Tradecraft: BBC America Teams With BBC On Period Spy Thriller

Deadline reports that BBC America will co-produce a new six-part hour-long drama with the BBC called The Hour. According to the trade blog, "it is a spy thriller set behind the scenes of the BBC’s newsroom in London in the mid 1950s and stars Dominic West (The Wire), Romola Garai (Emma) and Ben Whishaw (Bright Star) locked in a highly competitive, sharp-witted and passionate love triangle." I love the idea of a BBC spy thriller set in the 1950s. The only problem is, the BBC's own baffling description of the series doesn't mention the spy element at all, so I'm not totally sure where Deadline is getting that from. I like the cast, though, and the period setting, so I hope they're right.  What is intriguing in the BBC's near-incomprehensible summary (it makes a little more sense if you read the paragraphs backwards) is the claim that "viewers will witness the decade on the threshold of change – from the ruthless sexual politics behind the polite social façade of the Fifties to the revelations that redefined the world for a new generation."  Actually, that sounds like good TV to me spy or not, but obviously it doesn't really bear mention here if it turns out to be not.  The Hour comes from Kudos, the production company behind Spooks (MI-5).  Speaking of Spooks, Spooks alumni Tim Pigott-Smith and Juliet Stevenson costar along with Anton Lesser, Anna Chancellor, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Oona Chaplin.