Payback: ITV announce new crime drama starring Morven Christie

ITV has announced new six-part crime drama Payback.

The new series will be produced by Jed Mercurio’s HTM Television and will star Morven Christie, Peter Mullan and Prasanna Puwanarajah.

Written by acclaimed screenwriter Debbie O’Malley, Payback follows Lexie Noble, played by Morven Christie (The Bay, The A Word, Ordeal by Innocence), as she becomes entangled in a perilous police operation to topple a notorious crime lord, Cal Morris, played by Peter Mullan (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Underground Railroad, Ozark).

A teaser shares: “With an idyllic family lifestyle in the suburbs of Edinburgh, Lexie is unaware her husband, Jared, has been laundering Cal Morris’ illegal earnings on a vast scale.

“Jared’s every move is being monitored by financial investigators DC Jibran Khan (Prasanna Puwanarajah) and DCI Adam Guthrie (Derek Riddell), who are determined to use the Noble family to bring Cal Morris to justice.

“A partner in Jared’s business, Lexie is forced into working for Cal, at the same time as the police net inexorably tightens. Soon Lexie finds herself walking a treacherous tightrope between Cal and the police in which her safety, and even her life, are in grave danger.”

Morven Christie said: “I fell in love with Lexie from the first page, and I’m absolutely delighted to be working with Peter and this wonderful team in my hometown.”

ITV’s Polly Hill said: “Payback is a brilliant thriller which questions how well you know your partner and as the secrets come out, asks who you can trust.

“Debbie has written compelling scripts that will keep the audience hooked and surprised. I’m delighted to be working with Morven Christie again, and of course Jed Mercurio and Madonna Baptiste at HTM Television.”

The drama will be filmed in Glasgow, Edinburgh and surrounding areas.

Further details such as a broadcast date are to be announced.