5. The Descent

Stalin’s Apostles is a radical, new look at how the spies in the Cambridge Five – Donald Maclean, Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, John Cairncross and Anthony Blunt - were instrumental in the building of Stalin’s ‘Red Empire’. It explores how these five men allowed their obsession with Communist ideology to overshadow any sense of morality and decency as they fed Stalin with secrets over a period of 17 years.

It's 1951 and the spy ring is now in mortal danger. American cryptanalysts have been intercepting Soviet telegrams and studying them for clues as to potential traitors. The finger is now pointing at one of the Cambridge Five. Is defection the only way out?

Written by Antonia Senior
Read by Jamie Glover
Abridged and produced by Julian Wilkinson
A BBC Scotland Audio Production for Radio 4.

Antonia Senior is a journalist, critic and podcaster. She’s a book reviewer for The Times and has worked there as deputy business editor and leader writer. Antonia co-hosts the History Book Buffs. She studied the history of intelligence and the Russian Revolution at Cambridge University, which led to a lifelong fascination with the relationship between the West and Russia, the Cold War and espionage. The author of three novels, Stalin's Apostles is her first work of non-fiction.

Jamie Glover has worked extensively in theatre, television, film and radio. Most recently he appeared in Inter Alia in the West End opposite Rosamund Pike and also took the title role in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre. He’s appeared in numerous RSC productions. He’s best known as Andrew Treneman in BBC’s Waterloo Road with additional television credits including The Crown and Holby City.