Episode Details

Alan Philps examines Ralph Parker, a mysterious correspondent for The Times and The New York Times, and his secretary-turned-wife, Valentina. A central event involves a chaotic press conference regarding the Katyn Forestmassacre, where reporter Harold King tried to physically block Valentina, suspecting she was an NKVD colonel. In the ensuing scuffle, Valentina was thrown through a glass door but stoically recovered to attend the conference. Philps explores whether Parker was a spy for Britain, the Soviets, or both, noting his later career representing Soviet artists. Despite the suspicions that she was a high-ranking agent, Valentina died blind and in extreme poverty in a dilapidated apartment. In a poignant display of Russian generosity, she once gave away her wedding ring to a visitor's daughter because "good gold" was scarce, highlighting her dire circumstances at the end of her life. (2)