Traitors

‘Traitors’ on Channel Four is a first-class post-war drama. The period detail is impeccable and the story is presented in a fine dramatic way.

At the end of the war, American Imperialism calculated that the British Empire was a spent force and the US could take on the mantle of world power. In the Middle East they pushed their project of establishing the State of Israel. The show records a story of Americans importing nylons for sale in the UK with the money  being used to buy guns for Zionist extremists in the Middle East.

CIA are equally hostile to the Labour Party as they are to the "Red Menace". They do not differentiate.

It is a work of fiction although there is a high probability that the US State Department spied on Britain in this period. CIA infiltration of trade unions, for example, is well-documented and John Pilger has investigated the spying on Australia by the CIA and its role in bringing down an elected government (Reference: https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/gough-whitlam-and-the-cias-forgotten-coup,7029

And if that was happening then, the viewer is left asking what the CIA is up to now? No good I suspect!

The role of Priscilla Garrick shows yet another facet of Keeley Hawes' ability. She plays a completely ruthless character who is prepared to have Feef Simmons killed because she suspects (correctly) that she is working for US intelligence. This is all done with a veneer of civilised behaviour which is finely balanced.

Feef is blackmailed by the CIA to continue working for them. It would be too much of a spoiler to go into more detail about how.

Another central character is Rowe (played by Michael Stuhlbarg) who is determined to persuade the American government that the CIA is playing an important role. He wants to fight Socialism by any means necessary and if that involves murder and blackmail, well it's all in a day's work.

The character Jackson Cole is played by Brandon P Bell who is the only black cast member. A war for democracy has left the position of his family back in the States no better. He himself works as a chauffeur. His story is an interesting sub-plot.

I think it is a series which leaves viewers wanting more.