THE ENEMY NEXT DOOR! 'THE AMERICANS' HAVE ARRIVED...

The Soviet threat is alive and well during the Reagan era of US history. Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell are THE AMERICANS. Image: FOX. 

Before the horrific emergence of terrorism and religious extremism that changed our lives forever on this planet from the noughties onwards, there was The Cold War- a frightening and equally dangerous game of paranoia and tension, of East and Western superpowers ready to extinguish themselves, during the late seventies and early eighties- a time where the threat of nuclear destruction was very real, and whose potential for dramatic storytelling was unparallelled, seeing in a raft of original, exciting books and film/TV thrillers built around the very likely and intriguing scenario of what would would happen if the UK or America were infiltrated in all levels of society by enemy "Sleeper" agents- people in our daily lives whom we thought we could trust-family, relatives, neighbours, workmates- who, in actuality,  turned out to be the most dangerous threat of all to our beliefs and existence. Such works as Frederick Forsyth's action/thriller THE FOURTH PROTOCOL, and the BBC's prestigious drama series SLEEPERS would certainly make an impact during this heady and uncertain period of time, and continue to do so as examples that the glossy new US series THE AMERICANS, starting its 13 episode run this Saturday evening on ITV1 (a noteworthy event- the channel rarely putting US shows in prime-time weekend slots these days), is surely taking its cues from.

Trading the nuclear weapons and big league action of the John Travolta starring actioner BROKEN ARROW for smaller scale, but no less vital, drama (having also been so successful with the hit modern day western JUSTIFIED), writer/producer Graham Yost is one of the key talents working within THE AMERICANS format, created by Joe Weisberg, based on a real-life story of spies whose existence was finally, fatefully uncovered in 2010, after years immersed in US life. Starring FELICITY and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III talent Keri Russell, alongside Brit Matthew Rhys, they are the Jennings: your average, married couple on the surface, with solid jobs and popularity in the neighbourhood, but in the very cold light of day, two Soviet KGB officers part of a massive program-a very real clear and present danger- to infiltrate American society, destabilise it where possible, and steal vital intel.

Trailer: The Americans - (TV series - 2013) - Trailer - YouTube

Garnering positive reviews, the series, made by FOX and AMBLIN ENTERTAINMENT, looks set to make the most of its 80's period trappings, and has two solid lead performances. It's unlikely anytime soon to knock HOMELAND off its seating as one of TV's finest recent dramas, but it has potential to get better, especially when the stakes get higher and the Jennings identity are threatened by a series of unexpected outside factors, plus dogged pursuit by their FBI enemies (led by THE X-FILES Noah Emmerich and former WALTON Richard Thomas). In this ever-changing game of move and counter-move, Detente is not on the agenda anytime soon...