FRAUDS: SURANNE JONES AND JODIE WHITTAKER TO STAR IN NEW ITV HEIST DRAMA

ITV have commissioned six-part heist drama, Frauds, starring BAFTA and RTS award winning actresses Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker as skilled confidence tricksters who’ve been separated by an arduous 10-year prison sentence.

Sam, played by Jodie Whittaker (Time, One Night, Doctor Who, Broadchurch) has been content to live a life of quiet anonymity in the hills of Southern Spain, whilst her grifting partner, Bert, played by Suranne Jones (Maryland, Vigil, Gentleman Jack, Doctor Foster, Scott & Bailey) has spent the last decade in a Spanish prison cell with a burning desire to pull off one final job that will prove her worth.

Frauds will air on ITV and STV and be available for streaming on ITVX and STV Player with Helen Ziegler, Senior Drama Commissioning Editor, overseeing production on behalf of the broadcaster.

We pick up the story as Sam anxiously waits for Bert to be released from a maximum-security prison on grounds of compassionate discharge. Frail and facing her final days, following a cancer diagnosis, Bert’s mindset is as it’s always been, to take risks and live life on the edge.

Set in the picturesque mountainous region of Southern Spain, it’s apparent from the outset that Sam and Bert have unresolved issues of the thieving kind.

Locked into a pattern of fierce friendship coupled with deep mistrust, that goes back many years, Bert apparently has no one else to turn to in the final weeks of her life. And we sense this isn’t going to be an easy ride for Sam, who is clearly burying feelings of guilt, and a past she’d rather stay forgotten.

Pricked by those feelings, she reluctantly agrees to give her ailing former friend a bed in the idyllic smallholding she calls a home. Despite trying to keep Bert at a distance, she is immediately pulled back into their complex and addictive relationship.

On the pretext of one final, multi-million-pound art heist, Bert attempts to lure Sam out of retirement, but at what cost? Can Sam stay one step ahead of her former friend, who is clearly capable of treachery? Or will the push and pull of their toxic friendship see them both ruined before they are able to pull off the job and escape one another for good?

The drama will be executive produced by Alison Owen (Maryland, Ghosts, Harlots) and Katie Kelly (Maryland, Harlots) on behalf of Monumental Television, part of ITV Studios. Debra Hayward, Alison Carpenter, Jill Forbes and Pat Tookey-Dickson also executive produce for Monumental Television, part of ITV Studios. Writer and Co-Creator Anne-Marie O’Connor also Executive Produces as does Suranne Jones on behalf of TeamAkers.

Helen Ziegler said: “We are delighted to be working with Suranne, Anne Marie and the brilliant team at Monumental on their unique take on a heist show. At its heart this is a story of a complex, surprising friendship, which asks if Sam and Bert can pull together for one last job, or whether the past will derail them. Suranne and Jodie are two incredible actors and it'll be thrilling to see what they bring to the central characters.”

Leading independent production company Monumental Television (The Marlow Murder Club, Maryland, Harlots, Ghosts, Murder in Provence), will produce Frauds in association with ITV Studios. Frauds is a co-production with TeamAkers, the production company founded by Suranne Jones and Laurence Akers.

Suranne Jones said: “Working on Frauds with Anne-Marie and Monumental for the last 2 years has been a wild ride. We took the idea of toxic female friendship and turned it on its head to give the heist genre an emotional heartbeat.

I have always wanted to work with Jodie, and now I am. I hope you love Bert and Sam and all they get up to as much as we do."

Alison Owen and Katie Kelly, Executive Producers for Monumental Television commented: “Frauds is the genius brainchild of Suranne Jones and Anne-Marie O’Connor. We are honoured and totally thrilled to be collaborating with them again, and to bring their extraordinary creation to the screen.”

Giulia Gandini (The Split, Shetland) will direct the series and Pat Tookey-Dickson (Toxic Town, Maryland, 1899, Ghosts) produces Frauds which has recently begun filming in Spain.

Frauds has been created for ITV by Suranne Jones and Anne-Marie O’Connor and is written by Anne-Marie O’Connor (Maryland, Hullraisers, Trollied).

Commented Anne-Marie O’Connor: “Suranne and I wanted to take a look at the importance and fierceness of female friendship and to do it using the propulsive heist genre. I am thrilled to be working with Monumental again, and having Jodie joining us alongside Suranne is a dream.”

More details will be announced in due course.