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ITV’s new drama Secret Service, based on a novel by newsreader Tom Bradby, gives viewers a glimpse of ‘real life spying’ and ‘real life politics’ – ITV News Entertainment Reporter Rishi Davda has more
Whether you’re five, 15 or 50, being a spy is widely thought of as a dream job.
Admittedly, film and TV shows have glamourised and romanticised the occupation for decades.
I don’t imagine it’s all jet-setting, supercar-driving and bad guy-battling. That being said, even as an adult, I still allow myself to ponder the possibility of the luxurious life of espionage.
ITV’s new drama Secret Service blends a career in intelligence with the realities of human existence.
It stars Gemma Arterton – who already boasts the James Bond franchise on her CV – as Kate Henderson, a senior MI6 operative.
I sat down with the actress on set in Malta, back when the series was filming in April 2025.
Perched on the pews of a church (it’ll make sense when you watch the first episode), Arterton says she was ‘quite amazed that they thought I was capable of playing someone’ like Kate.
“There has been lots of talk about a female Bond and it’s not like that. What sets this apart from a lot of others is that it looks at the domestic as well.
“She is a mother of two teenagers, she has a busy life, how do you live a life with so much secrecy? It’s hard enough being a parent, without all this other stuff on top. I really connected with that actually.”
The new drama follows the life of MI6 operative Kate Henderson, played by Gemma Arterton. Credit: ITV
Every year, TV channels and streamers back projects within the espionage genre. There is a bankability about them which stems from an initiate intrigue from viewers.
“I think it’s that we don’t get to see it in real life’, Gemma says. “The world of it, when you fictionalise it, is so enticing. People enjoy watching anything that is clandestine or forbidden. It’s an endlessly fruitful genre.”
Attempting to divulge as few spoilers as possible, I will tell you that Secret Service is centred around Kate Henderson learning that a senior British politician could be a potential Russian asset.
Author Tom Bradby says he likes to think that this is the ‘first proper drama of the new Cold War’. Credit: ITV
The storyline is based on a book by the same name, written by ITV News presenter Tom Bradby.
“We’re here in Malta, it’s very exotic,” Bradby notes. “They are watching quite an exotic spy thriller, but we really wanted the audience to feel like this is a peek behind the curtain for how real life could be. Real life spying, real life politics.
“I grew up on the books of the old Cold War and I’d like to think this is the first proper drama of the new Cold War.”
The show has something of a heavy-hitting cast. In addition to Gemma Arterton, you’ve got the likes of Rafe Spall, Mark Stanley, Alex Kingston, Roger Allam and Khalid Abdalla.
Director James Marsh says both cinema and TV are ‘great mediums for storytelling’. Credit: ITV
There’s a big name behind the camera too. Oscar-winning film director James Marsh is overseeing the first 3 of 5 total episodes.
In recent years, the entertainment industry’s once hard lines between film and TV have massively blurred.
Marsh believes that “you are trying to bring a sense of cinema to television and I think you can”.
“People now mostly have quite good televisions, so the work you do is actually quite translatable from cinema to TV and there is no snobbery for me. They are both great mediums for storytelling.
“This story can now unfold in five episodes in a way it couldn’t in a film, you’d compress it too much. You don’t have the space to nuance scenes and characters. I’m glad we got the bigger compass of time.”
Despite her convincing performance, Arterton thinks she would be an ‘atrocious spy’ in real life. Credit: ITV
I might be speaking solely for myself, but I think most people deep down reckon they’d be a pretty good spy. I think in practice, we’d all be exceptionally awful.
Having seen the first two episodes of Secret Service, I can tell you that Gemma Arterton is beyond convincing in the role of MI6 operative.
However, she doesn’t give herself any chance of doing the job well in real life.
“I would be an atrocious spy,” she laughs. “I think the first thing that would give me away is that I blush. It’s such an involuntary reaction, you cannot blush as a spy or asset.
“I don’t think I’m very good at keeping things to myself. I’m private but I’m not secretive. I’m clumsy as well, I’m not good at being covert.”
Secret Service starts Monday 27th April, 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX
Reporting History sees journalists join News At Ten anchor Tom Bradby to revisit their remarkable on-the-day reports of the defining events of the modern age. Listen to the episodes below…
