Alan Strachan

A tribute to the work of monologist and comedienne Joyce Grenfell, performed by Maureen Lipman.

In the final days of World War II, a secret meeting takes place between a member of the World Jewish Congress and one of the most powerful Nazis in Germany – without Hitler's knowledge. Dr. Felix Kersten, Himmler’s trusted personal physiotherapist, uses his unique position of influence to facilitate a meeting between the architect of The Holocaust and Swedish Jew Norbert Masur. A meeting that could turn Himmler’s thoughts away from the downfall of the Third Reich and towards a course of action that could save thousands of lives. With battle lines crumbling and lives in the balance, the two men must try to find a way to persuade Himmler to release the last surviving concentration camp prisoners contrary to Hitler’s orders that no Jew should outlast the regime.

Moscow, 1987. As the cold war begins to thaw, an extraordinary reunion takes place between one of the great novelists of the twentieth century,Graham Greene, and his old MI6 boss, the notorious Soviet spy, Kim Philby. It’s taken thirty years and the beginnings of a new world order. As the two men raise their vodka glasses under the watchful eye of Russian memoirist and Philby’s last wife, Rufa, Ben Brown’s compelling political drama asks whether Philby betrayed his friend as well as his country, and how much the writer of The Third Man knew about Philby’s secret life.