

0:53:360:53:38

Philby's charm had not deserted him.

0:53:390:53:43

He suggested a secret meeting for old times' sake

0:53:430:53:46

in a neutral country.

0:53:460:53:49

I am enclosing an unsealed addressed envelope.

0:53:490:53:52

In the event of your agreeing to my proposal, would you post it,

0:53:520:53:55

including some view of Tower Bridge?

0:53:550:53:58

On receipt of your letter,

0:53:580:53:59

I will write again through the same channel.

0:53:590:54:02

But what was Philby up to?

0:54:040:54:07

Was this an elaborate KGB sting

0:54:070:54:09

to lure Elliott into a trap?

0:54:090:54:12

Or was Philby trying to worm his way back into MI6,

0:54:120:54:16

by offering to work as a triple agent?

0:54:160:54:19

Or was he simply trying to rekindle an old friendship

0:54:190:54:22

and draw Elliott back into complicity with him?

0:54:220:54:26

'Let me hear from you soon. Love to Elizabeth...

0:54:260:54:30

'to whom, by the way, you had better not disclose

0:54:300:54:33

'the contents of this letter, or to anyone else, of course.'

0:54:330:54:36

Whatever Philby was trying to do, it didn't work.

0:54:480:54:52

Elliott immediately informed his bosses at MI6.

0:54:530:54:57

Elliott's response to Philby was disdainful,

0:54:590:55:03

a retort to all the years of betrayal.

0:55:030:55:06

He reminded him of just one of the many, many agents

0:55:060:55:11

he had sent to their deaths.

0:55:110:55:13

"Please, put some flowers from me on poor Volkov's grave."

0:55:130:55:17

For two decades, Philby had called the tune.

0:55:290:55:32

But the days of manipulating

0:55:340:55:35

and betraying his friend, Elliott, were over.

0:55:350:55:38

They would never meet again.

0:55:400:55:41

My father disguised his feelings

0:55:420:55:44

about Kim being a traitor very, very well.

0:55:440:55:47

But I think the sense of betrayal had to be enormous.

0:55:480:55:52

He buried a lot of how he really felt.

0:55:520:55:57

My father had a wall around him that was unapproachable.

0:56:000:56:05

For the rest of their lives,

0:56:070:56:08

Philby and Elliott would remain locked in ideological battle.

0:56:080:56:13

Just as they had once seemed locked in friendship.

0:56:130:56:16

On 11th May 1988, Kim Philby died of heart failure.

0:56:220:56:26

His open casket was put on display

0:56:300:56:32

and he was buried in a Moscow cemetery,

0:56:320:56:35

with full military honours.

0:56:350:56:37

Just a year later, the Berlin Wall,

0:56:400:56:43

the great emblem of political division, was torn down.

0:56:430:56:47

Philby had always believed in the inevitability of a Soviet victory.

0:56:470:56:52

He did not live long enough to see communism fail.

0:56:530:56:57

Soon after, Nicholas Elliott went public.

0:57:000:57:03

Philby is often described in the press as a double agent.

0:57:040:57:09

In point of fact,

0:57:090:57:10

Philby was a straightforward, high-level, disreputable traitor.

0:57:100:57:15

Outwardly he had very considerably charm.

0:57:160:57:19

But, of course, underneath it all,

0:57:190:57:21

there was a total ruthlessness.

0:57:210:57:23

"I am really two people", Philby said, soon after arriving in Moscow.

0:57:300:57:35

"I am a private person and a political person.

0:57:350:57:39

"Of course, if there is a conflict, the political person comes first...

0:57:390:57:45

"whatever the consequences."

0:57:450:57:47

In some ways, the Cold War was a civil war,

0:57:480:57:52

a conflict that turned friends into enemies

0:57:520:57:56

and sometimes made it impossible to tell the difference.

0:57:560:58:00

The entwined lives of Kim Philby and Nicholas Elliott

0:58:000:58:04

represent a defining chapter of that war,

0:58:040:58:08

a story of bloodied friendship and intimate betrayal.

0:58:080:58:13

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