THE NEW IPCRESS FILE REBOOT

 I loved the original Ipcress File and Michael Caine’s portrayal as the layman’s James Bond – Harry Palmer. In particular, I always appreciated Caine’s coolness and unreadable stare, in the role. In the modern era, at least up until the big screen production of the John le Carré novel – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, starring Messrs: Oldman, Hardy, Strong and Firth, in 2011, there had been too little of the old Cold War espionage stuff on our screens, for my liking. So, you can imagine my joy at having just wound up the entire series of Spy City on Britbox, wherein Dominic Cooper impressed me with a rather suave performance as a sixties Spy in Berlin – Fielding Scott, I learned that ITV had created a six-part adaptation of Len Deighton’s 1962 thriller – The Ipcress File.

To say that I was rather chuffed, is something of an understatement; should I have been offered a Ferrari along with a villa on Barbados, I doubt I would have been any cheerier. My only concern, as I flicked over to ITV to find the show, was who was going to be playing Harry Palmer? After all, many who gave followed in Caine’s footsteps didn’t always do nearly as well, in my humble view. Think Stallone in Get Carter, or Jude Law in the remake of Alfie, and of course the less said about the remake of the Italian Job, the better.
I knew very little about London actor Joe Cole when I began watching the opening scene. A scene, by the way, that has a replica pair of the thick glasses worn by Caine in the original movie (which seemed a nice touch by the director). After an uncertain start to events however, it took only around twenty minutes to persuade me that Cole was a fine substitute for the role of Palmer. He has that unreadable stare too, an unpretentious persona, cool demeanour and working class stylish dress sense (though Palmer’s rough around the edges style – spectacles held together with Sellotape etc, thankfully remain evident), that Caine’s Palmer possessed.
Cole also sounds the part too, and I half expected to hear, “you were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off” at the car bomb scene. I wolfed these six episodes down over three evenings and enjoyed them. I loved the cinematic style – 1960’s French vibe, the costumes and set, which were all superb. An umbrella swinging Tom Hollander gives the whole thing a turbo boost too, in the way M is supposed to do for Bond, I guess. I doubt the production team could have envisaged that the show would be running along with a real-life cold war that is no longer on life support, in the background.
One can only hope that thus, the mad scientist in charge of making the call on a second series, takes this on board and does the right thing and signs off on it. Cole is a modern day Palmer for a present cold war sequel. When asked what it was like fighting in Korea, Cole’s Palmer replies: “First I was bored. Then I was frightened. Then I was bored and frightened at the same time.” Which made me smile and confirmed that Harry Palmer continues to be endearing and far too cool for school. I cant help wondering what Michael Caine thinks of it all?

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