Written by award-winning playwright and screenwriter David Eldridge and directed by BAFTA and Emmy nominee Julian Jarrold (A Very Royal Scandal, This England), the four-part series is set against the backdrop of MI5, and explores the fragile, tangled web of human relationships, where loyalty and deception collide.
At the heart of the story is John Hughes (Shaun Evans), a mid-career MI5 officer navigating a rapidly evolving intelligence landscape while struggling to keep his personal life intact. Acting on a hunch, John meets a British-Iranian man with links to the Stockport gangland who claims to have intelligence about an imminent plot on UK soil. When the encounter takes an unexpected turn, John finds himself under internal investigation, facing scrutiny from his superiors, including Simone Grant (Nikki Amuka-Bird), while his partner Claire (Romola Garai) grapples with the secrecy that defines his world.
John’s efforts to save his marriage are complicated by his inability to let the case go. And when he meets Mehreen Askari-Evans (Zahra Ahmadi), an intelligence operative who is tasked with taking over John’s duties, he finds an unlikely ally. As John becomes increasingly convinced of the involvement of a hardline faction of the Iranian regime, he also starts to worry there are enemies closer to home. But can he identify the target and avert the attack before it’s too late?
Produced by Irma Inniss (Mr Loverman, The Bay), Betrayal stars Gamba Cole (The Outlaws, Three Little Birds), Omid Djalili (The Letter for the King, His Dark Materials), Matthew Tennyson (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grantchester), Hayley Tamaddon (Unforgotten, Coronation Street), Anthony Flanagan (Protection, House of the Dragon), Paddy Rowan (G’wed, Four Lives), Waj Ali (Out There, Dead & Buried), Karim Kadjar (Wolf Hall), Emma Cunniffe (Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, The Long Shadow), Georgina Rylance (Benediction, Sherlock), Ben Lambert (Outlander, The Crown), Julia Watson (Doctor Who, Doctors) and Julian Wadham (Black Doves, The Crown), alongside newcomers Elham Karimpour, Aidan Rivers, Corin Silva, and Eliza Agrosoaie.
The series is produced by Mammoth Screen, the ITV Studios label behind the acclaimed Code of Silence, in association with Navarino Pictures. Executive producers are David Eldridge, Shaun Evans, Julian Jarrold, Tom Leggett and Damien Timmer, with development led by Mammoth’s Creative Director Rebecca Keane. ITV’s Director of Drama, Polly Hill, and Drama Commissioner Huw Kennair Jones oversee the production on behalf of the broadcaster.
Betrayal is produced in association with and distributed by ITV Studios.