| Turn | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Craig Silverstein |
| Starring | Jaime Bell Seth Numrich Heather Lind Daniel Henshall Meegan Warner Kevin McNally Burn Gorman Angus MacFadyen JJ Feild Ian Kahn Samuel Roukin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 44 minutes (per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | AMC |
Turn or Turn: Washington's Spies is an American historical drama television show. It is set during the American Revolutionary War. It is about spying, and the beginning of espionage. It began airing on American television in 2014, and aired for four seasons. Jaime Bell plays Abraham Woodhull.
Turn is loosely based on the Culper Ring, real spies from the Revolutionary War. The television show used elements of the non-fiction popular history book Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring, by Alexander Rose, to come up with its main theme, storyline and structure. Alexander Rose was one of Turn's producers and writers.
The plot of the show revolves around a American Revolutionary War era cabbage farmer in the late-mid 18th century named Abraham Woodhull, and how he, his family, and their friends become spies for George Washington. The story dramatizes the British plan to use counterfeit money, the story of Benedict Arnold switching sides, and the execution of John André.
It had many side stories about race, gender, slavery, and relationships, as well as about a man against Woodhull named Simcoe.
Much of the story takes place on Long Island, in New York. It also depicts other parts of the American colonies, including New York, New York (New Amsterdam), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and West Point, New York.
While there was some historical revisionism, according to Long Island historian Margo Arceri the show is "about 70 percent inaccurate."
Many of the buildings where the real Culper Ring spies worked are still there.