Is A Man on the Inside based on a true story?
Ted Danson's new Netflix series follows a widower going undercover in a retirement community - but did it really happen?
New Netflix comedy series A Man on the Inside stars Ted Danson as a widower and retiree called Charles, who takes up a new job as the assistant to a private investigator.
The investigator has been hired by the son of a woman in a retirement community, who believes she has been stolen from. Charles is sent in undercover as a new resident, so that he can investigate and report back on his findings.
The story may seem somewhat outlandish, but is it purely fictional, from the mind of creator Michael Schur, or has the series been based on a true story?
Read on for everything you need to know about the true story behind A Man on the Inside.
Is A Man on the Inside based on a true story?
Strangely, it is... sort of. The series has been loosely inspired by 2020 documentary The Mole Agent, which comes from Chile and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 93rd Academy Awards.
The film was directed by Maite Alberdi, a followed the real-life figures Rómulo Aitken, a private investigator, and Sergio Chamy, a man he hired to go undercover in a nursing home in El Monte. Aitken himself was hired by a man claiming his mother was being mistreated by the staff, so Chamy was sent in to investigate.
After meeting and getting to know the residents and staff, Chamy concluded that the client's mother was being treated well, although the staff once forgot to give her her medication.
The events in the documentary were somewhat simulated – Alberdi approached the private investigator Rómulo Aitken about filming one of his cases, and waited until one of interest came along. Aitken had a regular mole he would have sent into the home, but they were unavailable due to a hip injury. Therefore, he looked to hire someone new.
Alberdi took a particular shine to Chamy despite his skillset not being ideally matched to the job, and this in part led to his being chosen for the job.
All of this obviously differs substantially from the plot of A Man on the Inside, which does not dramatise the events as part of a documentary filmmaking process, and makes changes to both the case and the characters involved.
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Is The Mole Agent available to stream?
The Mole Agent is available to stream now in the UK, but only as a rental title – it isn't currently available for free to anyone subscribed to services such as Netflix and Paramount Plus.
Viewers can rent or purchase the 2020 film now on platforms including Prime Video and Apple TV, as well as from the Sky Store.
The Mole Agent is streaming now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guideto find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
