David Tennant’s Stunning Transformation Revealed in First Look at ITV Thriller

ITV is gearing up to release a new drama called The Hack, and some exclusive images have just surfaced to hype it up even more. The show is about the phone hacking scandal that rocked Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World more than ten years ago, and it’s created by a talented team: writer Jack Thorne, director Lewis Arnold, and producer Patrick Spence. Deadline first shared news of the project earlier this year, and Australia’s Stan is also helping produce the series.

David Tennant takes the lead as investigative reporter Nick Davies, the journalist who exposed the phone hacking scandal.

In the new photos, Tennant can be seen in action alongside Robert Carlyle, who plays Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Cook from the Metropolitan Police. Cook’s character is important because he led the investigation into the still-unsolved murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan, a story that’s also part of the drama.

Filming and editing for The Hack quietly took place over a year, with the show previously going by working titles like Broken News and Mandrake. However, ITV hasn’t announced when the show will officially premiere yet.

The cast is stacked with well-known names, including Rose Leslie, Dougray Scott, Eve Myles, Adrian Lester, Katherine Kelly, Kevin Doyle, Lara Pulver, and several others. It’s shaping up to be a powerful drama with a strong ensemble.

The phone hacking scandal was huge and eventually caused the News of the World to shut down. Its former editor, Andy Coulson, even went to prison over it. Nick Davies wrote a book about the scandal called Hack Attack: How the Truth Caught Up with Rupert Murdoch, which won awards.

The story made headlines again recently when Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers apologized to Prince Harry, settled with him, and admitted for the first time that private investigators working for The Sun had done “unlawful activities.”

ITV Studios is working with production companies like Anonymous and AC Chapter One, the latter co-founded by United Agents and Casarotto Ramsay, who had great success with last year’s ITV hit Mr Bates. Jack Thorne’s own production company, One Shoe Films, is also involved. The creative team behind The Hack has won eight BAFTAs between them, so expectations are high for this drama.

First look shared by Deadline.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!