Close to the Enemy

A seven-part Cold War thriller with all the hallmarks of a quality hit

Writer-director Stephen Poliakoff always puts on a classy show and this complex tale of life in a post-war London hotel is no exception.

It's 1946 and, as the Cold War looms, Captain Callum Ferguson (Jim Sturgess) of military intelligence is given one last task before he is demobbed – to encourage German jet engineer Dieter Koehler to work with the British.

Alfred Molina is superb as an enigmatic civil servant and Angela Bassett is wonderful as Eva, the singer who has taken up residence in the Connington Hotel's basement with her band.