
#Espionage tv series tv
The TV reboot borrows the Harry Palmer and Jean Courtney character names from the film, and Watkins makes several nods to Furie’s directing style. It is also influenced by the 1965 film of the same name, starring Michael Caine and directed by Sidney J. Working alongside cool, ambitious agent Jean, Harry soon finds himself as an unwitting participant in a violent political conspiracy.īased loosely on Deighton’s beloved novel, the original story has been extensively reworked, with the plot and some characters dramatically altered. The Ipcress File takes place at the height of the Cold War, where ex-soldier and convicted thief Harry Palmer is recruited to an unorthodox British spy unit whose boss, Dalby, wants his help to retrieve a missing scientist. The stylish spy thriller is directed by Emmy winner James Watkins ( The Woman In Black) and is set in Berlin and London during the 1960s.
#Espionage tv series series
But how did she get recruited? And how did she get so good, so fast? Where does she find the time to maintain her exquisite hair and makeup and wardrobe when dirtier, nastier doings are required of her as well? Who knows.AMC+ has unveiled the trailer for its upcoming new espionage thriller The Ipcress File, based on the best-selling Len Deighton novel.Īdapted for television by Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Hodge ( Trainspotting), the atmospheric drama series stars Joe Cole ( Peaky Blinders) as iconic British spy Harry Palmer, Lucy Boynton ( The Politician) as intelligence officer Jean Courtney, and Tom Hollander ( Baptiste) as spy chief Major Dalby.Īs can be seen in the teaser (watch below), the series promises plenty of twists and turns as it tells a tale of abducted scientists, brainwashing, inter-departmental rivalries, treason, and possibly an unwise romance. Maybe it’s everything all at once, but we’re never given a glimpse into her true feelings.

It’s unclear if the marriage was intended as part of her cover or something she actually wanted or simply the next inevitable step for a woman of her time. She has a fiance who is clueless about her real job, and yet ultimately her spy skills aren’t sharp enough to fool the man she intends to marry. 1 Homeland Is The Best Espionage Thriller Series With Consistently Thrilling Seasons While there are spy shows that opt to integrate comedy to help complement the espionage and action, Homeland thrives on its thriller tropes and psychological warfare, making it one of the most intense and engrossing spy/espionage shows out there. Jean’s role has been beefed up considerably from the film, but she remains a cipher. What you see is what you get with Harry, which is at odds with everyone else around him - even his colleagues. Joe Cole stars as Harry Palmer (the Michael Caine role in the original film) in the TV adaptation of "The Ipcress File." (Ben Blackall/Mikola Preovic/AMC/ITV)

He’s a regular bloke with a smuggler’s talents, which lands him behind bars after he’s busted for running booze while serving as an army corporal stationed in Germany. In the ‘65 film (adapted from Len Deighton’s 1962 novel), Harry Palmer emerged onto the pop-cultural landscape as the anti-James Bond, and this six-episode version sticks to that approach with sleepy-eyed actor Joe Cole (“Peaky Blinders”) stepping into the Caine role. Witty and occasionally terrifying, the series moves at a good clip and is stylish - it retains those thick-framed eyeglasses that are so iconic to Caine’s original performance. Harry Palmer is a young Brit with clever instincts but not much spy experience, and he gets roped into a saga that involves a kidnapped nuclear scientist, pushy American interests and a brainwashing scheme that could lead to an assassination. Based on the 1965 Michael Caine espionage thriller of the same name, “The Ipcress File” on AMC+ (by way of ITV in the U.K.) keeps the Cold War action set in the early 1960s.
