THE new ITV six-part series The Ipcress File promises an "enthralling" espionage thriller, bringing back the iconic British army sergeant Harry Palmer.
The drama is based on Len Deighton's 1962 spy novel of the same name – but is it based on a true story?
Is The Ipcress File based on a true story?
No, The Ipcress File is not based on a true story.
This six-part series is an adaptation of Len Deighton's The Ipcress File.
The story involves Cold War brainwashing, includes scenes in Lebanon and on an atoll for a United States atomic weapon test, as well as information about Joe One, the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb.
In 1992 Deighton said that the inspiration to write the novel came from his neighbour, who was a White Russian émigrée who collaborated with a cipher clerk from the American embassy to spy for Germany in World War II.
The 1962 novel was turned into a BAFTA-award winning film in 1965 produced by Harry Saltzman, directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine.
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What is The Ipcress File about?
The Ipcress File is about the protagonist, Harry Palmer, a British army sergeant based in Berlin in 1963.
This was during the Cold War rages between East and West.
Yet even in this time with nuclear bombs covering the skies above, it is still possible for a working-class young man with sophisticated tastes can make a lot of money.
Harry has a long list of extra-curricular activities such as being a wholesaler, retailer, fixer, and smuggler
This brings him into contact with everything and everyone – until the law catches up and it all comes crashing to a halt, resulting in eight years in a grim military prison back in England.
However, Harry’s impressive network has piqued the interest of British intelligence, who have a proposal.
To avoid prison, Harry must become a spy and his first assignment: The Ipcress File.
This undercover mission will take Harry from swinging London to the Berlin Wall, and from Beirut to the white-hot sands of a nuclear atoll, as he uses his links to try and solve the case of a kidnapped British nuclear scientist.
When is The Ipcress File on TV?
ITV are yet to announce a specific release date for The Ipcress File.
However, the channel has confirmed the series premieres in March 2022.
Filming began in early 2021 in Liverpool and Croatia.
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