This article is about the 2022 television series. For the original 1962 novel, see The IPCRESS File. For the original 1965 motion picture starring Michael Caine, see The Ipcress File (film).
The Ipcress File is a British cold warspy thriller television series loosely based on the 1962 novel The IPCRESS File by Len Deighton. Written by John Hodge and directed by James Watkins, it stars Joe Cole, Lucy Boynton and Tom Hollander. It was first broadcast at 9pm from Sunday 6 March to 10 April 2022 on ITV.[1] The entire series was available for streaming, with commercials, on ITV Hub after episode 1 was broadcast. Within a week the full series was also available, commercial-free, on BritBox in the UK.
In 1963, spy chief Major Dalby gives small-time crook and black-marketeer Corporal Harry Palmer a way out of Colchester Military Prison by offering him a job as an intelligence officer in his small but influential Whitehall security unit, WOOC(P).
The unit's investigation into a missing British nuclear scientist expands into a case of international espionage which is documented in the contents of the eponymous "IPCRESS File".
WOOC(P) is a (fictional) civilian department of the British intelligence community, reporting directly to the Cabinet. In the novel it is described as "one of the smallest and most important of the intelligence units" but it is never stated exactly what the initials stand for, only that it is ‘provisional.'[2] In episode one of the series, Dalby states that the unit is called ‘War Office Operational Communications (Provisional)’ and enjoys the fact that both MI5 and MI6 are envious of it.
Contrary to previous adaptations, the story has been extensively reworked, with plot and some characters radically altered and a lot of new material added, making the TV series significantly different from Deighton's original. The series is also influenced by the 1965 film, most obviously by adopting the "Harry Palmer" and "Jean Courtney" character names coined for the film. Visually, director James Watkins makes several nods to the direction of Sidney J. Furie, with regular use of angled camera work, and in places borrows almost shot-for-shot the framing of certain scenes.
One of the most recognisable homages to the film is during the opening sequence in episode 1, featuring coffee grinding and coffee making, and the very first opening shot of Palmer's glasses. Watkins said "[It was a] little wink ... the gaze is out of focus and then it finds focus when he puts the glasses on."[7] Writing in The Guardian Stuart Jeffries comments that "this opening reference to 57-year-old movie eyewear is a surprising gambit by director James Watkins and writer John Hodge, given their creative betrayal elsewhere of the source material."[8]
Nuclear scientist Professor Dawson is kidnapped. Harry Palmer is freed from military prison and co-opted by British intelligence for a dangerous mission in Berlin.
2
"Episode 2"
James Watkins
John Hodge
13March2022(2022-03-13)
Dawson was seeing an unconventional psychotherapist, a Russian agent is bugged and Jean's life is threatened.
3
"Episode 3"
James Watkins
John Hodge
20March2022(2022-03-20)
Harry and Jean travel to Beirut in pursuit of Professor Dawson. Who is holding him and when will he be exchanged?
4
"Episode 4"
James Watkins
John Hodge
27March2022(2022-03-27)
Harry and Jean witness a neutron bomb test and Dalby confronts General Cathcart, suspecting American involvement in Dawson's abduction.
5
"Episode 5"
James Watkins
John Hodge
3April2022(2022-04-03)
Dalby's integrity and judgement may be compromised and Harry explores his psychoneurosis.
6
"Episode 6"
James Watkins
John Hodge
10April2022(2022-04-10)
Harry is tormented and the enemy finally make their move, threatening the stability of the free world.
Reception
Nick Hilton of The Independent gave the first episode four out of five stars, praising its 'vintage' approach to spy thrillers.[10]
Chris Bennion in The Telegraph laments that "Joe Cole is horribly miscast as Harry Palmer" but "the rest is terrific", calling this adaptation of Len Deighton's novel "atmospheric, cool and compelling."[11]
The Spectator's James Walton praised the "impeccably twisty" production but said its main aim "is to be as cool and stylish as the 1960s films and TV it was paying tribute to" and that "everyone involved will continue to speak and act not like people in real life, so much as characters in cool and stylish spy films."[12]
Writing in The Observer, Barbara Ellen gave The Ipcress File a cool review, saying that these types of show all hang on the leading man, stating that Joe Cole is "just too young looking, too choirboy-pretty" but goes on to write that "he's sneaking into the role like a cat through a side window. It's all in the cocky backchat, the crackles of masked intelligence, the wary glints; the acknowledgment that whatever else is going on in cold war Britain, for Palmer, surfing the class system is part of it.’.[13]
“It would be a pretty good drama”, said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph if it didn't have to live up to the 1965 film. “Gorgeous period stylings, an atmospheric production and assured direction all do justice” to the story, but it lacks "charm". Still, the costumes are “fabulous”, the look of the show is "beautiful" and the story "motors along nicely," and Singh praises the production for sticking with Len Deighton's original creation and not trying to "turn Palmer into an action hero."[14]
Writing in The New Statesman, Rachel Cooke asked "Why remake The Ipcress File?", saying that "despite there being so many good spy novels waiting to be adapted, ITV proved it has no imagination by commissioning a reworking of the classic." Cooke laments Joe Cole's 'lack of charisma', says Lucy Boynton is "as woefully stiff as a Thunderbirds puppet", but praises Tom Hollander's performance as he "oozes patrician superiority". Cooke's piece concludes that "there's something more than a little ersatz about this series, as well as something quite boring."[15]
Stuart Jeffries, writing in The Guardian, suggests that what makes The Ipcress File worth reviving is that "now, as then, the Etonian death grip on politics and public service imperils Britain more than any tooled-up Russian." He gave the first episode four out of five stars, praised Cole's performance and the preservation of the novel's "snarling class politics".[8]
Writing in The Times about episode one, Carole Midgley asked if we need a remake of The Ipcress File and said Cole did a "restrained, nuanced job" but "it was always going to feel like watching the understudy standing in" and praised Tom Hollander as "the best thing in it", giving episode one three out of five stars.[16] By episode two, Midgley admitted to enjoying the show "more than I expected" and being won over by Cole's "cocky insouciance and grounded humanity... making, dare I say it, the character more his own."[17]
Also writing in The Times, Hugo Rifkind praised ITV's "cool and stylish" remake but found it a little too "cartoony and shallow". On the whole Rifkind enjoyed it saying that "It's Sunday night, it's ITV, and while the goodies might be a bit of a mess, at least the baddies are definitely bad. What more could you want?”.[18]
Rachel Sigee writing in the i gave the first episode four out of five stars. She praised Joe Cole's "fine performance" but said it was "a little detached for an everyman hero." Sigee says "the show looked sensational" and "a spy drama centred around the Soviet nuclear threat couldn't be more relevant" but given Russia's current war in Ukraine, "it's a little hard to stomach."[19]
Michael Hogan described it as "a gripping period thriller…where the script does the talking….the most enjoyable ITV drama in ages…" [citation needed]
The IPCRESS File is Len Deighton's first spy novel, published in 1962. The story involves Cold War brainwashing, includes scenes in Lebanon and on an atoll for a United States atomic weapon test, as well as information about Joe One, the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb. The story was made into a film in 1965 produced by Harry Saltzman, directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine; and a 2022 TV series, starring Joe Cole, Lucy Boynton and Tom Hollander.
Leonard Cyril Deighton is a British author. His publications have included cookery books and works on history, but he is best known for his spy novels.
Harry Palmer is the name given to the anti-hero protagonist of several films based on spy novels written by Len Deighton, in which the main character is an unnamed intelligence officer. For convenience, the novels are also often referred to as the "Harry Palmer" novels.
Funeral in Berlin is a 1964 spy novel by Len Deighton set between Saturday 5 October and Sunday 10 November 1963. It was the third of Deighton's novels about an unnamed British agent. It was preceded by The IPCRESS File (1962) and Horse Under Water (1963), and followed by Billion-Dollar Brain (1966).
Billion-Dollar Brain is a 1966 Cold War spy novel by Len Deighton. It was the fourth to feature an unnamed secret agent working for the British WOOC(P) intelligence agency. It follows The IPCRESS File (1962), Horse Under Water (1963), and Funeral in Berlin (1964). As in most of Deighton's novels, the plot of Billion Dollar Brain (1967) is intricate, with many dead ends.
John Hodge is a Scottish screenwriter and dramatist from Glasgow, who adapted Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting into the script for the film of the same title. His first play Collaborators won the 2012 Olivier Award for Best New Play. His films include Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996) A Life Less Ordinary (1997), The Beach (2000), The Final Curtain (2002), and the short film Alien Love Triangle (2002).
Horse Under Water (1963) is the second of several Len Deighton spy novels featuring an unnamed British intelligence officer. It was preceded by The IPCRESS File and followed by Funeral in Berlin.
Billion Dollar Brain is a 1967 British espionage film directed by Ken Russell and based on the 1966 novel Billion-Dollar Brain by Len Deighton. The film features Michael Caine as secret agent Harry Palmer, the anti-hero protagonist. The "brain" of the title is a sophisticated computer with which an anti-communist organisation controls its worldwide anti-Soviet spy network.
Thomas Anthony Hollander is a British actor who has gained success for his roles on stage and screen, winning BAFTA and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Susan Margery Jeaffreson Lloyd was an English model and actress, with numerous film and television credits. She may be best known for her long-running role as Barbara Hunter in the British soap opera Crossroads and Cordelia Winfield in the ITC series The Baron.
The Ipcress File may refer to:
The Ipcress File is a 1965 British spy film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine. The screenplay, by Bill Canaway and James Doran, was based on Len Deighton's novel The IPCRESS File (1962). It received a BAFTA award for the Best British film released in 1965. In 1999, it was included at number 59 on the BFI list of the 100 best British films of the 20th century.
Lucy Boynton is a British and American actress. Raised in London, she made her professional debut as the young Beatrix Potter in Miss Potter (2006). She appeared in television productions Ballet Shoes (2007), Sense and Sensibility (2008) and Mo (2010), making guest appearances on Lewis, Borgia, Endeavour, and Law & Order: UK. Boynton portrayed writer Angelica Garnett on Life in Squares, which aired on BBC. She appeared as an isolated popular girl in The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) and starred as a bold aspiring model in Sing Street (2016). She also appeared in horror films I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) and Don't Knock Twice (2016).
Spy Story is a 1974 spy novel by Len Deighton, which features minor characters from his earlier novels The IPCRESS File, Funeral in Berlin, Horse Under Water, and Billion Dollar Brain.
Colonel H. L. Ross is a fictional character from the series of novels by Len Deighton variously described as the "Secret File" or "Unnamed hero" novels. His first names are not revealed.
Len Deighton is an English author known for his novels, works of military history, screenplays and cookery writing. He had a varied career, including as a pastry cook, waiter, co-editor of a magazine, teacher and air steward before writing his first novel in 1962: The IPCRESS File. He continued to produce what his biographer John Reilly considers "stylish, witty, well-crafted novels" in spy fiction, including three trilogies and a prequel featuring Bernard Samson.
Liar is a British thriller television series created by Harry and Jack Williams, and co-produced by ITV and SundanceTV. The series stars Joanne Froggatt and Ioan Gruffudd as two people whose initial attraction leads to far-reaching consequences for them and their friends and families. The series premiered on ITV on 11 September 2017, with the first series concluding on 16 October 2017. Upon its debut, it received positive reviews, with many critics praising the performances of Froggatt and Gruffudd. The programme was renewed for a second and final series, which premiered on 2 March 2020, concluding on 6 April 2020.
The Bay is an ITV crime drama series produced by Tall Story Pictures and distributed worldwide by ITV Studios Global Entertainment that first aired in March 2019. The first two series starred Morven Christie as a detective sergeant family liaison officer. Marsha Thomason took over the leading role from series three as DS Jenn Townsend. The first series centred around an investigation into teenage missing twins from a family living in Morecambe. The name of the series derives from Morecambe Bay, in the county of Lancashire in the north-west of England.
Vigil is a British police procedural television drama series created by Tom Edge and produced by World Productions. The six-part series premiered on BBC One on 29 August 2021. The series stars Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Shaun Evans, Paterson Joseph, Gary Lewis and Martin Compston, and is set in Scotland, primarily onboard the HMS Vigil, a ballistic missile submarine of the Royal Navy.
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