The Spy Who Outran the KGB | Secrets and Chocolate Bars | Episode 1

Podcast: The Spy Who
Hosts: Indira Varma and Raza Jaffrey
Release Date: November 25, 2025

Episode Overview

This gripping first episode of the season opens the clandestine file on Oleg Gordievsky, a high-ranking KGB officer who secretly spied for Britain. The episode charts his journey from disillusionment in Denmark to becoming MI6’s most valuable asset, exploring the complex moral, emotional, and operational challenges he faced. Through dramatized reconstructions and careful historical sourcing, listeners are brought inside the tightrope world of Cold War espionage, double lives, and the ever-present threat of betrayal.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Gordievsky’s Escape: The Tense Opening

• [00:00-03:44]
  • July 1985, near the Finnish border: Oleg Gordievsky, hunted by the KGB, hides in the undergrowth, awaiting MI6’s rescue.
  • The tension is palpable as he worries his fingerprints on a beer bottle might betray him and is wracked with paranoia about whether those approaching cars belong to his British handlers or the KGB.
  • Notable Quote:
    • “Britain's foreign intelligence service, MI6, has never successfully extracted a Russian agent from the USSR, let alone one under near constant scrutiny. And Gordievsky's rescuers are late. The silence stretches unbearably.” (Narrator, 02:40)

2. From Loyal Officer to Western Sympathizer

• [04:15-08:30]
  • 1967, Copenhagen: The Danish intelligence service monitors Gordievsky, suspecting his diplomatic cover hides KGB duties.
  • His private life unravels: his marriage to Jelena is cold and troubled, and his visit to a sex shop raises surveillance eyebrows.
  • The Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968 acts as a turning point, with Gordievsky’s disillusionment openly surfacing in a bugged phone call.
  • Notable Quote:
    • “What's happening in Prague is disgraceful. How could our leaders be so blind? I feel ashamed to wear their uniform.” (Gordievsky, as overheard by Danish surveillance, ~10:30)

3. Early Approaches and MI6 Recruitment

• [10:30-19:40]
  • Early 1970s: The Danish and British intelligence try to assess Gordievsky through surveillance, honeytraps, and clumsy social contact.
  • British officer Richard Bromhead meets Gordievsky at an art exhibition for “clowning”—his deliberate bumbling serves as a cover for deeper motives.
  • Doubts abound over Gordievsky’s personal life and whether he could be blackmailed, but they also recognize his ideological fissures.
  • MI6 uses a "litmus test" via a visit from a known defector, Kaplan, to gauge Gordievsky’s loyalties, leaving Gordievsky aware he’s on someone’s radar.
  • When Bromhead finally broaches the idea of collaboration, Gordievsky coolly accepts, offering valuable intelligence and setting key conditions: no harm to his colleagues, no payment, just information to further his goals.
  • Notable Quote:
    • “So bold. Well, your gamble paid off. This is a wish I can grant.” (Gordievsky to Bromhead, badminton court, 21:30)
    • “I do not want your money and I will not do anything to harm my colleagues here in Copenhagen. You understand?” (Gordievsky to Bromhead, safehouse, 25:00)

4. Tradecraft in Action: The Microfilm Operation

• [35:00-41:00]
  • Gordievsky leverages his position to smuggle microfilm of KGB intelligence, using meticulously planned dead drops, public phone booths, and tight timing with MI6 handler Guskett.
  • The risks are palpable—the drop is nearly compromised by a commuter, and the entire handover is fraught with the possibility of KGB surveillance.
  • Notable Quote:
    • “If Gordievsky is being watched, their hapless brush past will surely have been noted. And that could alert Moscow to the mole inside its embassy.” (Narrator, 41:00)

5. Personal Stakes: Love, Divorce, and Doubt

• [41:00-48:00]
  • Gordievsky develops feelings for Leila, a much younger Russian friend, further complicating his dangerous double life.
  • He confides in a KGB friend about his failing marriage and desire for love and family, knowing that a divorce spells the end of his KGB career and likely all foreign postings.
  • He faces a stark choice: personal happiness versus professional survival.
  • Notable Quote:
    • “That's the thing. It's become inconvenient.” (Gordievsky about his loveless marriage, 44:10)

6. MI6’s Chocolate Bar Escape Plan

• [48:00-53:00]
  • With Gordievsky due to return to Moscow—a perilous move—MI6’s Valerie Petit unveils an elaborate extraction plan.
  • Signaling would involve a Safeway bag, gray cap and trousers, and a British diplomat eating a Kit Kat or Mars bar—a system so mundane it’s almost comic, yet deadly serious.
  • The full plan is written on cellophane and hidden inside a book of Shakespeare sonnets.
  • Gordievsky is skeptical about the feasibility of the escape; MI6 insists it’s the best chance.
  • Notable Quote:
    • “Every two weeks, one of our officers at the embassy in Moscow will pass the bread shop opposite Hotel Ukraine … If you want extraction, you appear there with a Safeway bag in hand, while wearing a grey cap and trousers … one of our officers will confirm the signal by walking past you … carrying a green Harrods bag and eating a chocolate bar.” (Valerie Petit, 50:00)
    • “Gordievsky slips the book into his briefcase...it's clear he doesn't believe MI6's escape plan has any chance of success.” (Narrator, 52:30)

7. Britain Goes It Alone

• [53:00-54:30]
  • MI6 chooses to keep their new asset secret even from the CIA, a fateful decision dictated by trust and rivalry.
  • Notable Quote:
    • “And I hope you don't mind me saying, but I don't think the CIA should be included in that circle.” (Jeffrey Guskett, 54:15)

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• Gordievsky’s Moment of Destiny (02:30):
  “Gordievsky holds his breath. It's a moment of destiny. Is he about to be rescued or dragged back to Moscow?”

• Surveillance Realizations (10:30):
  “For a KGB man to condemn Moscow on a phone line he must at least suspect is being monitored. This is almost unthinkable.”

• Consent to Collaborate (21:32):
  “So bold. Well, your gamble paid off. This is a wish I can grant.”

• MI6’s Trust (54:15):
  “By cutting the CIA out, Britain keeps sole claim to this well placed spy inside the KGB. But if exposed, that decision could damage the trust with its closest ally.”

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:00 – 03:44]: Gordievsky awaits extraction near Finland, flash-forward to his moment of crisis
• [04:15 – 13:00]: Introduction of Gordievsky in Denmark, surveillance and personal struggles
• [13:00 – 21:30]: Danish and British evaluations, first meetings, and “litmus test”
• [21:30 – 27:00]: Safe house meeting, terms of collaboration, first major intelligence passed
• [35:00 – 41:00]: Microfilm operation and risks of handling secret materials
• [41:00 – 48:00]: Gordievsky’s relationship with Leila and his desperate personal crossroads
• [48:00 – 53:00]: Chocolate bar escape plan revealed and dramatized
• [53:00 – end]: British decision to exclude the CIA, foreshadowing consequences

Episode Tone

The episode maintains a tone of suspense, complexity, and moral ambiguity, blending precise historical retelling with dramatic, dialogue-driven scenes. The narration invokes both the paranoia of spycraft and the human vulnerabilities within. Gordievsky is rendered not just as an intelligence asset, but as a conflicted man torn between ideals, duty, love, and survival.

Ideal for listeners fascinated by Cold War intrigue, the complexity of divided loyalties, and the real-world drama behind spy stories. Future episodes promise to delve deeper into the operations, betrayals, and the ultimate climax of Gordievsky’s daring double life.