ITV has unveiled a first look and further casting for its new drama The Ipcress File.
Adapted from Len Deighton’s novel of the same name, The Ipcress File is an enthralling and atmospheric espionage thriller set in Berlin and London during the 1960s.
The new series is written by BAFTA winner John Hodge and directed by Emmy Winner James Watkins.
The series stars Joe Cole (Gangs of London, Peaky Blinders) in the iconic role of Harry Palmer alongside Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody, Murder on the Orient Express) as Jean and BAFTA award winning actor, Tom Hollander (The Night Manager, Birdbox) as Dalby.
Joining the cast to play further significant roles are Ashley Thomas (NYPD Blue, Top Boy, Salvation) as Maddox, Joshua James as Chico (Industry, Life, Absentia), David Dencik (McMafia, Face to Face, Chernobyl) as Colonel Stok and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Dublin Murders, Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War) as Cathcart.
ITV tease of the series, set in 1963: “A twist-laden spy thriller with a rich cast of characters, The Ipcress File is a stylish and tense tale of abducted scientists, brainwashing, inter- departmental rivalry, treason, and a possibly unwise romance.”
Filming commenced this week in Liverpool and Croatia with ITV revealing these first look pictures;
ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill said: “I’m thrilled to be bringing John Hodge’s brilliant adaptation of such an iconic novel to ITV.
“Harry Palmer is an incredible part and this would have been impossible without the right actor, so we are all delighted that Joe Cole will take on the role. The talent on and off screen means this will be a treat for audiences when it comes to ITV.”
Director and Executive Producer James Watkins commented: “We can’t wait to bring Len Deighton’s intoxicating web of spies – sexier than Smiley’s people, more real than Bond – to a wider television audience.
“With his sly wit and understated integrity clashing against the establishment, working-class spy Harry Palmer is more relevant than ever.”
Writer and Executive Producer John Hodge, known for his work on Trainspotting, and T2 Trainspotting added: “This is a wonderful opportunity to inhabit a time when the post war world was morphing into the way we live now, when social mobility, civil rights, and modern feminism were forcing their way into public consciousness, and all of it happening with the world divided in two and both halves threatening to blow the whole thing sky high.”
A release date for the series is to be confirmed.
