The Secret Agent

The Secret Agent

Summary

London, 1886 and Mr Adolf Verloc runs a sex shop in the heart of Soho. Unbeknown to his loyal wife Winnie, Verloc also works for the Russian embassy, spying on a group of London anarchists.

The Russian government are furious with the English establishment’s indifference to the anarchist threat gripping the rest of Europe. So Verloc is assigned a mission: Blow up the Greenwich Observatory and make it look like a terrorist attack to provoke a crackdown. Should he fail, Verloc’s real identity as a spy will be exposed to his vicious comrades.

Verloc is forced to turn to the volatile anarchist, The Professor, to supply explosives for his mission – an act which attracts the attention of Chief Inspector Heat of Scotland Yard. Caught between the spy masters and the police, Verloc grooms Winnie’s young and vulnerable brother Stevie as his unsuspecting accomplice. When the truth and consequences emerge, Verloc must face Winnie’s wrath …

From the producers of the acclaimed Line of Duty, this riveting psychological thriller stars Toby Jones as Verloc and Line of Duty’s Vicky McClure as Winnie, with Stephen Graham (Boardwalk Empire) and Ian Hart (The Last Kingdom). Adapted by BAFTA award-winning Tony Marchant (Great Expectations) and directed by Emmy award-winning Charles McDougall (Hillsborough, House of Cards, The Good Wife), The Secret Agent will be broadcast on BBC One this summer.

About the author

Joseph Conrad

Józef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski was born in the Ukraine on 3 December 1857. His parents were Polish and had both died in exile by the time Conrad was eleven. His uncle then became his guardian and looked after him in Krakow until he was sixteen when he went to sea and sailed on French and British ships. He was made British citizen in 1886 and changed his name to Joseph Conrad. In 1889 Conrad visited the Congo and his experiences there inspired Heart of Darkness. In 1894 he published his first novel, Almayer's Folly and went on to write nineteen more as well as many short stories, essays and a memoir. In 1896 he married Jessie George and they later had two sons. Conrad died on 3 August 1924.
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