Re-imagining Michael Caine classic for 21st century

Many people will remember the Michael Caine film (showing preceding this event, Sunday, August 21, 10:30 – Studio), but as James points out, you don’t stop with Kean’s Hamlet or Gielgud’s. And the film, after all, was a very long time ago.

“It was quite a long road making it,” James said. “We started talking about it at least six years ago, probably more. The original book and the film were very beloved and I am big fan of both of them. We wanted to treat them with respect, always knowing that we were treading on hallowed ground. Of course you will always get people saying ‘Well, it's not Michael Caine, is it?’ and of course it is not, but you have to remember that the film goes back a long time (1965) and there are lots of people who won't have seen it or don't remember having seen it or who maybe misremember it. But you have also got to remember that the film was made in a particular way which was brilliant but there's actually another side to the book. They made it just in the UK, in London on a low budget but the actual book goes to Beirut and an atoll in the South Pacific. The book really does go much further than the film did and we were able to explore that and to extend that over the six hours of the series.

“The six hours of the series also meant that we were able to explore the characters and develop them in a different way perhaps and also of course we are in a different era. We've got more opportunities for more balance, perhaps to explore the women characters in a way that they just didn't back then. Obviously you are not wanting to impose 2022 on it all but you can actually do things slightly differently and what I do think is interesting is when you think back to the book, the book was the beginning of the world that we know now, just as that world was starting.”

Finding a Harry Palmer for now was obviously crucial, and Joe Cole was the actor that James and the team chose: “You just think of the people that you know and you audition people and they audition you as well. Actors at a certain level are also thinking ‘Well, can I work with you?’ and you also looking for an understanding of the character. Joe is very, very different to Michael Caine obviously, a different shade. I think a key thing is that with Michael Caine in the film you were not in any doubt that he was going to win. There was a certain cool to it. With Joe there is also a certain cool but his own kind of cool and I wanted very much more of an everyman kind of sense, this idea that he could be beaten by the system. He is just one guy. He is very clever and very watchful and very brilliant. But the thing about Harry Palmer is that people underestimate him, and when you have six episodes you've got to feel that he could lose. The Len Deighton quote is that ‘Harry Palmer is a winner who comes across as a loser’ and I really think Joe was able to tap into that.”