Joe Cole, who leads the cast of the upcoming ITV adaptation The Ipcress File, has described his iconic character Harry Palmer as “very different” from Britain’s most famous spy, James Bond.
Set in Berlin in 1963, the new series is inspired by the classic Len Deighton spy novel of the same name, which was previously adapted into the 1965 film starring Sir Michael Caine as the bespectacled Harry Palmer.
Asked about why he refers to Harry Palmer as an “anti-Bond”, Cole said: “Well, I just read that somewhere, to be honest. Everyone seems to be saying it and they’ve said it since the movie came out. I mean, he’s a detective, he’s a spy, but he is very different.
“I think he’s, you know, he doesn’t have a lot of money. He’s from a working-class background. He’s operating in a different world with different classes. He’s hyper-intelligent and he’s fun, and for me, the most important thing was trying to capture that.”
Speaking at a press event attended by RadioTimes.com, Cole said he trod a fine line when it came to bringing the Harry Palmer of the book to life, while also making him more palatable to a modern-day audience.
He explained: “It was this constant battle of trying to make him not sound like a d**k, [to] make him kind of toe the line between not being facetious, not sarcastic; likeable but also pushing those buttons, but just enough that you don’t immediately turn off.
“We live in a very different world now. There’s certain things you can’t say. We treat women – I’d like to think – a lot more how they should be treated compared to back then. So it’s interesting when you’re playing this material – there is that kind of balance because you do want to push a few buttons.
“And there is an amazing scene in myself and Lucy [Boynton] in the beginning, when I get in the car – I come out of prison and I’m in the car, and that could have been done in a way that makes Harry come across like a real k***head. Those scenes were some of the most fun, but also some of the hardest.”
Additional reporting by Abby Robinson.
The Ipcress File is coming to ITV this March. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now – subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.