Anna Maxwell-Martin as Lily Thomas in new ITVX drama A Spy Among Friends (Picture: ITVX)
Anna Maxwell Martin has revealed that Ant and Dec were the unlikely inspiration behind her character in a new spy drama starring Damian Lewis.
A Spy Among Friends, which starts on new streaming service ITVX on December 8, stars Maxwell-Martin alongside Lewis, as well as Guy Pearce and Adrian Edmondson.
The six-part thriller series is based on the novel of the same name by author Ben Macintyre, and tells the true story of two spies, Kim Philby and Nicholas Elliott.
Elliott is working as an agent for MI6 when he discovers that close friend Philby has secretly defected to the Soviet Union, working as a double-agent for the KGB.
Maxwell Martin, who plays investigator Lily Thomas in the series, says that her character’s North East accent was inspired by an unlikely source.
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, she said: ‘I was supposed to be from Durham, so I initially thought of Ant & Dec… I found out a few weeks in that they’re from Newcastle!’
Anna spoke to the Graham Norton show about the new thriller series (Picture: Matt Crossick/PA Wire)
The Line of Duty star confessed to Graham that she doesn’t know what happens in the spy series apart from the scenes in which she appears.
She admitted: ‘What I do is just read my bits, I don’t need to know what is going on in the rest of it because I am not there.’
The actress also said that she didn’t do much research for the role.
Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce in the new series A Spy Among Friends (Picture: Spectrum/ITV)
Kim Philby will be played by Pearce, who has most recently starred in the HBO limited series Mare of Easttown, alongside Kate Winslet.
Nicholas Elliott will be portrayed by Homeland and Billions star Lewis, who became a household name after his performance in Band of Brothers.
Lewis starred as Major Richard Winters in the Steven Spielberg-directed and Tom Hanks-produced miniseries set during World War II.
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Maxwell-Martin’s work in the new series will hopefully be better received by her children than her work in comedy series Motherland.
Earlier this year, she admitted that her children hadn’t taken too kindly to the sitcom, which also stars Diane Morgan and Paul Ready.
Watch A Spy Among Friends from December 8 on ITVX.
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‘I found out they’re from Newcastle!’
