He had previously said on playing the role: “Harry Palmer is an iconic character. The anti-Bond.
“I hadn’t seen the movies prior to being sent the project and didn’t know much about him, but I quickly found myself enamoured with the man, the myth, the legend.
“And once I found out who was on board – the director James Watkins and other creatives – had read the scripts and did some homework on the character, it just felt like a really fantastic opportunity to play someone that is different to me, but also shares some similarities.
The Ipcress File continues on ITV on Sunday at 9pm. The whole series is available to watch now on the ITV Hub.
