ITV has shared a first look at David Tennant as Alexander Litvinenko, recreating the famous photo of the Russian defector lying in hospital before his death from poisoning.
A new TV drama – due to launch on ITVX next month – will explore the story of the Metropolitan Police officers who investigated the case of Litvinenko, who had been found in declining health at University College Hospital in London.
Litvinenko – a former Russian federal security services and KGB officer, and outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin – died in 2006 after ingesting a rare radioactive substance.
Doctor Who star Tennant will play Litvinenko in the series. His on-screen wife Marina Litvinenko will be portrayed by Russian-American actress Margarita Levieva.
ITV said former New Scotland Yard officers Clive Timmons and Brent Hyatt, along with Marina's lawyer Ben Emmerson QC and Litvinenko's family, have supported the production.
Among the other cast members of the four-part series will be Mark Bonnar as Timmons. Whilst fellow police officer Hyatt will be played in the upcoming drama by Neil Maskell.
ITV Studios executive producer Patrick Spence said it's a "privilege" to be working on the series. He said: "[It's about] a family and a police team who have shown such courage and resilience that it has inspired us all."
Whilst Polly Hill, head of drama at ITV, said the broadcaster is "delighted" by Tennant's casting and that the scripts are "brilliant". She said it will make for a "compelling drama".
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A UK public inquiry concluded in 2016 that Russians Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoy, had deliberately poisoned Litvinenko by putting Polonium-210 into his drink at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair.
Headed by Sir Robert Owen – a former High Court judge – the inquiry found the tea poisoning had "probably" been carried out with the approval of the Russian president.
More recently, the European Court of Human Rights ruled last year, following a case brought by Litvinenko's widow, that Russia was responsible for his killing.
Russia has always denied any involvement in the death and had refused to comply with international arrest warrants issued for Kovtun and Lugovoi.
Sir Robert's inquiry said the use of the radioactive substance – which could only have come from a nuclear reactor – was a "strong indicator" of state involvement.
The inquiry further said that the two men had probably been acting under the direction of the Russian security service the FSB, for which Litvinenko used to work.
Possible motives included Litvinenko's work for British intelligence agencies after fleeing Russia, his association with other Russian dissidents and his criticism of the FSB.
As reported earlier this year, Kovtun died in June of Covid-19, according to state-owned Russian news agency Tass.
Litvinenko will launch on ITVX on December 15.
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