In 2008, Gemma Arterton starred alongside Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace, the second film in Craig’s run as James Bond. Arterton played Bond girl Strawberry Fields, who helps the English superspy at great personal risk to herself.
After that, Arterton went on to star alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in 2010’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, played Gretel in 2013’s Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, and returned to the spy genre in 2021’s The King’s Man. Earlier this year, she got to headline her own spy series: Secret Service, where she plays a senior MI6 officer.
Secret Service aired in the UK on ITV and ITVX this past April. The first episode attracted 3.9 million viewers and is currently ITV1’s second-best new drama launch of 2026, behind the crime drama Believe Me. Now, MGM+ has picked up all five episodes of Secret Service and will stream them for audiences in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Italy, although an official release date has not been set.
Secret Service is based on a book of the same name by Tom Bradby, who is also a news anchor for ITV. Arterton’s character, Kate Henderson, is in charge of the Russia Desk at the British Secret Intelligence Service. She uncovers evidence that a high-ranking UK politician may be working as a Russian asset, and has to stop them before they take control of the country. According to the official logline, “With trust shattered and her career on the line, Kate must navigate the shifting sands of political loyalty, international threat, and personal sacrifice as she races to uncover their identity before it’s too late.”
Tom Bradby co-wrote the adaptation for Secret Service with Jemma Kennedy. The show is directed by James Marsh, who won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his 2008 film Man on Wire. His 2014 film The Theory of Everything, a biopic about physicist Stephen Hawking, was nominated for Best Picture.
“Secret Service is an exciting addition to the MGM+ slate,” said Michael Wright, global head of MGM+. “Tom Bradby and Jemma Kennedy’s adaptation, directed by Oscar-winner James Marsh and featuring star turns from Gemma Arterton, Rafe Spall, and Alex Kingston, delivers on the MGM+ promise of classic Hollywood storytelling for a modern audience. It’s smart, timely, and hugely entertaining.”
Secret Service also stars Mark Stanley, Roger Allam, Amaka Okafor, Aoife Hinds, Avi Nash, Alma Prelec, and Khalid Abdalla. It looks like a worthy show in and of itself, and may well tide people over as the search narrows to find a new actor to play James Bond.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
