Introduction

The British 1940’s wartime counterespionage “Operation Jack King” is explained after MI5 archives are opened for this.

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Outline

A look at a bold World War II operation in which an MI5 agent infiltrated a fascist network to intercept stolen documents.

Eric Roberts

Eric Arthur Roberts (18 June 1907 – 17 or 18 December 1972) was an MI5 agent during the Second World War under the alias Jack King.

By posing as a Gestapo agent and infiltrating fascist groups in the UK, Roberts was able to prevent secret information finding its way to Germany.

Roberts continued to work for the security services after the war, particularly in Vienna, but it was a time of great anxiety in the services because of the suspicions surrounding double agents such as the Cambridge spy ring.

Roberts never felt completely accepted by MI5 because of his social background and a desk role did not suit him as well as his wartime role had. He is the subject of the biography Agent Jack (2018) by Robert Hutton, and his adventures were the inspiration for the novel Our Friends In Berlin by Anthony Quinn and for a major character in the novel Transcription by Kate Atkinson.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Benjamin Cohen and Nicolas Cotto.
• Editor(s): Sophie Creusot, Laurence Generet, and Constance Lagarde.
• Production: Planete +.
• Distributor(s): Lagardere Studios Distribution.
• Release Date: 2015.
• Running Time: 52 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.