Spy drama Red Joan premieres in cinemas

Red Joan is based on the true story of Melita Norwood who was unmasked as the KGB’s longest-serving British spy

The silver screen adaptation of a novel written by a graduate of St John’s and partly filmed at St John’s is released in cinemas on Friday.

Red Joan puts a fictional spin on the true story of Melita Norwood, a woman unmasked as the KGB’s longest-serving British spy when she was 87-years-old.

Red Joan films at St John's

Parisa Taghizadeh © Trademark (Red Joan) Ltd 2018

Published as a novel in 2014, Red Joan was written by Jennie Rooney who studied History at the University of Cambridge. Her first novel, Inside the Whale, was a Richard and Judy debut choice, Tesco Book Club selection and was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. Her second novel, The Opposite of Falling, was published in 2010.

The story of the eponymous Red Joan follows Dame Judi Dench as Joan, a retired physicist whose tranquil life is interrupted in 2000 by a visit from British secret service MI5.

Red Joan filming at St John's

Parisa Taghizadeh © Trademark (Red Joan) Ltd 2018

Rising talent Sophie Cookson plays Joan in her younger days as a student who falls in love with a committed communist and, later, finds her loyalty to her country tested while employed in the UK’s secret nuclear programme. Her identity is not unmasked until many decades later after the Cold War ended.

Directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, who secured the film rights when he contacted Rooney after reading her novel, scenes were filmed partly on location in Cambridge including a number at St John’s including River Court and First Court.

The Johnian Society, an alumni group, hosted a private screening of Red Joan in the Soho Hotel, London, earlier this month and heard directly from Rooney about her writing career.

She is also featured on pages 24–5 of the spring Johnian magazine which will be mailed to alumni this month.

Red Joan filming at St John's

Parisa Taghizadeh © Trademark (Red Joan) Ltd 2018

Published: 17/04/19

Back to College News