SPECS APPEAL

Considered the thinking man’s Bond by some, bespectacled secret agent Harry Palmer was memorably portrayed by Michael Caine in 1965 spy classic The Ipcress File, and four diminishing return sequels, culminating in dismal ’96 made-for-TV movie Midnight In Saint Petersburg. Now, 60 years on from the character’s literary introduction, Palmer is returning to the screen in a new, six-episode adaptation of The Ipcress File starring Joe Cole as the short-sighted spook.

It’s a long overdue revival suave, suited, food-obsessed spy. But where Bond has moved with the times (chronologically, anyway), is staying true to Len Deighton’s original novel and Sidney J. Furie’s film by retaining the not-so-swinging ’60s setting. “James [] and I both wanted to inhabit the world that the character was born into,” says screenwriter John Hodge (, ), who penned all six episodes. “I think spy stories were better then. That whole Cold War era of the ’60s, it had a certain kind of glamour to it.”