Jed Mercurio teams up with Morven Christie for Payback on ITV1 – and here’s 5 reasons to watch thriller

Morven Christie returns to our screens in the compelling crime thriller, Payback – and we’re hooked just from the trailer!

The actress joins Peter Mullan, Prasanna Puwanarajah and Derek Riddell in the upcoming series, which is written by acclaimed screenwriter Debbie O’Malley.

Payback will air on ITV1 in October and be available as a series for streaming on ITVX. And we’re already predicting a binge-fest.

Here’s the top 5 reasons why you need to watch Payback starring Morven Christie on ITV…

The plot sounds seriously addictive

Described as a compelling character-led series, Payback follows Lexie Noble, who has an idyllic family lifestyle in the suburbs of Edinburgh. But it doesn’t stay like that for long. I mean, who wants to watch that!?

Viewers will watch in gleeful terror as The Bay star Morven Christie becomes entangled in a perilous police operation to topple a notorious crime lord, Cal Morris, played by Peter Mullan (in a role he was born for).

Lexie was blissfully ignorant of the fact that 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 (Prasanna Puwanarajah) and DCI Adam Guthrie (Derek Riddell), 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, she finds herself walking a treacherous tightrope between Cal and the police in which her safety, and even her life, are in grave danger.

Sounds epic!

ITV‘s Head of Drama, Polly Hill, teases: “Payback is a brilliant thriller which questions how well you know your partner… And, as the secrets come out, asks who you can trust. Debbie has written compelling scripts that will keep the audience hooked and surprised.”

The Payback with Morven Christie: It’s giving us Line of Duty vibes

The trailer gave us Line of Duty-type spine-tingles, which isn’t surprising as the series is linked to its creator Jed Mercurio.

Jed Mercurio’s HTM Television produced the series. He executive produced the series, alongside Madonna Baptiste (DI Ray), Debbie O’Malley and Diederick Santer on behalf of BritBox International.

Now that is some pretty impressive backing!

Payback will also be directed by Jennie Darnell, who is known for Trigger Point, Line of Duty, and Holby City.

The trailer of Payback starring Morven Christie looks epic

The trailer, which dropped on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, looks every bit as promising as we’d hoped… First of all, we see Morven’s character Lexie screaming as her husband is attacked by hooded men on the street.

As he lies injured on the ground, she screams: “Help us.”

A detective then tells Lexie that the attack on her husband – which killed him – was “premeditated”. And she soon becomes a suspect herself. Viewers subsequently see Peter Mullan’s character Cal Morris threatening her. He hisses: “You don’t say no to me.”

Now that, our ED! friends, is what’s called a tantalising trailer…

The cast is awesome!

Morven Christie never fails to disappoint, and we’ve loved her in The Bay, The A Word, Grantchester and The Replacement. Frankly, she can do no wrong.

Meanwhile, Peter Mullan is perfect for the role of the villain Cal. We wouldn’t mess with him, that’s for sure. Doctor Foster actor Prasanna Puwanarajah and Derek Riddell also star in the upcoming series.

The Pact’s Steven Mackintoish, who isn’t on TV enough in our opinion, stars as baddie Malky Roberts. And, in another Line of Duty wink, Andi Osho also pops up. Fans of the BBC One series will know that she played the murder victim Gail Vella in series 6. But she was also brilliant as Sandra Cliff in the recent series Blue Lights.

It will fill the hole left by The Inheritance

Autumn seems to be arriving, and the nights are getting longer. Which is PERFECT timing for a cracking TV thriller. Payback is due to start in October, by which time The Inheritance on Channel 5 will have come to an end.

As the evenings get colder and a hot chocolate begins to sound more appealing than a rosé, us thriller fans won’t feel so bad about staying in every night if the TV is as good as this.

Watch this space for a start date.

Read more: The Tourist series 2 first look ahead of return of BBC Jamie Dornan thriller

Payback will air on ITV1 in October and be available as a series for streaming on ITVX.

Will you be watching Payback on ITV1 and ITVX? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.