A gritty thriller set behind the Iron Curtain in 1960s Hungary

Budapest, 1963. Special Investigator Bertalan Lázár and his wife, spymaster Franciska Lázár, face formidable challenges as they try to navigate a path through the dangerous underworld of Cold War-era Hungary. Catching the criminals is difficult enough, but there are other more threatening battles raging in higher places.

In these 16 episodes, Bertalan must investigate the murder of a former member of the secret police, fight a turf war as he tries to find a child killer, probe a seemingly straightforward case of GBH that leads him to a rogue cop and enter the uncharted territory of Budapest's underground drugs scene after a rock musician is found dead.

Written by Philip Palmer, this gripping, atmospheric drama expertly conjures up the tense, paranoid world of Communist Hungary, where dissidence was dangerous, the truth was hard to find and pursuing justice could get you killed. Leo Bill stars as Bertalan and Clare Corbett as Franciska, with Andy Linden as Tibor Farkas and Joseph Ayre as József Szabados.

The episodes in this collection are:

The Wolf
The Old Days
Behind the Wall
Waiting by the River
Heroes
Gellert Hill
Spider's Web
Carnaby Street
Gypsy Dancers
Grandmother's Footsteps
Mad Dog
The Light of Dawn
The Great Society
Red Pen
The Great Tree Gang
The Magical Magyars

Produced and directed by Toby Swift and Sasha Yevtushenko
Sound Design by Caleb Knightley

Cast
Bertalan Lázár - Leo Bill
Franciska Lázár - Clare Corbett
Tibor Farkas - Andy Linden
József Szabados - Joseph Ayre
Gizella - Nicola Ferguson
Bela Fekete - Sargon Yelda
Mr Papp - Nick Underwood
Kitchen Porter - Richard Pepple
Police Officer/Csaba - Sam Rix
Lilien Racz - Adie Allen
Milton Szilard - Philip Fox
Kristof Szep - Samuel James
Mr Kiraly - Robert Blythe
Waiter/Peterke - Tom Forrister
Mrs Tolnay - Sanchia MacCormack
Stenographer - Kerry Gooderson
Dmitri Dragunov - Simon Scardifield
Márk Mészáros - Michael Bertenshaw
András Vásáry - David Hounslow
Priest/Copper - Christopher Harper
Gyuri Varg/Fabenyi/Police officer/Partygoer - Kenny Blyth
Dorina Varga - Helen Clapp
Ministry official/Police officer/Drug dealer/Partygoer - Chris Pavlo
Hanna Krivosik - Franchi Webb
Zsófia/Nurse 1 - Sarah Ovens
PuŠomori Žiga - Debbie Korley
Mrs Kovacs/Nurse 2/Receptionist - Susan Jameson
Gyozo Novak - Carl Prekopp
Florian Hevesi - Luke Nunn
Sandor Boros - Stephen Greif
Pathologist - Jane Whittenshaw
Cop/Detective - Stefan Adegbola
Mother - Emma Handy
Kulcsar - Roger Ringrose
Draskovic - Ewan Bailey
Billiards player/Prison officer - Ian Dunnett Jnr
Hadik - Hasan Dixon
Richard Miklos/Károly Miklós/Laska - Shaun Mason
Violinist/Márton Kozma/Police Officer/Priest - Simon Ludders
Réka Kozma/Pathologist - Jane Slavin
Archivist/Ioveanu - Tony Turner
Orsolya - Ria Marshall
Receptionist - David Sturzaker

© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
(P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd