The Secret Agent: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Starring David Suchet and Peter Capaldi, this powerful three-part BBC adaptation of Joseph Conrad's famous novel tells of an attempt by a triple agent to blow up the Greenwich Observatory in 1894, a time of unrest and anarchist violence throughout Europe. However it is the far-reaching effect this infamous conspiracy has upon the domestic life of the anti-hero, Adolf Verloc, that takes this compelling and complex tale beyond political intrigue to reveal a psychological drama of probing depth and vivid detail, in its incisive portrayal of human frailty.

Forced against his will to commit a terrorist outrage, and become a political pawn, Verloc is unable to avoid involving his own wife, Winnie, and her handicapped brother Stevie, in an escalating and desperate struggle for survival in the merciless arena of political blackmail and treachery.

The diverse worlds of Victorian London's embassies and fashionable aristocratic society, alongside the squalid criminal back streets of Soho, provide a smouldering background to the dark tragedy that will befall Verloc's family.

Faced with an impossible moral dilemma this hapless victim of circumstance sees his life filled with mystery, danger and ultimately death.

Series details

• Title: The Secret Agent
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Thriller, Espionage
• Premiere date: 1992-10-28
• Final broadcast date listed: 1992-11-11
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC One
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 19634
• IMDb ID: tt0417114
• TVDB ID: 279494

Cast and credited roles

• Peter Capaldi — Mr. Vladimir
• David Suchet — Alfred Verloc
• Janet Suzman — Margaret, Duchess of Chester
• Cheryl Campbell — Winnie Verloc
• Warren Clarke — Chief Inspector Heat
• Alfred Lynch — The Professor
• John Benfield — Michaelis
• Patrick Malahide — Assistant Commissioner
• David Ryall — Wurme
• David Schofield — Ossipon

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1992-10-28; final listed air date 1992-11-11; episode order: 3.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Secret Agent 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.