The Ipcress File

Berlin, 1962. Enterprising British corporal Harry Palmer gets rich smuggling stolen goods to the east until the handcuffs snap shut. Back in London, unorthodox spymaster Dalby is ordered to retrieve a missing nuclear physicist. Sharp observation by his cool, ambitious agent Jean reveals a link to the incarcerated Palmer who is swiftly enlisted to bring back the boffin.

Under the diligent eyes of agent Jean, Palmer’s intuition edges them closer to the professor while gun-for-hire former MI6 man Randall is always one step ahead. A tip-off from a key witness draws Jean and Palmer closer to the truth but their discovery only opens the door to a more chilling mystery.

Chasing Randall to Beirut, where he holds Dawson, Harry and Jean’s relationship intensifies. Meanwhile, suspicious Americans watch Dalby – and find him in secret talks with a Russians spy. This Colonel Stok offers Dalby a tempting trade. Personal and professional lines blur as it becomes ever-clearer that Harry is involved in something far bigger than he'd ever imagined.

Suspecting an American hand in the abduction of Dawson, Dalby challenges General Cathcart by sending Harry and Jean to the neutron bomb test. Harry soon follows a trail of clues into big trouble while Maddox undermines Jean’s trust in her colleague. With Dalby pursuing his own lethal mission to retrieve a female Russian defector, the duo are prey to the machinations of their supposed allies.

Cathcart, dismayed by the cancellation of the neutron bomb project, draws conflicted Maddox into a vengeful conspiracy. They need a fall guy - and Harry is passed from brutal American gaolers to the hands of the Chinese military, where he is subject to a bewildering regime of mental torture. In England, Jean’s determination to unravel the meaning of IPCRESS drives her to extreme measures.

Harry Palmer runs from the brainwashing but he cannot hide for long from the agents of Cathcart’s conspiracy. Jean discovers the origin of Maddox’s conflicted feelings towards his country and Dalby learns that his beloved organization is to be axed. With attention diverted towards an imminent American Presidential visit, Harry fears for what is planted in his mind.