Secret Service, Gemma Arterton’s new globe-trotting spy thriller, is based on a book – and it comes from the mind of an ITV news presenter.
Arterton isn’t a stranger to espionage. She starred alongside Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace, and later appeared in The King’s Man.
In Secret Service, a present-day thriller, she plays an MI6 officer who suspects there’s a Russian mole within the UK government.
Where it ranks among ITV’s best dramas remains to be seen. But it’s already got a strong hook: it’s based on a bestselling novel by a real-life news anchor.
Who wrote Secret Service?
Secret Service is based on a novel by Tom Bradby – and he also co-wrote the screenplay.
The book, released in 2019, became a Sunday Times bestseller.
Bradby is best known as one of ITV News at Ten’s anchors, but his career stretches much further. He served as political editor from 2005 to 2015 and previously reported from Ireland and Asia.
During the 1998 Jakarta riots, he was even shot while covering the story.
He later returned to the UK as a royal correspondent before stepping into political reporting – all of which feeds into the realism of Secret Service.
How Tom Bradby’s real-life experience led to Secret Service
Bradby isn’t a spy, but he’s spent years speaking to them.
“I met a lot of spies over the time I was UK Editor and Political Editor and generally found them impressive,” he told the Royal Television Society.
“They’re usually quiet, not showy, not flashy. They’re doing a very important job. It was really important to me that we were going to do a drama where the politics felt real and the spying felt real.”
That realism extends to the show’s central premise.
“What really interested me was: what if you are the MI6 officer and have your family life that you’re juggling, and you get this bombshell of intelligence that one of your leading politicians may be a Russian asset. How does that play out?”
Look out for Tom Bradby’s cameo
Bradby pops up throughout Secret Service – playing himself.
He appears in news segments that help drive the story forward, adding a meta edge to the series.
He’s not alone, either. Familiar faces like Susanna Reid, Ed Balls, and Robert Peston also make appearances as themselves.
How to watch Secret Service
Secret Service premieres on ITV1 at 9pm on Monday, April 27.
If you don’t want to wait, the full five-part series is already available to stream on ITVX now.
Read more: The best movies on ITVX you can stream for free
Secret Service premieres on ITV1 tonight at 9pm. You can stream the whole series on ITVX now.
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