Long before FBI informant David Rupert set foot in Ireland, a hidden web of espionage was already embedded in the North. In this episode, investigative journalist and author Cara McGoogan looks beyond the headlines to examine the depth of British involvement inside IRA operations. Speaking with Bond novelist Charlie Higson, she unpacks why the agent known as Stakeknife looms so large in a recently released official report - and what the case reveals about a wider culture of collusion, protection, and unchecked power.

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With the Real IRA accelerating its bombing campaign, FBI-MI5 spy David Rupert is under pressure and about to make a possibly fatal mistake.

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As the Real IRA moves to derail Northern Ireland’s fragile peace with bombs, MI5 asks spy trucker David Rupert to get close to its ringleader Michael McKevitt.

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After years of violence, peace is within reach in Northern Ireland. But then a mystery American is seen with IRA hardliners. But is he a friend, foe, or fortune hunter?

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This Christmas, we're revisiting one of our favorite spy stories.

Each December, a giant tree lights up London’s Trafalgar Square. Behind the custom: 007 author Ian Fleming and a secret mission to Norway. This is the story of how wartime espionage gave Britain its most spectacular festive tradition.

The Spy Who will take a short break, and will be back with a brand new season on the 6th of January 2026. 

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How did the Soviet Union infiltrate so many of Britain’s institutions? Investigative journalist Tim Tate dives into the dark underbelly of British-Soviet relations—uncovering a world where the Kremlin’s influence had already seeped into the heart of Britain’s highest echelons of power long before Oleg Gordievsky ever arrived. In conversation with spy writer Charlie Higson, Tim also reveals a shocking paradox: Gordievsky’s intelligence eased Cold War tensions, but after his exposure paranoia was sent spiraling out of control on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

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Oleg Gordievsky's back in Moscow and the KGB are tracking his every move, waiting for him to slip up. He’s got just one option left: MI6’s harebrained plan to smuggle him out of the USSR. And if it goes wrong he’s a dead man.

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When a new job turns Oleg Gordievsky into MI6’s top spy in the KGB, the West is shocked to learn that Soviet nuclear paranoia isn’t just for show.

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When KGB man Oleg Gordievsky is spotted shopping in Copenhagen’s red-light district, Western intelligence sees a chance to recruit him. But they’re going to get more than that. They’re going to get a Soviet insider who will help the world step back from the edge of nuclear war and end the Cold War.

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The ex spy at the heart of our story joins host Charlie Higson to unpack his days in a biker gang, his immersion in radical Islam, his rise within al-Qaeda’s ranks, and the dramatic fallout that followed. This high-stakes espionage led to the death of his friend - one of al-Qaeda’s top commanders. In a cruel twist of fate, Morten was subsequently betrayed by the spy agencies he risked everything for, and was left to grapple with PTSD and death threats. Here, he reflects on the cost of his choices and the life he’s rebuilt in the aftermath. 

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