Len Deighton’s riveting thriller XPD stands for Expedient Demise.

An alleged secret meeting between Churchill and Hitler in 1940 is at the centre of the tangled plot; Whitehall, the Kremlin and the CIA – plus a ruthless secret group – we are all somewhat anxious of that historical conference. Will the so-called Hitler Minutes prove Churchill a traitor?

Deighton described his book as “faction”, a blend of fact and fiction “so skilful you can’t see the join”.

Part 1. A Small Killing in Hollywood – The Prime Minister discovers a film is set to be made about the “Kaiseroda” mine – Hitler’s secret cave of treasures during the Second World War. So did Winston Churchill meet Hitler in 1940? Can the SIS (Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service) uncover the truth?

Part 2. The House in Geneva – Charles Stein is on a mission to Switzerland to meet his old Colonel. Can he discover the truth about the missing treasures from the Nazi Kaiseroda mine?

Part 3. An Egg Farm in Norfolk – On the trail of wartime secrets, Boyd Stuart has been sent to Los Angeles by the British Secret Service to investigate a film company. But he’s being followed and his contact dies….

Part 4. The Hitler Minutes – Secret Service agent Boyd returns to England to question Wever, an ex-German soldier who claims he helped load the ‘Kaiseroda’ treasure on to the train and into Hitler’s mine. Is he telling the truth?

Part 5. Operation Siegfried – The ‘Kaiseroda’ treasure contains papers that could prove Hitler had a meeting with Churchill in 1940. Charles Stein knows where the papers are. He’s being watched by German, Russian and British agents. They all want the papers…

Part 6. A Safe House for Moscow – Two men have broken into a German computer and discovered something called ‘Operation Siegfried’. Then they are murdered. Boyd Stuart suspects his own people and tries to resign. But you don t resign from the Secret Service.

Part 7. The Geneva Raid – Breslow has been told by Kleiber that an armed raid is going to take place on Colonel Pitman’s home in Switzerland.
In England, Stuart has been investigating the possibility of Churchill meeting Hitler in 1940.

Part 8. Expedient Demise – Stein and Colonel Pitman are making their getaway with the Hitler papers when Pitman is struck down – and a Swiss agent picks them up. Can Boyd Stuart get to Switzerland in time to collect them..?

Dramatised in eight parts by Michael Bakewell
Directed By: Peter King – Peter Walker
With Trevor Nichols as Boyd Stuart, David Garth as Sydney Ryden, Bruce Boa as Charles Stein, and featuring Bernard Hepton as Max Breslow