Jed Mercurio's latest drama Payback is getting rave reviews
It's available on ITV/STV
You'll know the name Jed Mercurio as the mastermind behind hit TV dramas such as Bodyguard, Line of Duty and Trigger Point to name a few, but the award-winner writer has now turned to producer for ITV/STV's latest crime drama, in the form of new series Payback.
After the six-part series kicked off at the beginning of October, fans have been binging the whole series on ITVX and STV Player, and it's safe to say the reviews are amazing!
As well as gaining a score of 80% on review website Rotten Tomatoes, fans have taken to social media to express their love for the series.
One wrote: 'Binge watching #payback on ITV. Brilliant', with another adding: ' Just finished #payback @itv superb series 👏👏👏 one of the best dramas I’ve watched in ages! Good to watch a drama with a good ending for a change 🤓'. (sic)
Another wrote: 'I just started Payback on ITV, very good if you like a crime thriller'. (sic)
If you're thinking of watching, check out everything you need to know about Payback below...
What is Payback?
Payback is a new crime thriller drama which aired ITV/STV in October. Written by Debbie O'Malley, directed by Andrew Cummings, and produced by Jed Mercurio’s HTM Television, the series is made up of six episodes.
What is it about?
The six-part series is a compelling character-led series, following character Lexie Noble, played by Morven Christie, as she becomes entangled in a perilous police operation to topple a notorious crime lord, Cal Morris, played by Peter Mullan.
ITV/STV say of the plot: '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, and DCI Adam Guthrie, 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.'
Is there a trailer?
There is! Bosses released the first-look trailer for Payback on Monday 18th September.
When is it on TV?
Payback started on Wednesday 4th October at 9pm, with weekly episodes every Wednesday.
All episodes are also available to binge on ITVX and STV Player.
What channel is it on?
The new series airs on ITV and ITVX, and STV and STV player for viewers in Scotland.
Who is in the cast?
Scottish actress Morven Christie, famed for roles on such as The Bay and The A Word, will take on the lead role of Lexie Noble.
Speaking about her character's role on the show, Morven said: "When the story begins she is a stay-at-home mum of two. She's been at home since she had her daughter, who's now six, and she's also got a son, who's two. She is about to go back to work at the accountancy firm that she shares with her husband Jared. Right at the beginning, her husband is killed in a seemingly random street attack and her whole world implodes.
"She's got quite a complicated background; she's estranged from her family and she doesn't really have any friends, so it's Jared's life that she's kind of in the centre of. She doesn't really have a network of her own. She goes back to work and very quickly finds out that Jared has been using their accountancy firm to launder money for an organised crime group. Lexie has to sort of take over that role and also find a load of missing money while trying to protect her family from the threat of this gangster named Cal Morris."
Scottish actor and film maker Peter Mullan will play the role of gangster Cal Morris in the series, with actor Prasanna Puwanarajah taking on the role of DC Jibran Khan.
Derek Riddell also appears as DCI Adam Guthrie.
See the full cast list below:
Morven Christie: Lexie Noble
Peter Mullan: Cal Morris
Prasanna Puwanarajah: DC Jibran Khan.
Derek Riddell; DCI Adam Guthrie
Steven Mackintosh: Malky Roberts
Steven Miller: DS Rob Livingston
Grace Chilton: DC Alice Hardy
Rori Hawthorn: PC Sarah Naylor
Eileen Duffy: Doris Szabo
Rebecca Benson: Kathleen
Lindsey Campbell: Bianca Morris
Martin Bell: Dougie
Jay Newton: PC Francis Hewitson
Jessica Hardwick: DC Roberts
Who created the show?
Jed Mercurio, the brains behind some of the biggest crime dramas around such as Line of Duty, Trigger Point, Bodyguard and Bloodlands, is the Executive Producer for the new series, whilst Debbie O'Malley wrote the script.
Speaking about his input into the scrips, Jed said: "Well, I'm an executive producer on the project so I give feedback and guidance as part of the usual editorial process but all the physical writing was Debbie's - in the way that if I write a show like Line of Duty people are giving me feedback and I then make changes to the script. So that's how it worked; Debbie was doing all thewriting, we had a brilliant editorial team and I was one part of that.
"Any TV writer will tell you that once they start delivering drafts, there's no shortage of people giving you feedback in forms of notes and suggesting changes. There's a number of producers, there's directors, the cast, the broadcaster - there's a lot of input that writers have to field and again Debbie handled it all brilliantly."
Where was it filmed?
Payback was filmed in Glasgow, Scotland and the surrounding areas.
Speaking about filming in Scotland, Director Andrew Cumming said: "Scotland's great. The crews are fantastic, they work hard but you can also have a laugh on set. We work hard but we don't take ourselves too seriously, although we do take the work seriously. Again I was coming into the second block, so everybody already had that cohesion and I had to try and become a part of that and find the level of humour and all these kind of things. Scottish crews are great and I've done a few things in Scotland now. It's always a joy to work with Scottish crews."
Some parts of the series were also filmed over in Lithuania, with Andrew adding: "I'm really proud of the stuff we did in Lithuania. We got lucky in a way because there was so much snow on the ground that visually the contrast between Lithuania and Scotland was pronounced straight from the beginning. It gives the show a different tonal shift in episode four and catapults it into different territory."
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Payback is available to watch on ITVX and STV Player now.
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