The Ipcress File (TV Mini Series) Episode #1.5 (2022) User Reviews

Excellent, so much happening here.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 22 June 2022]

Harry is handed over to a foreign power, who use series of cruel tortures, Dalby's somewhat compromised, Doctor Lavotchkin takes a test, her answers raise some questions.

I thorough enjoyed this, a great episode, and a complete turnaround, previous episodes were action packed, excited, literally all guns blazing, Part 5 sees a complete change in pace and tone. Scenes of Harry tied up are so wonderfully sixties looking, could be straight out of The Prisoner. Possibly this was the best episode so far.

Acting and visuals, once again phenomenal. That whole bizarre sequence was so well done, so trippy, well put together.

I am so excited for the finale, this was a cracking lead into the last episode, 8/10.

Nicely set-up for the finale

[bosporan · 8/10 · 25 March 2022]

Lots of strands coming towards the peak now setting up for the final episode. Why is Harry in England, what happened to Dawson, how far will Dalby go for love?

The Mancunian Candidate Or Lee Harvey Palmer

[TondaCoolwal · 7/10 · 6 April 2022]

This week on Around The World With Harry And Jean finds Palmer on a sea cruise in an economy-class cabin with bar - well bars really. Included in his planned itinerary is a trip to the bottom of the ocean accompanied by a personalized concrete block. Jean heads for London and chills out in Harry's flat while working out the meaning of the acronym "IPCRESS". Meanwhile our missing McGuffin Dawson turns up looking like an extra from a zombie movie and has had his memory erased. Harry's demise is averted when he is turned over to the Chinese and subjected to torture.

At this point, loads of references surface, based on both real events and popular movies. General Cathcart is critical of JFK cancelling the nuclear programme and hints that America would be better off without him. A discredited former military man would make an ideal fall-guy, putting Palmer in the frame. Harry is seen talking to his estranged wife and her new love but then they change into two Chinese agents as in The Manchurian Candidate. For the safety of Polina, Dalby agrees with Col. Stok to follow the same course as Burgess, McClean et al. And, as ever, Third Man camera angles prevail.

Maddox' role as a senior CIA operative in Europe becomes less and less realistic. As an African-American in 1963, he has far too much involvement and influence in key events. Remember this is before the March on Washington and Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. And, even a year later, a senior member of the CIA issued a memo arguing that the proposed recruitment of minorities amounted to discrimination against whites. I'm afraid that the current obsession with inclusivity and trying to re-write history is becoming tedious and damaging to the credibility of the narrative.

Back at the plot, streetwise Harry escapes the clutches of the Chinese but, the final scene suggests something from Patrick McGoohan's 60s series, The Prisoner. Can't wait for the final episode next week!

Episode 5

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 4 April 2022]

Professor Dawson is found wandering naked. He shows all the hallmarks of the mental torture he has been put through.

Meanwhile Harry Palmer awaits the same fate, an experiment in mind control orchestrated by the Americans.

Major Dalby finds himself under pressure as he tries to assist with Dr Polina Lavotchkin's defection.

Palmer and Dawson scenes were of interest. Dalby's story adds intrigue as the series heads for the finale. It still feels too flabby for me and this should had been a tighter series.

You can seen this with the subplot about the Americans. That is obviously leading to the assassination of JFK. The subtext being some patsy is going to be brainwashed.