Review by C.J. Bunce
You almost assuredly missed it. With little fanfare a six-episode mini-series remake of a 1960s British spy movie arrived in 2022, but it didn’t get picked up on major networks or streaming providers in the States. Wow–did everyone miss something spectacular. Now streaming on Acorn TV is the ITV series The IPCRESS File. Forget whatever you like or don’t like about the original. This is a remake in the realm of Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E., with style to match and flare similar to the mini-series Zen. You will want to know what director James Watkins (The Woman in Black), writer John Hodge (Trainspotting), and cinematographer Tim Maurice-Jones (Kickass, The Woman in Black, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) do next, because this series has all the best parts of a 1960s James Bond movie that looks like it was filmed in the 1960s, with impeccably designed wardrobes and sets, and automobiles and hairstyles to match. The creative camera angles will suck viewers into the action and intrigue, and stars Lucy Boynton, Joe Cole, and Tom Hollander will make you believe this is a vintage movie–it’s the real deal, and one of the best British TV series of the past 20 years.
How did a TV remake of a 1960s spy movie end up so perfect?
It’s 1962 and the tensions of the Cold War are at their zenith. Backdoor politics are waged by operatives in the U.S., Russia, and the UK. Scientists working on an atomic weapon are the centerpiece of this thriller, and when one is reported missing, the head of a secret provisional department reporting directly to the Cabinet (that isn’t MI5) taps an unusual operative to assist in ferreting out what happened to him. Tom Hollander (Pirates of the Caribbean, The King’s Man) is London spy chief Major Darby, who leads the unit and makes the unusual decision of pulling a small-time crook out of military prison to work with intelligence officer Jean Courtney, played by Lucy Boynton (Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?, Bohemian Rhapsody), who continues to dazzle in every new role.
The series hinges on the former criminal and corporal tapped for the new intelligence position, Harry Palmer, played by Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Gangs of London). Cole takes on the role first performed by Michael Caine, so he has some big shoes to fill. But Cole pulls it off. He has the style and look of both Steve McQueen and Daniel Craig, in a way that makes the series look like it could be a James Bond prequel. The fact that his character had a troubled background before being specifically pulled for spy work–like Bond–only adds to that vibe.
Solid supporting cast includes Ashley Thomas (24: Legacy) as an American agent, Joshua James (Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?) and Anastasia Hille (Snow White and the Huntsman) as other intelligence officers in Darby’s office, and Nora-Jane Noone (Ella Enchanted) as a psychiatrist.
At a certain point you’ll want to sit back and simply enjoy the artistry of re-creating the past and soaking up the nostalgia. There was a certain elegance of the 1960s when done right on the silver screen with Grace Kelly as the centerpiece in classic like Rear Window and Dial ‘M’ for Murder, and Lucy Boynton has a similar poise and style, bolstered by costume designer Keith Madden’s impeccable eye for vibrant vintage dresses, jackets, sweaters, and suits and Lizzi Lawson Zeiss’s hairstyle selections. Boynton is one of the best of her generation of actors, and this is another exceptional performance. The three leads must be perfect for this story to work, for the viewer to believe at every turn that you’re watching a show filmed in 1963. And they are.
As you’d expect from a Cold War spy thriller, familiar elements from other major fiction make their way into the story. This is Tom Clancy had he been writing The Hunt for Red October twenty years earlier. It also shares some of its horrors with The Manchurian Candidate and to a lesser extent A Clockwork Orange. At the same time viewers will find nothing dated about this show. It will meet all the requirements of modern viewer scrutiny, like you’d find with Guy Ritchie’s best work and it has surprises around every turn like in the brilliant espionage thriller Counterpart. It even edges out recent top quality spy-fi series Black Doves and The Day of the Jackal.
As perfect as the music is–both well-placed era pop songs and a vivid, dynamic score by Tom Hodge (Cleaner, Extraction II)–it’s director James Watkins use of silence that often creates the most tension. The IPCRESS File is what Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was trying to be.
Purists should note this has more in common with the movie than the novel. U.S. viewers may also find a few quirks with British actors playing American roles not quite capturing American accents.
ITV first released the series’ six episodes in 2022. If it were released this year it would be in the running for best series of the year. It’s easily one of the best series of the past 25 years. You don’t want to miss The IPCRESS File, now streaming on Acorn TV.
Catch up with our reviews of other quality British TV series, beginning with our Top 10: Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes, Zen, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?, Mr. Selfridge, Guilt, The IPCRESS File leaps high up the list here), The Hour, The Gentlemen, Black Doves, and Shetland. You could stay pretty busy with our full list of top British TV recommendations, including Van Der Valk, the first season of Sherlock, Death Valley, Dept. Q, Bodkin, The Bletchley Circle, Grace, Hinterland, Glitch, Mystery Road, Culprits, The Day of the Jackal, Professor T, Supacell, and after you’ve seen all of those give your attention to Marchlands, Lightfields, State of Play, I, Jack Wright, Protection, After the Flood, Traces, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Ordeal by Innocence, Unforgotten, The Bay, Wild Bill, Quirke, Requiem, The Gloaming, The One, The Tower, Collateral, Roadkill, Stay Close, The Salisbury Poisonings, and A Confession.
Other British series across genres that are worth checking out (a few still to be reviewed here) include police procedurals Luther and Case Histories, fun romps like Monarch of the Glen, Para Handy, Cranford, Viva Blackpool, and As Time Goes By, and “cozy mysteries” Rosemary and Thyme, Father Brown, Hetty Wainthropp, and Death in Paradise. One of the best of all British productions is the reboot of All Creatures Great and Small, which is in our British Top 10 (and the original is good, too). Of course there’s always Doctor Who for your sci-fi fix (and spin-offs Torchwood and Class), The Watch for your fantasy fix, Truth Seekers and Sea of Souls for your supernatural fix, and Spaced for more sci-fi fun, and we really should add House, MD, for Brit lead Hugh Laurie’s one-of-a-kind performance. (We’ve also reviewed but don’t heartily recommend so much Dublin Murders, The ABC Murders, The Pale Horse, The Silence, The Five, The Missing, Thirteen, or Broadchurch, as well as No Offence, which could have merited a review for its first season but, like Sherlock, its later seasons were a disappointment).
For fans of James Bond and all good spy-fi, Cold War espionage stories like The Manchurian Candidate, and fans of the stylish visuals found in Zen and Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The IPCRESS File has it all with music, costumes, and unmatched cinematography. Catch all six episodes now on Acorn via Prime Video.
