Codename: Kyril

Codename Kyril is a 208minute British serial, first broadcast in 1988. It is a Cold War espionage drama, starring Ian Charleson, Edward Woodward, Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, and Richard E. Grant. The spy thriller was directed by Ian Sharp, and the screenplay was written by John Hopkins, from a 1981 novel by John Trenhaile. The fairly complex plot concerns a known Russian spy Kyril sent to the UK under falsely reported pretenses in order to hopefully indirectly spark an unknown mole in the KGB to reveal himself the endeavor eventually has repercussions which none of the initial players could have predicted.

On Stanovs instructions, Bucharensky, who is given the codename Kyril, defects to the West and heads for Western Europe and then London. As instructed, he leaves behind in Moscow a fabricated diary which supposedly implicates the traitor within the KGB. Stanov keeps the fake diary locked in a safe, but spreads information about its existence and supposed contents in order to see who reacts, and how.General Michaelov Espen Skjnberg, an aging hardliner of the KGB, is persuaded by his deputy Povin Denholm Elliott to sneak into the safe to confirm the existence of the diary, although Michaelov does not take the time to read the diarys contents. Povin also convinces Michaelov to attempt to have Kyril killed lest he divulge KGB secrets to MI6. Meanwhile, Povin is covertly sympathetic to the West, and sends messages to the head of MI6 via hidden microfilms carried by third parties. ........

Source: Wikipedia