Is 'The Courier' based on true story? Know all about Benedict Cumberbatch's character

After the success of The Imitation Game, Benedict Cumberbatch is back on the silver screen with another historical drama film based on one of the most intelligent and famous UK agents, Greville Wynne. The film is about a simple but clever businessman who is recruited by the MI6 to investigate and spy on the Soviet Union's meetings and end the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Courier review on IMDb promises a hit as fans have given it a total of 7.1 stars out of 10. 

The movie has also received a big thumbs up from the panel of critics who called it a "rousingly effective old-school spy adventure", according to Rotten Tomatoes. The Courier's trailer excited many fans with Greville Wynne's imaginative and creative ways as an MI6 agent. This has got many wondering, "Is The Courier based on a true story?"

Is 'The Courier' based on true story?

As shown in the credits of the movie, The Courier is a true story of Greville Wynne who was appointed by the Secret Intelligence Service in 1960 to make a quick sales trip in Moscow and arrange meetings with important state officials, while also reporting all the details of the conversation back to the MI6. There, he met with a GRU officer holding a high rank, named Oleg Penkovsky.

Penkovsky and Wynne started working together. Greville Wynne became 'the courier' who helped Oleg Penkovsky in illegally communicating Soviet Intelligence as shown in the film too. Penkovsky, a World War II hero and a seemingly loyal Soviet citizen, hoped that his work would be recognised by the Western countries and he would receive security and comfortable life for his family. Wynne and Penkovsky's work helped the Britishers and Americans in gaining leverage over the Eastern countries and played a major role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

After more than two years of successfully spying on the Soviet, Greville Wynne and Oleg Penkovsky were convicted. While Penkovsky was given the death penalty, Wynne was reportedly imprisoned for eight years in May 1963. A year later he was freed due to his ill health, according to Jerrold Schecter's The Spy Who Saved The World.  Soon after his release, Greville Wynne authored two books The Man From Moscow in 1967 and The Man From Odessa in 1981, claiming that he had worked for MI5 in early World War II. 

On February 28, 1990, Greville Wynne passed away, at the age of 71, due to throat cancer in London at the Cromwell Hospital. Wynne has been depicted twice before Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of the character in The Courier. He was played by David Calder in BBC's Wynne and Penkovsky in 1985 and in BBC's documentary Nuclear Secrets in 2007 by Peter Lindford. 

(Promo Image Source: Still from The Courier)