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National Security: The Treholt Story

Season 1
On January 24, 1984, Arne Treholt, a well-known Norwegian career diplomat and politician, left the Foreign Ministry in Oslo on his way to the airport to catch a flight to Vienna. Hours later he sat in a police interrogation room, under arrest, charged with spying for the Soviet Union. This thrilling documentary tells this true story of international espionage and treachery at the highest levels.
20226 episodesTV-PG
Free trial of BBC Select

Episodes

  1. S1 E1 - Undercover
    January 29, 2022
    58min
    TV-PG
    On January 24, 1984, Arne Treholt, a well-known Norwegian career diplomat and politician, left the Foreign Ministry in Oslo on his way to the airport to catch a flight to Vienna. Hours later he sat in a police interrogation room, under arrest, charged with spying for the Soviet Union. This thrilling documentary tells this true story of international espionage and treachery at the highest levels.
    Free trial of BBC Select
  2. S1 E2 - The World's Second Oldest Profession
    January 29, 2022
    45min
    TV-PG
    One day in January, in the early 1980s, the FBI moves into an apartment in Manhattan. Their job is to spy on the neighbors across the hall, a Norwegian diplomat and his family. But what do they suspect? This thrilling political documentary begins to tell the remarkable story of Arne Treholt, suspected of being a possible agent for the enemy in the east, the Soviet KGB.
    Free trial of BBC Select
  3. S1 E3 - It Just Happened
    February 5, 2022
    47min
    TV-PG
    Arne Treholt's career is taking off. He is becoming a powerful politician. He negotiates with the Russians regarding important territorial waters off the coast of Norway. But, as this thrilling documentary reveals, he also maintains secret relations with the KGB. What is the truth regarding Treholt's dealings with the Russians, and what was the Soviet Union concerned about during the Cold War?
    Free trial of BBC Select
  4. S1 E4 - A Channel For Dialogue
    February 5, 2022
    48min
    TV-PG
    When Norway joins the UN Security Council in 1979, Arne Treholt moves to New York to work as a diplomat. But as this fascinating documentary shows, a sense of adventure drives him to resume contact with the former KGB chief at the Norwegian embassy. This decision proves to be fateful. Behind the scenes the FBI, MI6 and Russian double agents begin to take an interest in Arne.
    Free trial of BBC Select
  5. S1 E5 - Cosmic Top Secret
    February 12, 2022
    52min
    TV-PG
    A new job for Treholt allows him access to top secret information, even though the Norwegian authorities suspect him of espionage. As this gripping documentary reveals, police monitor him by means of telephone tapping and cameras in his apartment. During a search, they make a decisive discovery which, for the first time, enables them to witness secret meetings between Treholt and the KGB.
    Free trial of BBC Select
  6. S1 E6 - The Spy Paragraph
    February 12, 2022
    52min
    TV-PG
    Arne Treholt is caught and convicted. But, as this fascinating documentary concludes, questions still remain. Was it sufficiently proven that he passed information on to the KGB that endangered Norway's security? Was there enough evidence to prove Treholt was a spy and deserved a life sentence? Is it possible, 40 years later, to find out why the authorities in the Kremlin valued Treholt?
    Free trial of BBC Select

Details

More info

Audio languages
English
Subtitles
English [CC]
Directors
Ingrid Boon UlfsbyIngrid Wevang
Studio
Monster
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