The drama, which also stars Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody), Tom Hollander (The Night Manager) and Ashley Thomas (Top Boy<\/a>), is split between Berlin and London against the backdrop of the Cold War in the 1960s.<\/p>\n McMafia\u2019s James Watkins picked up the camera, with John Hodge (Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting) penning the script.<\/p> Speaking to RadioTimes.com<\/a> about first coming into contact with Leonard Deighton\u2019s novel, Hodge said: \u201cI read it when I was about 18 having picked it up in a second-hand book store when looking for something to take on holiday. I remember being sort of confused because the book was not an action thriller and the hero was not a swashbuckling sub-Bond creation. It was altogether more subtle, nuanced, funny even, and yet still a tale of espionage.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember liking the fact that the hero really didn\u2019t have all the answers. I went on to read the rest of the series and then to re-read them from time to time over the too many decades since.\u201d<\/p>\n Deighton went on to write several more adventures for Harry Palmer, which Hodge would \u201clove to work on\u201d if the appetite is there.<\/p>\n Speaking at a press event about putting his own stamp on the character of Harry Palmer, Cole said: \u201cIt 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\u2019t immediately turn off.<\/p>\n \u201cWe live in a very different world now. There\u2019s certain things you can\u2019t say. We treat women \u2013 I\u2019d like to think \u2013 a lot more how they should be treated compared to back then. So it\u2019s interesting when you\u2019re playing this material \u2013 there is that kind of balance because you do want to push a few buttons.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Christopher Connor.<\/em><\/p>\n The Ipcress File arrives on ITV on 6th March. Looking for something else to watch? Check out more of our Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Abby Robinson Published: Thursday, 03 March 2022 at 12:00 am Espionage thriller The Ipcress File has been given the TV treatment, with Peaky Blinders and Gangs of London star Joe Cole taking on the role of British secret agent Harry Palmer, who was played by Michael Caine in the film, for the six-part ITV […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Abby Robinson Published: Thursday, 03 March 2022 at 12:00 am Espionage thriller The Ipcress File has been given the TV treatment, with Peaky Blinders and Gangs of London star Joe Cole taking on the role of British secret agent Harry Palmer, who was played by Michael Caine in the film, for the six-part ITV…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/11725"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""ALTITUDE\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/02\/the_ipcress_file_09_0-2a0013e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"the_ipcress_file_09_0\"\\"\/")
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