Major Hollywood storytellers and top international spies join legendary host Rory Bremner in The Spying Game podcast to separate fact from fiction in the espionage stories we consume on screen and in books.

The Spying Game is packed with fictional Hollywood spy tales and real-life espionage encounters fit for the big screen.

Each week, host Rory Bremner - broadcaster, satirist, and spy enthusiast - sits down with a Hollywood filmmaker, international author or TV star, and a real-life international spy to shine a light on extraordinary characters and offer insight into much-loved franchises like Bourne, Bond, and Alex Rider.

Guests in series one include Jed Mercurio OBE (Line of Duty, Bodyguard), Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond), Simon Kinberg (Mr. And Mrs. Smith, The 355), Lauren Wilkinson (American Spy), Ben Macintyre (Operation Mincemeat), Alistair Petrie (Sherlock, Undercover) and Joe Weisberg (The Americans).

Jed Mercurio, creator of the series Bodyguard and In the Line of Duty, discusses deception, drama, and duty. Mercurio recalls the July 7, 2005 bombing attacks on the London Underground and explains how the tragedy helped shape his dramatic portrayal of policing and terrorism.

Joe Weisberg, executive producer and creator of The Americans, knows more than most about espionage having trained as a CIA officer. He and Jack Barsky, a real-life KGB sleeper agent, grew up during the Cold War and explain how the powerful propaganda of dueling ‘evil empires’ led them both into the world of intelligence.

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The series also includes real-life intelligence operatives Jonna Mendez (former CIA chief of disguise), Janosh Neumann (former Russian FSB counterintelligence officer), Evy Poumpouras (ex-Special Agent with the US Secret Service), Shawnee Delaney (former US Defense Intelligence Agency officer), and Mubin Shaikh (ex-Canadian security intelligence and counterterrorism operative).

Jonna Mendez describes the role of disguise as a form of body armor for operatives and what it was like ripping her own mask off in the Oval Office during a meeting with President George H. Bush. She also reveals the truth behind the hostage rescue mission portrayed in the Hollywood movie Argo.

Spy enthusiast Rory Bremner

“We all love secrets and intrigue, and The Spying Game takes listeners inside the world of international spies, in the company of the brilliant writers behind such hits as Agent Sonya, Bodyguard, and The Americans,” Bremner said.

As a mimic and political satirist, Bremner has provided definitive impersonations of world leaders from British Prime Ministers Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Tony Blair, and John Major, to US Presidents Donald Trump, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. As himself, Bremner’s been a presenter, writer, quiz show host, actor, translator of operas and plays, and even, briefly, a ballroom dancer.

In a TV career of more than 30 years, Bremner’s won numerous awards, including three BAFTAs for his long-running, Channel 4 satire series Bremner, Bird & Fortune. In 2013, he made his acting debut alongside Patricia Hodge and Caroline Quentin in Noel Coward’s Relative Values, directed by Trevor Nunn.

More recently, he was a team captain on ITV's The Imitation Game, has had sell-out tours with fellow impressionist Jan Ravens, and is now a regular on BBC Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue.

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SPYSCAPE Podcast Network

The Spying Game is part of the SPYSCAPE Podcast Network. New episodes are released on all podcast platforms. 

 SPYSCAPE is a fast-growing edutainment brand at the intersection of culture and technology. SPYSCAPE creates stories and experiences, based on spy and superhero narratives, to help people uncover their superpowers. SPYSCAPE HQ is New York City’s #1-rated museum and experience. 

 The SPYSCAPE Podcast Network also includes the hit weekly series True Spies hosted by Hayley Atwell and Vanessa Kirby, and the acclaimed miniseries The Great James Bond Car Robbery, hosted by Elizabeth Hurley.