The Ipcress File (TV series): Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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{{Short description|Spy2022 British spy thriller television series}}
{{About|the 2022 television series|the original 1962 novel|The IPCRESS File|the original 1965 motion picture starring Michael Caine|The Ipcress File (film)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox television
| image = ITV promotional image for the 2022 TV series "The Ipcress File".jpg
| genre = [[Spy thriller]]
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* [[ITV Studios]]
}}
| distributor =
| budget =
| network = [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]
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| last_aired = {{End date|2022|04|10|df=y}}
}}
'''''The Ipcress File''''' is a British [[Cold War|cold war]] [[spy thriller]] television series setloosely inbased 1963on the 1962 novel ''[[The IPCRESS File]]'' by [[Len Deighton]]. Written by [[John Hodge (screenwriter)|John Hodge]] and directed by [[James Watkins (director)|James Watkins]], it stars [[Joe Cole (actor)|Joe Cole]], [[Lucy Boynton]] and [[Tom Hollander]]. It was first broadcast at 9pm from Sunday 6 March to 10 April 2022 on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Annie |date=24 February 2022 |title=ITV The Ipcress File: Release date, cast and teaser clip of new spy thriller |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/tv/itv-ipcress-file-release-date-23197845 |access-date=26 February 2022 |website=WalesOnline |language=en}}</ref> 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.▼
== Premise ==▼
▲'''''The Ipcress File''''' is a British [[Cold War|cold war]] [[spy thriller]] television series set in 1963. Written by [[John Hodge (screenwriter)|John Hodge]] and directed by [[James Watkins (director)|James Watkins]], it stars [[Joe Cole (actor)|Joe Cole]], [[Lucy Boynton]] and [[Tom Hollander]]. It was first broadcast at 9pm from Sunday 6 March to 10 April 2022 on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Annie |date=24 February 2022 |title=ITV The Ipcress File: Release date, cast and teaser clip of new spy thriller |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/tv/itv-ipcress-file-release-date-23197845 |access-date=26 February 2022 |website=WalesOnline |language=en}}</ref> 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.
SpyIn 1963, spy chief Major Dalby gives small-time crook and black-marketeer Corporal [[Harry Palmer]] a way out of Colchester Military Prison at [[Colchester Garrison]] by offering him a job as an intelligence officer in his small but influential [[Whitehall]] security unit, WOOC(P).▼
The series is a very loose adaptation of the 1962 novel [[The IPCRESS File]] by [[Len Deighton]]. 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 [[The Ipcress File (film)|1965 film]], most obviously by adopting the [[Harry Palmer#Origin of the 'Harry Palmer' name|"Harry Palmer"]] and "Jean Courtney" character names coined for the film. Visually, director [[James Watkins (director)|James Watkins]] makes several nods to the directing 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."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carr |first=Flora |date=21 February 2022 |title=The Ipcress File director says series contains "a little wink" to Michael Caine |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/ipcress-file-itv-michael-caine-newsupdate/ |website=Radio Times}}</ref> 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."<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Jeffries |first=Stuart |date=6 March 2022 |title=The Ipcress File review – a working-class hero takes on the might of Russia |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/06/the-ipcress-file-review-a-working-class-hero-takes-on-the-might-of-russia |website=The Guardian}}</ref>▼
▲==Premise==
▲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 of the United Kingdom|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’‘provisional.'<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deighton |first=Len |title=The IPCRESS File |publisher=Penguin |year=1962 |pages=5}}</ref> In episode 1one 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.
== Cast ==
*[[Joe Cole (actor)|Joe Cole]] as [[Harry Palmer]], a WOOC(P) intelligence officer.
*[[Lucy Boynton]] as Jean Courtney, a WOOC(P) intelligence officer.
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*[[Nora-Jane Noone]] as Dr. Karen Newton, an American psychiatrist.
== Production ==
[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] commissioned the series in December 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kanter |first1=Jake |date=10 December 2020 |title=ITV Turns 'The Ipcress File' Into TV Series Penned By 'Trainspotting's John Hodge; Joe Cole, Lucy Boynton, Tom Hollander Star |url=https://deadline.com/2020/12/itv-the-ipcress-file-john-hodge-joe-cole-lucy-boynton-tom-hollander-1234653664/ |website=Deadline}}</ref> Filming on the series began in March 2021 in [[Liverpool]], [[Wirral Peninsula|Wirral]] and [[Shrewsbury]].<ref>{{citeCite web |last1=Keslassy |first1=Elsa |title=ITV Spy Series 'The Ipcress File' Starts Filming in Europe, Unveils First Look at Lucy Boynton, Joe Cole |url=https://variety.com/2021/video/global/the-ipcress-file-itv-altitude-starts-filming-1234927149/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=10 March 2021 |access-date=12 May 2021}}</ref> Further locations in Croatia were used, including [[Zagreb]] ([[Tomislav of Croatia|King Tomislav]] Square and the [[Archaeological Museum in Zagreb|Archaeological Museum]]), [[Split, Croatia|Split]], [[Rijeka]] and [[Opatija]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Vuka|first=Petra|date=2021-05-08|title=Znate li koji su sve svjetski filmovi i serije snimani upravo u Hrvatskoj? Neki od njih snimaju se i sada|trans-title=Do you know all the world's films and series shot right here in Croatia? Some of them are being shot even right now|url=https://www.vecernji.hr/showbiz/znate-li-koji-su-sve-svjetski-filmovi-i-serije-snimani-upravo-u-hrvatskoj-neki-od-njih-snimaju-se-i-sada-1490737|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-29|website=[[Večernji list]]|language=hr}}</ref> The visual effects were done by the UK-based company Koala FX.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Koala FX |url=https://www.koalafx.co.uk/portfolio/the-ipcress-file |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=www.koalafx.co.uk}}</ref>
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 [[The Ipcress File (film)|1965 film]], most obviously by adopting the [[Harry Palmer#Origin of the 'Harry Palmer' name|"Harry Palmer"]] and "Jean Courtney" character names coined for the film. Visually, director [[James Watkins (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.
==Episodes==▼
{{Episode table |background=#86BBC3 |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |airdateR=<ref>{{cite web |title=The Ipcress File |url=https://www.itv.com/hub/the-ipcress-file/10a1209 |website=[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] |access-date=15 March 2022}}</ref> |released=y |episodes= ▼
▲The series is also influenced by the [[The Ipcress File (film)|1965 film]], most obviously by adopting the [[Harry Palmer#Origin of the 'Harry Palmer' name|"Harry Palmer"]] and "Jean Courtney" character names coined for the film. Visually, director [[James Watkins (director)|James Watkins]] makes several nods to the directing 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."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carr |first=Flora |date=21 February 2022 |title=The Ipcress File director says series contains "a little wink" to Michael Caine |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/ipcress-file-itv-michael-caine-newsupdate/ |website=Radio Times}}</ref> 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."<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Jeffries |first=Stuart |date=6 March 2022 |title=The Ipcress File review – a working-class hero takes on the might of Russia |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/06/the-ipcress-file-review-a-working-class-hero-takes-on-the-might-of-russia |website=The Guardian}}</ref>
▲== Episodes ==
▲{{Episode table |background=#86BBC3 |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |airdateR=<ref>{{citeCite web |title=The Ipcress File |url=https://www.itv.com/hub/the-ipcress-file/10a1209 |website=[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] |access-date=15 March 2022}}</ref> |released=y |episodes=
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 1
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|WrittenBy = John Hodge
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2022|3|13|df=y}}
|ShortSummary = Dawson was seeing an unconventional psychotherapist, a Russian agent is bugged and Jean's life is threatened.
|LineColor = 86BBC3
}}
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}}
== Reception ==
Nick Hilton of ''[[The Independent]]'' gave the first episode four out of five stars, praising its 'vintage' approach to spy thrillers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hilton |first=Nick |date=March 6, 2022 |title=The Ipcress File is the warmest depiction of Anglo-Russian permafrost ever – review |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/ipcress-file-review-itv-b2028815.html |website=The Independent}}</ref>
Chris Bennion in ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' laments that "Joe Cole is horribly miscast as Harry Palmer" but "the rest is terrific", calling this adaptation of Len Deighton’sDeighton's novel "atmospheric, cool and compelling."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bennion |first=Chris |date=7 March 2022 |title=The Ipcress File, episode 1, review: a sexy spy thriller with one short-sighted bit of casting |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/ipcress-file-episode-1-review-sexy-spy-thriller-one-short-sighted/ |access-date=21 March 2022 |website=The Telegraph}}</ref>
''[[The Spectator]]''<nowiki/>'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."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Walton |first=James |date=12 March 2022 |title=What'll happen next – or what's happened so far – is anybody's guess: The Ipcress File reviewed |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/whatll-happen-next-or-whats-happened-so-far-is-anybodys-guess-the-ipcress-file-reviewed |access-date=17 March 2022 |website=The Spectator}}</ref>
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’she's sneaking into the role like a cat through a side window. It’sIt'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.’.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Ellen |first=Barbara |date=13 March 2022 |title=The week in TV |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/13/the-ipcress-file-itv-joe-cole-review-the-witchfinder-bbc-servant-of-the-people-volodymyr-zelenskiy-comedy-storyville-writing-with-fire |website=The Guardian}}</ref>
“It would be a pretty good drama”, said Anita Singh in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' if it didn’tdidn'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’sDeighton's original creation and not trying to "turn Palmer into an action hero."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Anita |date=13 March 2022 |title=The Ipcress File episode 2, review: thank goodness they didn't make Harry Palmer into an action hero |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/ipcress-file-episode-2-review-thank-goodness-didnt-make-harry/ |access-date=18 March 2022 |website=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref>
Writing in [[New Statesman|''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 (TV series)|Thunderbirds]]'' puppet", but praises Tom Hollander's performance as he "oozes patrician superiority". Cooke's piece concludes that "there’sthere's something more than a little ersatz about this series, as well as something quite boring."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooke |first=Rachel |date=6 March 2022 |title=Why remake The Ipcress File? |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv/2022/03/why-remake-the-ipcress-file |website=The New Statesman}}</ref>
Stuart Jeffries, writing in ''[[The Guardian]],'' suggests that what makes ''The Ipcress File'' worth reviving is that "now, as then, the [[Eton College|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".<ref name=":02" />
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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Midgley |first=Carol |date=6 March 2022 |title=The Ipcress File review — Tom Hollander shines in stylish remake, but did we need one? |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-ipcress-file-review-tom-hollander-shines-in-stylish-remake-but-did-we-need-one-tn83wq2m2 |access-date=21 March 2022 |website=The Times}}</ref> By episode two, Midgley admitted to enjoying the show "more than I expected" and being won over by Cole’sCole's "cocky insouciance and grounded humanity... making, dare I say it, the character more his own."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Midgley |first=Carol |date=13 March 2022 |title=Jeremy Kyle Show: Death on Daytime review — a show trading in misery gets its reckoning. Also reviewed: The Ipcress File |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jeremy-kyle-show-death-on-daytime-the-ipcress-file-review-7cmdvs2cc |access-date=21 March 2022 |website=The Times}}</ref>
Also writing in ''[[The Times]]'', Hugo Rifkind praised ITV’sITV's "cool and stylish" remake but found it a little too "cartoony and shallow". On the whole Rifkind enjoyed it saying that "It’sIt's Sunday night, it’sit'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?”.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rifkind |first=Hugo |date=11 March 2022 |title=The Ipcress File review — is there any excuse for Cold War spy stories to be so confusing? |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-ipcress-file-review-s0t89vcxc |access-date=18 March 2022 |website=The Times}}</ref>
Rachel Sigee writing in the [[i (newspaper)|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’tcouldn't be more relevant" but given Russia's current [[Russo-Ukrainian War|war in Ukraine]], "it’sit's a little hard to stomach."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sigee |first=Rachael |date=6 March 2022 |title=The Ipcress File, ITV, review: Great remake – bad timing |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/the-ipcress-file-itv-review-joe-cole-michael-caine-remake-1499590 |access-date=21 March 2022 |website=iNews}}</ref>
Michael Hogan described it as "a gripping period thriller…where the script does the talking….the most enjoyable ITV drama in ages…" {{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}
== See also ==
* ''[[The Ipcress File (film)|The Ipcress File]]'', 1965 film starring [[Michael Caine]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
*{{IMDb title|13636038}}
{{Len Deighton}}
{{James Watkins}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ipcress File (TV series), The}}
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[[Category:2020s British television miniseries]]
[[Category:British thriller television series]]
[[Category:Television shows based on works by Len Deighton]]
[[Category:Television series by ITV Studios]]
[[Category:Television shows filmed in England]]
[[Category:Television shows filmed in Croatia]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Television shows shot in Liverpool]]