Cover Peter Sutherland of ‘The Night Agent’ is the ultimate reluctant hero for a new era of spy TV (Photo: IMDB)
Peter Sutherland of ‘The Night Agent’ is the ultimate reluctant hero for a new era of spy TV (Photo: IMDB)
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From slow-burn political manoeuvres to heart-pounding action, these gripping espionage series deliver the same high-stakes thrill as ‘The Night Agent’
The Night Agent became a breakout hit by proving how gripping espionage can be when political secrets and personal risk collide. The series follows a low-level FBI agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), who unexpectedly becomes entangled in a high-level conspiracy after answering a desperate emergency call. Thrust into a web of corruption that reaches the highest corridors of power, he must navigate shifting alliances, hidden threats and escalating danger. Its streaming dominance reflects a renewed appetite for thrillers that balance strategy with suspense and character-driven stakes.
If you’re looking to extend that momentum of the Netflix hit, these series follow a similar arc, beginning with calculated power plays before accelerating into relentless tension, where loyalties are tested, threats multiply and every decision carries consequence.
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‘The Diplomat’ (2023)
Above Keri Russell brings razor-sharp wit to high-stakes embassy intrigue in ‘The Diplomat’
Keri Russell (Kate Wyler) plays a career diplomat suddenly thrust into the US ambassadorship to the UK during an international crisis—a role she never wanted and is spectacularly ill-suited for on paper. But what makes The Diplomat so compulsively watchable is how she weaponises that misfit status. If The Night Agent’s White House power plays had you hooked, this delivers the same intoxicating cocktail of political betrayal, impossible choices and jaw-dropping cliffhangers—only this time, the weapons of choice are razor-sharp words and ruthless back-channel manoeuvring.
‘Slow Horses’ (2022)
Above Gary Oldman leads ‘Slow Horses’ as MI5’s most brilliantly disgraced spy handler
Gary Oldman (Jackson Lamb) leads a cast of disgraced MI5 agents banished to a bureaucratic dead end—a grim office nicknamed Slough House—for career-ending mistakes. Darkly funny yet genuinely tense, the show proves that even the most incompetent, overlooked spies can stumble into earth-shattering government cover-ups. What sets it apart is its moral complexity: nobody here is purely heroic, and the conspiracies run uncomfortably close to the top. Fans of The Night Agent’s deep-state paranoia will find a great deal to savour.
‘Treason’ (2022)
Above Charlie Cox stars in ‘Treason’ as an MI6 chief entangled in a dangerous Russian past
Charlie Cox (Adam Lawrence) plays MI6’s deputy director whose carefully constructed career begins to unravel the moment a Russian spy from his past resurfaces with dangerous knowledge. Compact and relentlessly taut across just five episodes, Treason strips the espionage genre down to its most essential question: who, in this world, can you actually trust? It delivers the same mole-hunting paranoia and collapsing-trust tension that made The Night Agent so compulsive, with a deeply personal emotional core that keeps the stakes feeling human throughout.
‘The Recruit’ (2022)
Above Noah Centineo plays a rookie CIA lawyer in way over his head in ‘The Recruit’
Noah Centineo (Owen Hendricks) is a rookie CIA lawyer who stumbles into a deadly extortion plot when a former asset threatens to expose agency secrets—and suddenly finds himself navigating a world of lethal operatives he was never trained to handle. This is arguably the closest tonal match to The Night Agent on this entire list. Like Peter Sutherland, Owen is no polished super-spy; he survives on instinct, sheer nerve and a willingness to make spectacularly dangerous decisions under pressure. The Recruit is fast, funny and unashamedly entertaining.
‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ (2018)
Above John Krasinski’s Jack Ryan goes from quiet desk analyst to global field agent fast
John Krasinski (Jack Ryan) plays a low-level CIA financial analyst whose quiet, cubicle-bound existence is shattered when a suspicious pattern of bank transfers leads him straight into a deadly global terrorist hunt spanning Europe and the Middle East. The show’s great strength is its insistence on grounding its action in procedure and consequence—Jack is brilliant, but he is not invincible, and every field decision costs him. The underdog-doing-the-right-thing energy mirrors The Night Agent in the most satisfying way.
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‘Bodyguard’ (2018)
Above Richard Madden delivers a career-best turn as a bodyguard stretched to his limits
Richard Madden (David Budd) plays a PTSD-afflicted war veteran assigned to protect a controversial UK Home Secretary he fundamentally disagrees with—a tension that crackles through every scene. The show opens with one of the most breathlessly stressful sequences in recent television history: a bomb-defusal scene on a crowded commuter train that immediately establishes its relentless, you-cannot-look-away pacing. If the desperation of Peter keeping Rose alive in The Night Agent had your heart in your throat, Bodyguard will have you watching entire episodes through your fingers.
‘The Day of the Jackal’ (2024)
Above Eddie Redmayne is chillingly untraceable in ‘The Day of the Jackal’
Eddie Redmayne (The Jackal) plays a shape-shifting, eerily charismatic assassin whose seemingly flawless methods are matched only by the obsessive intelligence officer, played by Lashana Lynch (Bianca), determined to bring him down. What makes this cat-and-mouse thriller so effective is its refusal to make either side simple. Every clue solved opens a more dangerous door; every lead narrowed generates a new layer of complexity. That rhythm—of hard-won progress constantly destabilised by bigger revelations—is something The Night Agent fans will find instantly and deeply satisfying.
‘Black Doves’ (2024)
Above Keira Knightley is magnetic as a sleeper spy unravelling a lethal conspiracy in ‘Black Doves’
Keira Knightley (Helen Webb) plays a sleeper spy living a meticulously constructed double life—until her secret lover is brutally murdered, forcing an unlikely and volatile alliance with a world-weary assassin played by Ben Whishaw (Sam Young). Stylish, ruthlessly plotted and laced with genuine emotional weight, Black Doves is one of the freshest entries in the spy genre in years. It shares The Night Agent’s core DNA: hidden identities, loyalties stretched to breaking point and a conspiracy that reaches terrifyingly, almost unbelievably high.
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After more than a decade in lifestyle media, Clifford has mastered the art of writing seriously about things that are fun—and writing fun things about people who take themselves very seriously. At Tatler Asia, he helped steer its flagship lists, Tatler’s Most Influential and Asia’s Most Stylish. And today, he leads T-Labs, Tatler Asia’s content innovation hub, where he continues the noble pursuit of lifestyle storytelling, spinning stories on wealth, entertainment, necessary style, Hallyu, Hollywood, beauty and more for audiences across Asia.
