By 1965, the James Bond series of movies - starring Sean Connery as suave 007 - ruled the roost. The Ipcress File, based on Len Deighton's novel, introduced us to Harry Palmer, the exact opposite to Bond. Played with great aplomb by Michael Caine, Palmer was anything but sophisticated, although the bespectacled Bermondsey boy knew how to cook a tasty dish, and certainly bedded one or two.
The Ipcress File spawned a number of sequels, but this is definitely the best as Palmer's persistent sleuthing gradually unearths KGB spys within his own network. The famous brainwashing sequence is still disturbing, more than 40 years on.
The Ipcress File is a Film programme that first aired in 1965 and has been classified a PG certificate.
