Bond with a heart: Meet the hero of new British thriller Treason

Dubious Russians, political uncertainty, and a leadership election… Netflix’s new thriller Treason feels terribly up-to-date. So let’s just hope the central story of a compromised MI6 boss doesn’t come true.

The five-part drama stars Charlie Cox, best known as the superhero Daredevil on the Marvel TV series of the same name, as the precociously brilliant young spy Adam Lawrence who, after his boss Sir Martin Angelis (Ciarán Hinds) ), is poisoned, becomes acting head of MI6. However, there is only one problem: he may not be as bright as he thought. Perhaps he was unknowingly receiving help from his ex-lover, Russian spy Kara (Olga Kurylenko), whose interests would be served by seeing him rise through the ranks.

Treason is a thrilling ride of a series, with ever-changing loyalties and a sense of danger. In this shady world, it is impossible to know who to trust.

However, Adam is also a devoted family man, and his actions endanger his wife Maddy (Oona Chaplin) and their children.

The five-part drama stars Charlie Cox, best known as the superhero Daredevil in the Marvel television series of the same name, as the precociously brilliant young spy Adam Lawrence.

“Adam has a lot going for him, his life is perfect in so many ways,” says Charlie. “Then, in due course, what he learns about himself is that he’s very ambitious, to the point where that level of ambition, what he’s willing to do to succeed in his career, becomes very uncomfortable.”

Writer Matt Charman spoke to real-life ghosts to investigate the drama. “I’ve been lucky enough to meet two real spies and it’s amazing how ordinary they are,” he says.

“You would pass them on the street, they could be sitting across from you on the subway, and you wouldn’t notice. So I didn’t put Charlie in a super expensive suit, I wanted him to feel relatable. He is a father and a husband who is good at his job.

His hope was to create a new kind of espionage story, a hybrid of the British and American approaches, so Adam is a bit Bond and a bit Bourne.

Russian spy Kara (Olga Kurylenko, pictured) is also a part of the exciting, yet human-focused, five-parter.

“I love the cerebral stuff we Brits do so well, but I also love the way Americans have more of a beating heart and emotion,” he says. “With the Bourne movies, you were desperate for him to get justice, and I loved the idea of ​​a show that had a British head and an American heart.

“I want viewers to think, ‘How would I react to that?’ I wanted it to seem real, so that we can understand why someone might be forced to act in a way that is contrary to everything they believe in.”

To add warmth to the show, the team accentuated Adam’s family man virtues through the color palette.

“A lot of spyware is gray and blue and glass, which looks great but is pretty cold and keeps you away,” says Matt. ‘This is a domestic drama wrapped up in a spy show. They have a beautiful home and I wanted it to feel warm, I wanted the love between this family to feel real.

Maddy finds herself trapped in this strange world of spies and lies. A former army medic, she works with a disabled ex-serviceman, who is played by an ex-soldier.

“My brother has an amputation and I wrote that part so we can have someone like him on screen,” says Matt. ‘And it seemed like the right thing to do, to find someone who had actually been in the military and had that experience.

“The journey that Maddy undertakes will strike a chord with viewers. Someone who’s been drawn into something she doesn’t understand. She made me think, “What would a normal person do?”

Matt admits that he didn’t expect the show to be so prescient. Not only were there two leadership elections shortly after filming wrapped, but Russia invaded Ukraine during filming, which meant things were especially difficult for Ukrainian-born Olga and her Russian co-star Danila Kozlovsky, who plays the son of a dodgy oligarch.

“They both knew people involved in the conflict,” says Matt. “I was worried that they were so far from home, but they actually managed to help each other through the experience together.”

Olga, who first rose to fame in the Bond film Quantum Of Solace, says: ‘It was crazy what was happening. We finished our show but sadly the real show goes on.’

Betrayal will be on Netflix from Boxing Day

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BEST NEW DRAMAS

Murder, mystery, friendship… and goblins: there’s something for everyone in the new dramas starting this week, with the most anticipated being Sinless (from Wednesday, ITVX).

Line Of Duty’s Vicky McClure co-produces and stars in this four-part psychological thriller. She plays Stella Tomlinson (right), whose 14-year-old daughter Maisy is found dead, with the bloody figure of a man named Charles Stone (Vicky’s former This Is England co-star Johnny Harris) standing over her.

The action then jumps to three years, when the Restorative Justice department, which allows criminals to confront their victims, tells Stella that Charles would like to speak with her. What she has to say takes him on a thrilling journey of grief and retribution.

Things are a little softer in the two-part Mayflies (Wednesday-Thursday, 9pm, BBC1), which features another Line Of Duty star in Martin Compston. He plays Jimmy, who receives some distressing news out of the blue from his childhood friend Tully (Tony Curran).

There’s something for everyone in the new dramas starting this week, with the most anticipated being Sinless (starting Wednesday, ITVX).

The story goes back to the summer of 1986, when Jimmy and Tully plan the ‘climax of their youth’: a music festival in Manchester. There, against the backdrop of an electrifying soundtrack, they make a promise about how they will approach life.

Weaving between the two timelines, it’s a beautifully paced exploration of male friendship.

Former EastEnder Jo Joyner stars in the sun-kissed murder mystery Riptide (Tues-Fri, 9pm, Channel 5), a four-part series that airs on back-to-back nights. Jo plays Alison, who is newly married to the wealthy Sean, she lives in a stunning house in Melbourne and seems to have a perfect life.

The Witcher’s prequel saga, Blood Origin, centers on an ancient elven civilization where seven outcasts (including the elves Fjall and Eile, pictured) join forces on a quest against an all-powerful empire.

Then one morning Sean goes surfing and doesn’t come back. It is presumed that he has been caught in a rip current, but something is off, and Alison begins to suspect that he has been murdered.

For fantasy fans, The Witcher Blood Origin prequel saga (Christmas, Netflix) is set 1,200 years before the Henry Cavill series and stars Lenny Henry and Michelle Yeoh.

The four-part game centers on an ancient elven civilization where seven outcasts (including the elves Fjall and Eile) join forces on a quest against an all-powerful empire.