The Inside Story of the CIA

Central Intelligence: Series 2

From Vietnam to JFK - spies, lies and the story of the CIA told by its longest-serving agent 
 
The utterly gripping, award-winning drama Central Intelligence is back, revealing further inside stories of the CIA and featuring an all-star cast. Told from the perspective of Eloise Page (Kim Cattrall), who joined on the Agency’s first day in 1947 and, in her 40-year career, became one of its most powerful women. Eloise takes the listener on a journey through the highs and lows of US foreign policy, spanning the staggering world events that shaped not only her career, but also her personal relationships with CIA leaders Allen Dulles (Ed Harris) and Richard Helms (Johnny Flynn). 
 
In series two, the Cold War intensifies with US involvement in South Vietnam. It’s 1954. Colonel Ed Lansdale, former advertising executive and the CIA’s maverick agent in South-East Asia, is given the task of creating dissension in the North to stop the advance of the communists. The death of Stalin brings confusion and elsewhere, Nasser seizes the Suez Canal in Egypt and global powers scramble. The British want control back. The Soviets move in. And the CIA races to keep Egypt from slipping behind the Iron Curtain. 
 
In the shadow games of empire, Eloise Page watches the balance of power shift. The space race begins and high-altitude spy planes are deployed with great success. As CIA policy architect John Foster Dulles becomes gravely ill, Eisenhower’s presidency comes to an end, revolution erupts in Cuba and in the Congo chaos reigns. The charismatic democrat John F Kennedy takes the presidential reins, but tragedy awaits… 
 
Kim Cattrall is a multi-award-winning actress, perhaps best known for her role as Samantha Jones in Sex in the City. In a career spanning over four decades she has appeared in films, on TV and on stage in both the West End and Broadway. Ed Harris is an Academy Award-nominated actor known for his roles in The Truman Show, Pollock and The Hours. He recently starred in the blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick. Johnny Flynn is best known for his role in TV comedy drama Lovesick, and played David Bowie in the biopic Stardust. He recently performed on stage at the National Theatre as Richard Burton in The Motive and the Cue directed by Sam Mendes, and is also the composer and singer of the theme music for the TV series The Detectorists. 
 
Written by Greg Haddrick 
Directed by John Scott Dryden 
Produced by Emma Hearn 
Original music by Sacha Puttnam 
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4 
 
First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20th June - 22nd August 2025 
 
©2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

From Vietnam to JFK - spies, lies and the story of the CIA told by its longest-serving agent 
 
The utterly gripping, award-winning drama Central Intelligence is back, revealing further inside stories of the CIA and featuring an all-star cast. Told from the perspective of Eloise Page (Kim Cattrall), who joined on the Agency’s first day in 1947 and, in her 40-year career, became one of its most powerful women. Eloise takes the listener on a journey through the highs and lows of US foreign policy, spanning the staggering world events that shaped not only her career, but also her personal relationships with CIA leaders Allen Dulles (Ed Harris) and Richard Helms (Johnny Flynn). 
 
In series two, the Cold War intensifies with US involvement in South Vietnam. It’s 1954. Colonel Ed Lansdale, former advertising executive and the CIA’s maverick agent in South-East Asia, is given the task of creating dissension in the North to stop the advance of the communists. The death of Stalin brings confusion and elsewhere, Nasser seizes the Suez Canal in Egypt and global powers scramble. The British want control back. The Soviets move in. And the CIA races to keep Egypt from slipping behind the Iron Curtain. 
 
In the shadow games of empire, Eloise Page watches the balance of power shift. The space race begins and high-altitude spy planes are deployed with great success. As CIA policy architect John Foster Dulles becomes gravely ill, Eisenhower’s presidency comes to an end, revolution erupts in Cuba and in the Congo chaos reigns. The charismatic democrat John F Kennedy takes the presidential reins, but tragedy awaits… 
 
Kim Cattrall is a multi-award-winning actress, perhaps best known for her role as Samantha Jones in Sex in the City. In a career spanning over four decades she has appeared in films, on TV and on stage in both the West End and Broadway. Ed Harris is an Academy Award-nominated actor known for his roles in The Truman Show, Pollock and The Hours. He recently starred in the blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick. Johnny Flynn is best known for his role in TV comedy drama Lovesick, and played David Bowie in the biopic Stardust. He recently performed on stage at the National Theatre as Richard Burton in The Motive and the Cue directed by Sam Mendes, and is also the composer and singer of the theme music for the TV series The Detectorists. 
 
Written by Greg Haddrick 
Directed by John Scott Dryden 
Produced by Emma Hearn 
Original music by Sacha Puttnam 
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4 
 
First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20th June - 22nd August 2025 
 
©2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Central Intelligence: Series 1

Spies, lies and the origins of the CIA – an epic story starring Kim Cattrall and Ed Harris 
 
Listen now to this utterly gripping drama revealing the inside story of the CIA, featuring an all-star cast. Told from the perspective of Eloise Page (Kim Cattrall), who joined on the Agency’s first day in 1947 and, in her 40-year career, became one of its most powerful women. Eloise takes the listener on a journey through the highs and lows of US foreign policy, spanning the staggering world events that shaped not only her career, but also her personal relationships with early CIA leaders, Allen Dulles (Ed Harris) and Richard Helms (Johnny Flynn). 
 
From its inception the CIA has been at its heart a secretive organisation, wielding phenomenal power and influencing events on a global scale. The story begins as tensions with Russia in war-torn Europe rise, and a letter is found in Hitler’s safe. As the new agency grows in both reach and power, Eloise takes us on a thrilling journey through Europe, as the Iron Curtain descends, then to Iran where a fearful Shah meets a secret operative and eventually to Central America where the implications of short-terms wins lead to unforeseen consequences. Featuring spies, traitors, secret operations, regime change, murder and the internal politics of an organisation that defined the shape of global politics for over half a century, this is a stunning listen from start to finish and performed by an impressive A-list cast. 
 
Kim Cattrall is a multi-award-winning actress, perhaps best known for her role as Samantha Jones in the popular TV series, Sex in the City. In a career spanning over four decades she has appeared in films, on TV and on stage in both the West End and Broadway. Ed Harris is an Academy Award nominated actor known for his roles in The Truman Show, Pollock and The Hours. He recently starred in the blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick. Johnny Flynn is a British actor best known for his role in TV comedy drama Lovesick and for playing David Bowie in the biopic Stardust. He recently performed on stage at the National Theatre as Richard Burton in The Motive and the Cue directed by Sam Mendes, and is also the composer and singer of the theme tune for The Detectorists. 
 
Written by Greg Haddrick, who created the series with Jeremy Fox 
Directed by John Scott Dryden 
Produced by Emma Hearn 
Executive Producers: Howard Stringer, Jeremy Fox, Greg Haddrick and John Scott Dryden 
Original music by Sacha Puttnam 
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4 
 
First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13th September - 15th November 2024 
 
©2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Greg Haddrick

Jeremy Fox

John Scott Dryden

Kim Cattrall

Kelsey Grammer

Johnny Flynn

David Duchovny

Full Cast

From Vietnam to the global battle against communism – spies, secrets and the story of the CIA under Lyndon B. Johnson 
 
The utterly gripping, award-winning drama Central Intelligence returns, revealing further inside stories of the CIA and featuring an all-star cast. Told from the perspective of Eloise Page (Kim Cattrall), who joined on the Agency’s first day in 1947 and, in her 40-year career, became one of its most powerful women, the series takes us behind the closed doors of American intelligence as the Cold War enters a new and increasingly dangerous phase. 
 
It’s 1964. John F. Kennedy is dead, Lyndon B. Johnson (Kelsey Grammer) is in the White House, and the CIA is fighting communism across the globe. In Chile, Washington is determined to prevent another Cuba, and the Agency sets out to influence an election without leaving fingerprints. In British Guiana, independence threatens to bring another left-wing government to power, while a dispute between LBJ and Harold Wilson over British trade with Cuba puts the Special Relationship under strain. 
 
But Vietnam is rapidly becoming the crisis that will define Johnson’s presidency. A Pentagon war game delivers an ominous verdict: bombing the North cannot secure victory. The CIA sees the danger, but the White House has other ideas – and the Gulf of Tonkin provides the trigger for an escalation that will transform America and the Agency. 
 
As the Cold War intensifies, Richard Helms (Johnny Flynn) rises through the ranks of the CIA. From political interference in Latin America and covert operations in the Dominican Republic to the expanding conflict in South-East Asia, the Agency finds itself drawn ever deeper into the defining struggles of the 1960s. New technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for espionage, with satellites, surveillance and increasingly ingenious intelligence operations changing the way secrets are gathered. 
 
At the centre of it all is Eloise, watching the CIA's power grow while navigating the rivalries, ambitions and moral compromises within Langley itself. As opposition to the Vietnam War mounts and suspicion turns increasingly towards enemies at home, where does intelligence end, and politics begin? 
 
Featuring spies, covert action, political intrigue, surveillance and secret wars, this thrilling third instalment of Central Intelligence continues the epic story of the organisation that helped shape modern global politics. 
 
Starring Kim Cattrall as Eloise Page and Kelsey Grammer as Lyndon B Johnson, with Johnny Flynn, David Duchovny and a full cast. 
 
Credits 
Written by Greg Haddrick, who created the series with Jeremy Fox 
 
Sound Design and Editing by Adam Woodhams, Andreina Gomez Casanova and John Scott Dryden 
Assistant Director: Flynn Hallman 
Sonica Studio Sound Engineers: Mat Clark & Paul Clark 
Sonica Runner: Lily Lefkow 
 
Director: John Scott Dryden 
Producer & Casting Director: Emma Hearn 
Executive Producers: Howard Stringer, Jeremy Fox, Greg Haddrick and John Scott Dryden. 
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4 
 
©2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

John Scott Dryden

Books by John Scott Dryden

Series by John Scott Dryden

Central Intelligence

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