ITV joins Viaplay to commission Litvinenko poisoning drama with David Tennant

UK commercial broadcaster ITV and Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group’s Viaplay streamer have commissioned a four-part drama about the killing of former Russian Federal Security Service and KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko.

Polly Hill

David Tennant will play Litvinenko who died from polonium poisoning in the UK in November 2006.

Written by screenwriter George Kay (Lupin, Criminal), Litvinenko follows the 10-year Metropolitan Police investigation into who was responsible.

The drama also focuses on the story of Marina, played by Margarita Levieva (The Deuce, The Blacklist), Alexander’s widow, who fought to persuade the British government to publicly name her husband’s killers and acknowledge the role of the Russian state in his murder.

Directed by Jim Field Smith (Criminal, Truth Seekers) the drama will be executive produced by Patrick Spence for ITV Studios (Adult Material, Marvellous), Josephine Zapata Genetay for NENT Group, Lucy Bedford for Tiger Aspect Productions (Viewpoint, The Good Karma Hospital), George Kay, Jim Field Smith and Tennant.

Litvinenko has been commissioned for ITV by head of drama Polly Hill. It will be distributed internationally by ITV Studios. In the Nordic region, Baltic, Poland and the Netherlands, the series will premiere exclusively on NENT Group’s Viaplay streaming service.