BOND AMBITIONS

Richard Armitage is doing a good 007 audition in his new role as a spy who charms the ladies while hunting a mole bent on bringing down the CIA

You won’t find Richard Armitage’s name among the frontrunners to replace Daniel Craig as 007 – but that may be about to change. Over the next ten weeks he’ll be giving what is effectively one long audition for the James Bond role, when he plays secret agent Daniel Miller in intriguing spy thriller Berlin Station.

The handsome Daniel lurks in shadows, knocks back cocktails and charms the ladies as he hunts a mole threatening to blow apart the Americans’ network of spies in Europe.

‘He’s been moved to Berlin from his position as a CIA desk analyst based in Panama,’ explains Richard, who has played a spy before – MI5 agent Lucas North in three series of the BBC drama Spooks. ‘Deputy CIA Director Jemma Moore (April Grace) is impressed by the intelligence Daniel uncovers on a shadowy figure called Thomas Shaw. He’s the mole providing information to a Berlin newspaper, compromising covert US operations, and Moore moves Daniel to Europe as soon as she can to find him.’

Daniel spends a week undercover in Berlin before being officially introduced as part of the CIA team there, and during that time he discovers the identity of the courier providing the classified information from Shaw to the newspaper Berliner Zeitung. She’s Claudia Gartner and Miller tries to befriend her, drinking with her in a bar and inviting her on a date. ‘But he knows she’s only the go-between,’ says Richard. ‘The identity of Thomas Shaw remains a mystery to Miller and his colleagues – at least for now.’

One of the opening scenes provides a glimpse two months into the future and illustrates the dangers Daniel faces. He’s seen running across a Berlin square before being gunned down. As he lies bleeding, the man who has shot him frisks him and asks, with desperation in his voice, ‘Where is it, Daniel?’ receiving just a triumphant grin in response.

Back in the present we’re introduced to the team who’ll be working with Daniel. Hector DeJean (Rhys Ifans) is a worldweary operative with a colourful private life. ‘We first meet him, at around 6am, walking out of a nightclub in Berlin,’ explains Notting Hill actor Rhys. ‘The guy’s got a lust for life. He has a cultured side, too, and secrets. Quite how he fits into the story is gradually revealed.’

Daniel’s bosses include Valerie Edwards, admin chief for the CIA in Berlin. Above her is the bureau’s chief Steven Frost, who’s having an affair with his secretary Sandra Abe (Tamlyn Tomita). Steven has decades of experience – but can he be trusted? ‘They all risk

being exposed by the leaks coming from Thomas Shaw,’ says Richard Armitage. ‘Nobody knows precisely what he knows and who he’s going to target next – or quite who to trust.’

It isn’t long before Berliner Zeitung is revealing more classified information, via Shaw. The latest revelation puts the spotlight on a member of German military intelligence, with damaging consequences for many at the CIA. ‘Both Jemma and Daniel know they have to find and stop this person,’ says Richard. ‘Lives will be lost if they don’t.’

Richard, who was born in Leicester, is coy about Berlin Station being an audition for Bond. ‘It’s nice to be associated with any role,’ he says. ‘But, at the moment, I think someone else has that particular part!’

Berlin Station, Thursday, 9pm, More 4.