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30th Sep 2021

A new ITV drama starring David Tennant tells us all about a poisoned Russian spy

Ellen Fitzpatrick

We’re already hooked.

There’s nothing that goes together better than David Tennant and a graphic crime series, so there’s no wonder he’s signed up for this new role.

Starring as poisoned Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, David will be appearing in the new ITV show that tells the story of how he was ultimately killed.

The high profile case centres around Litvinenko who died in 2006 after ingesting a rare radioactive substance in London.

The series will also take a look at his wife Marina’s role in the story as she consistently fought to get the British government to recognise the Russian government’s involvement in his death.

Marina is set to be played by Margarita Levieva with Mark Bonnar and Neil Maskell also set to make an appearance in the series.

Directed by Jim Field Smith, the show’s screenwriter George Kay told Metro.co.uk: “In late 2006, Alexander Litvinenko was a living witness to his own murder.

“He spent his dying days entrusting the Metropolitan Police with the details of what happened to him.

“It took those police and his remarkable widow Marina Litvinenko a decade to have those claims ratified.”

He added that it was their “stamina, hard work and bravery” that is so essential to the story and that the series was a “privilege” to be asked to write.

A release date for the series is yet to be announced, but once it is, we already know we’ll be hooked.

This isn’t the first crime based series that the Doctor Who star has been involved in, starring as Alec Hardy on Broadchurch and Dennis Nilsen in Des.