David Tennant To Lead New ITV Drama About Another Real-Life Scandal

The team behind Mr Bates vs. The Post Office are bringing another national scandal to the small screen.
David Tenannt as Nick Davies in ITV's The Hack
David Tenannt as Nick Davies in ITV's The Hack
iTV

David Tennant is to take the lead in a new ITV drama from the team that created the award-winning Mr Bates vs. The Post Office.

The former Doctor Who star is set to play investigative journalist Nick Davies in The Hack, a new seven-part series which will tell of the phone-hacking scandal.

Set between 2002 and 2012, ITV has said the show will “interweave two real life stories”, with Robert Carlyle and Toby Jones also set to play Met Police Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Cook and former editor of The Guardian Alan Rusbridger, respectively.

The cast boasts impressive names from British television including Rose Leslie, Steve Pemberton, Katherine Kelly, Adrian Lester and Charlie Brooks.

Dougray Scott, Eve Myles, Kevin Doyle, Neil Maskell, Lara Pulver, Lee Ingleby, Pip Torrens, Lisa McGrillis, Sean Pertwee, Robert Bathurst, Richard Pepple, Nadia Albina and Phil Davis will also appear.

Robert Carlyle plays Dave Cook in The Hack
Robert Carlyle plays Dave Cook in The Hack
ITV

Patrick Spence – who previously worked on Mr Bates vs. The Post Office – is on executive producing duties, while Harry Potter And The Cursed Child screenwriter Jack Thorne penned the script.

He said: “This is a strange and deceptive piece of our recent history. One with so many layers to it. I thought, as someone who is interested in politics, I understood everything that happened. I did not.

“It’s a fight for the truth that really shocked me. That is why it matters to tell this story now in an age where the truth seems more in danger than ever.”

Mr Bates vs. The Post Office star Toby Jones also appears in The Hack
Mr Bates vs. The Post Office star Toby Jones also appears in The Hack
ITV

Describing making the show as a “true honour”, he added: “I hope we find a way to do justice to the complexity of what happened and of celebrating the incredible reporting that sits underneath it.”

Patrick Spence added: “It’s clear that several questions remain unanswered. This drama is our contribution to that conversation.”

Filming on The Hack wrapped last year, with the drama expected to premiere on ITV1 later on in 2025.

David Tennant is currently riding a wave of success off the back of his 2024 series Rivals, and is gearing up to appear in Netflix’s adaptation of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club later this year.

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