Tom Bradby Espionage Thriller ‘Secret Service’ To Be Adapted By ITV; Potboiler Producing

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Bradby, the man most likely to host election night coverage for ITV, is also working with the UK commercial broadcaster to adapt his book Secret Service.

The ITV News anchor has teamed with The Last King of Scotland producer Potboiler Productions to reimagine his 2019 espionage thriller. Bradby and screenwriter Jemma Kennedy (Captain Webb) are writing the five-part series.

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Secret Service delves into the long-standing tensions between Russia and the UK, examining Kremlin interference in British politics. The story follows Kate Henderson, head of the Russia desk for British intelligence service MI6, who gathers evidence that a UK politician is possibly a Kremlin asset.

When a young woman is brutally murdered with an election looming, Kate races against time to discover the identity of the politician. Her reputation and family are on the line as the clock is ticking.

Gail Egan and Andrea Calderwood executive produce Secret Service for Potboiler. The drama, produced in association with All3Media International, was commissioned by ITV’s Polly Hill and Helen Ziegler. Production gets underway next year in London and Malta.

Bradby said he hopes the series will be “compelling and enthralling,” adding: “I felt the themes were achingly topical when I wrote the novel – and they have only become more so since.”

Egan and Calderwood added: “Tom and Jemma have created a bold and compelling drama that looks behind the curtain at the real world of modern-day spies and the machinations happening in the corridors of power.”

Bradby wrote the 2014 ITV drama The Great Fire, while his first novel Shadow Dancer was adapted into a film of the same name starring Andrea Riseborough, Clive Owen, and Gillian Anderson.

Bradby is repped by TV agent Valerie Hoskins Associates and literary agent Mark Lucas of The Soho Agency.

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