As the third episode of The Ipcress File begins, Ian Randall (Brian Ferguson) brings food to his prisoner Professor Dawson (Matthew Steer). Ian reveals they paid a lot of money for him although he won’t say where Dawson is going. Dawson is warned he’ll be killed if they change their mind. Major Dalby (Tom Hollander) tells the Minister (Paul Higgins) that Professor Dawson started treatment for stress six months ago. The Minister questions whether that means he was planning to defect to the Soviet Union. Dalby says Dawson was treated by a psychiatrist who advocated experimental techniques and who has since been killed. Dawson was abducted by a British mercenary who has gone to ground. The Minister asks if he went to Beirut.

Dalby says Randall and another man flew to France on the night they entered Radley’s clinic. Then, a man resembling him was sighted boarding a freighter in Marseille bound for Beirut which is where he was stationed for four years. They agree it is not going outstandingly. As we see Beirut, Lebanon, Harry Palmer (Joe Cole) says Dalby told him to go back to Radley’s clinic to read all his research files. Harry reads some of his writings to Jean Courtney (Lucy Boynton) immediately admitting they didn’t clear anything up. He thought he’d visit the Roman Baths before meeting the man from the embassy. He suspects something is wrong because Jean isn’t responding.

She reveals her fiancé broke off their engagement because she was lying to him. Jean reveals Dalby’s wife believes he works for the Board of Trade, has for 20 years, and has never questioned it. She believes it is easier for men to lie and do everything else for that matter. Then, Harry meets with the man from the embassy who asks about Jean. He pretends he is there alone. Harry hears that the man went to school with James and he is pretty cut up about learning what Jean does for a living. Then, he receives a list of Randall’s contacts from when he was in Beirut under diplomatic cover. One is Yousef Fattal who is the Deputy Commissioner of the Beirut Police while another is Rashida Boustani who might’ve been his girlfriend.

There is also a drug trafficker and moneylender named Adem. He runs a nightclub and can be unpredictable. That night, Harry goes to his nightclub Harma as Jean tells him not to tell anyone except Adem (Ben Turner) who he is looking for. She gives him a gun and lets him know there is an exit at the back of the building in case he needs it. He refuses to take the gun. At the club, he tells the bartender he is looking for Adem. A man approaches him seconds later and tells him to follow him. He is taken to a back room where he is searched. When they search him, they find his wallet full of US dollars although he isn’t American. He explains he is hoping Adem can help him find someone. Once the guy gets off the phone, he tells Harry he is going to come with them in the car.

With a gun at his back, he is forced to go with the men. As they lead Harry outside, Jean shows up with the gun and tells them not to move. They get the other gun and shut the men inside the club. In the car, Harry reveals he forgot to get his wallet back. At the US airbase in England, Dalby meets with General Cathcart (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor). In the event of a disaster, Cathcart can communicate with the Pentagon, President, and whoever survived from his own command center. He says preparation is deterrence and Dawson was very important in the pursuit of that goal, but they lost him and the man closely connected to the disappearance. When asked whether it is incompetence or infiltration, Dalby assures him it was incompetence.

Once they sit down, Cathcart reveals they’re going to hold their first neutron bomb test in four weeks since the collapse of the moratorium which he called a mistake. He claims their political masters allowed themselves to be duped into a state of sentimental weakness. He doesn’t tolerate weakness because he knew it in himself. Cathcart piloted a B-29 over Tokyo on March 9, 1945. He was one of many bombers dropping incendiary bombs onto a city made of wood. They killed about 100,000 people that day and he did his share. In the weeks that followed, he was haunted by the images of haunted children.

After turning to alcohol and becoming estranged from his family, he eventually set out to destroy himself one day. He drove until he ran out of gas with the intention of ending it all. However, he changed his mind when he was faced with the grandeur of his creation. He admits he was sent a message that everything he had done was preparation for what is to come. He was challenged so he could emerge stronger, more determined, and pitiless in defense of their Christian values. Dalby was in Nagasaki and he saw shadows on the street where human beings had been vaporized. Harry goes to the police station to speak to the Police Chief (Dana Haqjoo). He tells Harry and Jean that he knew Randall but hasn’t seen him for maybe two or three years.

The Beirut Police Chief doesn’t think he is back either since he has made inquiries. Although Randall isn’t here, he hopes they’ll stay around to enjoy the sights and their hospitality. Harry asks if he can tell them where he might be found so they can look for themselves. The Police Chief recommends checking places where Randall can gamble or borrow money to gamble. The Chief was never foolish enough to lend him money. Harry questions how he knew him then. He claims he knew him socially, but Jean asks whether Randall bribed him. She keeps asking questions as the Police Chief threatens to have her thrown out of the city. Although they have diplomatic passports, he knows they’re not diplomats. Then, we see a newspaper article about JFK and Khrushchev talking about arms control.

Cathcart tells Paul Maddox (Ashley Thomas) that the President wants this to be a stepping stone into a new era of dialogue and cooperation with their peace-loving brothers on the other side of the Iron Curtain. They talk about Communism and other things before Cathcart says he finds Dalby interesting enough to want to know more about him. Maddox says that sounds like a legitimate act of intelligence gathering even though they’re on the same side. It has been a long time since Cathcart thought of them as being on the same side. Later, Dalby sits down and has a snack with Mrs. Dalby (Alexandra Moen). He tells her he has to go to Brussels tomorrow for talks about joining the EEC.

As Harry and Jean prepare for their next task, he asks her to be a little more professional this time. She tells him she doesn’t need a lesson from him though. He knows that although he thinks she is upset. Once they knock on the door, Harry tells her everyone has had their heart broken, but she says he has no idea. She claims she is good at her work and she finds it fulfilling. She is angry because she hasn’t been able to experience this happiness since she felt like she had to fit in with everyone else’s idea of the pretty little woman who is grateful to be getting married. Rashida Boustani (Shireen Farkhoy) answers the door seconds later. After they go inside, they say they don’t know where Randall might be or whether he is alive.

A letter he sent to his solicitor a few years ago had her address on it. Jean says the entire estate was left to Randall after the death of his great uncle so it has become a matter of great importance. Although they can’t disclose the exact amount, it is significant. Rashida claims she’d like to help them, but she never expects to see him again. Harry explains their phone number is on the paperwork in case she sees him again. A little boy walks in with a Beano comic and tells Harry that Dennis the Menace is his favorite. It is Harry’s favorite too. Outside, Harry says April 20, 1963 was on the comic and they don’t sell it in Beirut. Jean wonders if it could’ve been a present from a doting father.

Harry suggests she might show them where he is. Dalby and Chico (Joshua James) agree they’re being followed, but Dalby doesn’t want to lose them. He orders Chico to tell Palmer to have someone ready for when he arrives in Beirut. Harry and Jean try to follow Rashida. She manages to evade them though. She goes to the place where Randall is keeping Dawson hostage. She gives him something and questions whether he is going to be rich. She promises she followed his instructions and made sure nobody was following her. Ian knows these people so he wants her to follow his instructions every time she comes. He promises they’re going to be rich very soon. Once she leaves, Ian asks Dawson whether they think he is stupid. He screams it and knocks over the chessboard.

We’re taken to the Ciampino Airport in Rome where Dalby boards a connecting flight to Beirut as Maddox tells the General about it. They also spotted Colonel Stok’s right-hand man in the KGB, Oleg Retzov (Petar Cvirn), follow behind him. Maddox tells Cathcart that they believe Randall is in Beirut right now. The General can’t believe he trusted this man before telling Maddox to have Dalby tailed. Later that night, Harry orders some room service. When he opens the door, a man with a gun tells him not to move or he will be killed. Harry suspects it is Adem and he will get his wallet back. Once they go inside, room service arrives. Harry asks if he is hungry. They sit down and eat together as Adem admits he doesn’t like threatening.

They agree it is better to eat, drink, and talk. Adem knows Harry has been looking for his old friend Randall who owes him $8,000. Harry believes they can help each other before he says he is not a member of MI6 although Adem doesn’t believe that. He reveals he used to work for the CIA moving things around and people when necessary. In return, they allowed him to conduct his business without interference. Everything changed since the CIA doesn’t like him and tried to stop his business now. He claims that pig Yousef is trying to steal his business. Adem offers to help find Ian Randall, but he wants a helicopter from the British government in return since the CIA took the one they gave him. When Harry tells Jean about the proposal, she admits she doesn’t think Dalby will pay for a helicopter and might not even pay for his room service.

Regardless, Harry believes Adem can be helpful even though he hasn’t gotten his wallet back yet. Next, Jean follows Rashida on a scooter this time. She manages to follow her to the place where Ian is keeping Dawson. Later that night, Harry goes inside the building while Jean watches from a vehicle outside. Harry uses a flashlight to look around the dark building. He finds the bed where Dawson has likely been sleeping as well as a notebook. Jean watches as a light in the building turns on as a man walks up and puts his gun again the car’s window. When Harry tries to leave the building, he finds the Police Chief waiting on him upstairs. He is told he should’ve left when he had the chance. Harry is taken outside and put into the car trunk with Jean.

As the three men drive them away, Jean tells Harry they’re going to kill them. Harry says he needs to think of something. Seconds later, she asks if he can think of anything, but he admits he can’t. Jean says it is okay. One of the men asks who that is and what they’re doing in another language. It looks like their car is rammed as the man screams for the others to run because they’re being jumped. Soon, Adem opens the trunk and tells Harry he saved him from that pig and they’ll have to buy him a helicopter now. At the Beirut Airport in Lebanon, Dalby arrives before getting in a taxi. Oleg leaves behind him. Dalby meets with Harry to ask him about Adem wanting a helicopter. Harry confirms he wants a Bell H-13.

Harry gives him the brochure Adem gave him and says he’d likely settle for $65,000 in cash too. Farak arrives at the door as Harry calls him his long-lost brother. Dalby changes clothes with him to avoid being tailed when he leaves the motel. Once they leave, Dalby says Alice (Anastasia Hille) told him Harry submitted a claim for overseas allowance. Harry says he did it in an idle moment when looking through his terms of employment. Dalby says the Minister asked about him again and he considers the operation to be a failure. He told him to look around to find someone to blame. Harry suspects he’ll pick someone in the junior ranks like him because it is a British tradition.

Dalby reveals they can say he broke some type of regulation and give him a few extra years in prison. After Dalby says he hopes he doesn’t take it personally, Harry says it’ll be a privilege. As they arrive to meet Adem, Dalby says $5,000 and not a cent more. Inside, Adem tells them that he has friends in the army, government, and elsewhere. If anyone in Beirut tries to move him, Adem will know about it and they will too. Maddox arrives in Beirut only to learn that they lost Dalby to an old trick. He is shown pictures of Harry with the Deputy Head of Mission for the British Embassy. Harry gives Jean something that was delivered to the BBC. Once she opens the package, she finds wedding invitations from her mother. He offers to take them away. Jean asks whether he and Deb had that sort of thing.

Harry says they didn’t because it wasn’t much of an event. There were a couple of witnesses with one of them being the person she now intends to marry. Jean suggests Harry can help her deliver the invitations. They go outside where they burn them. One is for Marcus Leadburn who is a Conservative Member of Kensington and Chelsea. He spends every waking minute worrying that the socialists are going to come and abolish the death penalty. Jean admits she is enjoying this much more than she would’ve enjoyed the wedding. She worked it out in a moment of honesty and asks Harry when he did. Harry tells her that they looked at each other one morning and just knew. They begin kissing until Adem screams for Palmer and interrupts.

He wants to talk to him about his helicopter. Dalby meets with Gregor Stok (David Dencik). Stok believes their Empire will last, but theirs cannot be sustained because it is spread across the globe and only connected by ships. Gregor claims their empire is joined by land and blood. Since they liberated their friends from the Nazis, we have their undying gratitude. When Dalby asks why he is in Beirut, Stok claims he is there for the coffee and the baklava. After Stok asks whether he has found his missing scientist, Dalby asks whether he is offering him back. Stok told Palmer he didn’t know where he is, but a man in London tried to sell the scientist to him.

He thought the man was just using him to inflate the price though. Gregor goes on to say they have approached Professor Dawson over the years while offering him money, men, women, and whatever he wants without success. Dalby asks where he is, but Gregor insists he wouldn’t lie to him. Stok says they are here because they were guided by the hand of fate. As England loses one physicist, he is delighted to offer him another. Although she is good, she does not appreciate their benevolent regime so she is more trouble than they care for now. He says her name is Dr. Polina Lavotchkin although Dalby remembers Stok telling him she was dead. Stok explains her execution was delayed while she was giving confessions to incriminate others.

A few weeks later, Stalin died and the condemned were saved. Polina was sent to the closed city of Sverdlovsk-45 where she led the uranium enrichment program. Gregor explains she is not happy and hasn’t been since Dalby left. Dalby asks what he wants. Gregor says what the missing professor would not give them. He reveals there is a dossier regarding the neutron bomb and he wants it in exchange for Dr. Lavotchkin. In the morning, Mark (Will Tudor) meets with Maddox to discuss someone he knows. Meanwhile, Adem tells Harry, Jean, and Dalby about the drugs they got from Afghanistan and will ship to the United States and Britain.

One of the guys from the docks has been told to collect a different cargo which happens to be a person of great importance. Adem is willing to tell them exactly when and where this will happen, but he wants to be paid first. Later, Mark says hello to Jean who says James ended their engagement. Mark isn’t sure he had a choice since he couldn’t trust his bride. Harry interrupts to question whether it is any of his business. Mark wonders if it was a convenient ending and if something is going on between them. Harry asks if he’d like him to punch him if it’d help confirm his prejudices. Jean says no because Mark might cry. Mark tells them they’re finished with their clandestine nonsense. Jean reveals she kept the letter and he is the Deputy Head of Mission in Beirut although he is barely 30 years old.

It helps when his father-in-law is the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury. She threatens to send it to him as she explains Mark sent a love note to another woman during his wife’s difficult pregnancy. Although Harry is only a bystander, he suspects Mark doesn’t have a choice anymore so he could give them the cash tonight. He warns him that there should be no funny stuff or he’ll confirm every prejudice he ever had. He gives them the money later and they give it to Adem before they begin preparing to take Professor Dawson back. Jane asks what happened to Harry since he isn’t eager to hold a gun. He says he shot a lot of men and people told him it was a good thing to do, but he didn’t feel good about it. As a result, he never wants to do it again.

She says the idiot from the embassy was just trying to stir things up. He was right about her and Harry who says he knows. She says they kissed and both wanted to, but Harry is worried it would be a mistake. Once she asks if he is sure about that, Harry admits he is uncomfortable expressing his emotions. Ian Randall gets Professor Dawson out of the car while telling him their friends are waiting. Dalby steps out of the shadows to tell him to stop there and let Dawson go. Ian gets on the ground as instructed while Dawson is told to step forward so they can take him back to England. Palmer is told to take the professor before a car pulls up behind him. They throw smoke grenades as the shooting begins. Palmer goes into the smoke to retrieve the professor, but Ian punches him.

Jean manages to shoot Ian in the leg after he boards the boat with Professor Dawson. As Harry runs onto the boat, he is knocked to the ground. He has no choice but to shoot his attacker. Regardless, the Professor is taken away on a boat and the people in the car escape. Harry searches the man he just killed before finding a picture of two little girls.

 

The Ipcress File Review

Initially, I felt The Ipcress File was a bit odd, but I’ve found that this was intentional. The series has its own unique style that some people may not appreciate although I think many will. The relationships between the characters are good, especially between Harry and Jean. I do worry how long they’ll be able to continue the hunt for Professor Dawson before it gets stale.

The series is complex in some ways and simple in others. While it only lasts 45 minutes, each episode has a lot going on so viewers have to pay close attention to avoid missing any integral details. While there are certain things I don’t like, I’ve genuinely enjoyed every episode of The Ipcress File so far. This one scores a 7.5 out of 10.

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