Raymond Hawkey time at the Royal College of Art Hawkey first encountered Len Deighton when Deighton (another RCA scholarship student at that time) gatecrashed a literary party that Hawkey was helping to organise. Instead of ejecting the intruder, Hawkey found much in common with him and they became "lifelong friends" (Dempsey, "ibid"). In 1962, Hawkey was Deighton's choice to design the cover of his first novel "The IPCRESS File", which some regard as the template for the covers of all subsequent airport novels. He went on to design covers for Deighton's books, including "Horse Under Water", "Funeral in Berlin" and "The Action
A Very British Coup The first version, also titled "A Very British Coup", was adapted in 1988 by screenwriter Alan Plater and starring Ray McAnally. The 2012 four-part Channel 4 series, "Secret State", was "inspired" by the same novel. Starring Gabriel Byrne, this version was written by Robert Jones. A Very British Coup A Very British Coup is a 1982 novel by British politician Chris Mullin. The novel has twice been adapted for television; as "A Very British Coup" in 1988 and as "Secret State" in 2012. Harry Perkins is the left-wing Leader of the Labour Party and Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central.