Fortitude, a 6-part WWII spy thriller premiering on BBC One in 2026, has ignited a frenzy with its 94% Rotten Tomatoes score from early screenings, starring Nicolas Cage as real-life double agent Dusko Popov—the inspiration for James Bond—alongside Matthew Goode, Michael Sheen, and Ben Kingsley in a pulse-pounding tale of deception from smoky London clubs to enemy lines. Created by The Imitation Game’s Graham Moore and filmed in the UK from April to October 2025, the series unravels British intelligence’s Operation Mincemeat, where fake armies and forged documents outsmart Nazis, but betrayal lurks in every shadow.
The saga’s searing surge? Spellbinding: Episode 1 catapults Popov into a clandestine MI5 row, a forged letter etched with doubt, unspooling a web where allies conceal crimes and spies harbor grudges. Cage’s Popov? A “masterclass in mettle,” his suave charm warping to weary dread, unraveling a ripple of regrets where a “trusted colonel” surfaces as sabotage. Goode’s Charles Cholmondeley? A “fiery forger,” his wit cracking under war’s weight. Sheen’s Ewen Montagu? A “calculating commander” with a sting. Kingsley’s Juan Pujol? A “cryptic counterspy” with secrets. Moore’s script quivers with quips—“Lies win wars; truth loses them”—but the “brutal” stakes bite: a botched beach drop buries hope, a VVIP viper’s venom turns ally to assassin.
The “outwitting Nazis”? Volcanic: Based on Ben Macintyre’s Operation Mincemeat (2010, 1M copies), the series amps the “pacy” probe with “spooky” soundscapes and “authentic” 1943 vibes, London’s “eerie fog” amplifying “grim themes.” The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan raves “pacy, poignant drama” with Cage’s “reliably raw” heart; The Independent’s Ed Power hails Sheen’s “Icily Glamorous” intensity and the “haunting” score. Variety’s Owen Gleiberman praises the “confidence, style, authenticity.” Skeptics? “Mired in machismo,” but the 1-in-2 lie-to-landing ratio hooks, BARB metrics outgunning The Jetty.
This isn’t spy sketch; it’s a symphony of subterfuge, Fortitude’s “deception” a flare for the fearless where forgeries forge fate and betrayal binds. Popov’s ploy? Plausible. The Nazis’ naivety? Naïve. 2026? Not a drop—a deluge. Binge it; the drops devastate, the dramas deliver. Cage’s charisma? Charismatic. The obsession? Overnight, inescapable.
