Spyship: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Suspicions are aroused when a British trawler goes missing. Enter a nightmarish world of political cover-ups of international consequence in the last decade of the Cold War in this six-part BBC drama. When an ordinary British fishing vessel and its 36-man crew mysteriously disappears off the coast of Norway, journalist Martin Taylor (Tom Wilkinson) is determined to find out why. His father was on board, and is now missing. His investigations soon lead him to run up against the twin barriers of Royal Navy stonewalling and an impenetrable Soviet Politburo. The notorious finale shocked audiences when it was first aired in 1983. The haunting theme 'A Cold Wind', sung by June Tabor, was so popular it was released as a single. Spyship is based on the fictional novel by Brian Haynes and Tom Keene, former reporters who researched the real life sinking of the FV Gaul in 1974 which was shrouded in mystery.

Series details

• Title: Spyship
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama
• Premiere date: 1983-11-09
• Final broadcast date listed: 1983-12-14
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC One
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 55 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 9929
• IMDb ID: tt0142054
• TVDB ID: 280947

Cast and credited roles

• Tom Wilkinson — Martin Taylor
• Lesley Nightingale — Suzy Summerfield
• Michael Aldridge — Sir Peter Hillmore
• Peter Eyre — Francis Main
• David Burke — Rokoff
• Don Henderson — Jack Fielding
• Thorley Walters — Dr. Dowdall

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1983-11-09; final listed air date 1983-12-14; episode order: 6.

Source and licence

Adapted from Spyship on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.