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

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

The five-part drama stars Charlie Cox, best known as superhero Daredevil in the Marvel TV series of the same name, as precociously brilliant young spy Adam Lawrence who, after his boss Sir Martin Angelis (Ciarán Hinds) is poisoned, becomes acting head of MI6. There’s just one problem, though – perhaps he’s not quite as brilliant as he thought. Perhaps he was unknowingly getting help from his former lover, Russian spy Kara (Olga Kurylenko), whose interests would be served by seeing him climb up the ranks.

Treason is a white-knuckle ride of a series, with constantly shifting allegiances and a sense of jeopardy. In this shady world, it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Yet Adam is also a devoted family man, and his actions put his wife Maddy (Oona Chaplin) and their children in danger.

‘Adam’s got a lot going for him – his life is perfect in 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 spooks to research the drama. ‘I’ve been lucky enough to meet two real spies and it’s incredible how ordinary they are,’ he says. 

‘You’d walk past them in the street, they could be sitting opposite you on the Tube, and you wouldn’t know. So I didn’t put Charlie in a super-expensive suit, I wanted him to feel relatable. He’s a dad and a husband who’s good at his job.’

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

Russian spy Kara (Olga Kurylenko, pictured) is also part of the thrilling, but human-focused, new five-parter

‘I love the cerebral stuff we Brits do so well, but then I love the way the Americans have more of a beating heart and emotion,’ he says. ‘With the Bourne films you were desperate for him to get justice, and I loved the idea of a series that had a British head and an American heart.

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

To give the show warmth, the team accentuated Adam’s family-man virtues through the colour palette.

‘A lot of spy shows are greys and blues and glass, which looks really cool but is quite chilly and keeps you out,’ says Matt. ‘This is a domestic drama wrapped in a spy show. They have a beautiful home, and I wanted it to feel warm, I wanted that love between this family to feel real.’

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

‘My brother’s an amputee and I wrote that part so we can have someone like him on the screen,’ says Matt. ‘And it felt like the right thing to do, to find someone who really had been a serviceman, and had that experience.

‘The journey Maddy goes on will strike a chord with viewers. Someone who’s been pulled into something they don’t understand. She made me think, “What would a normal person do?”‘

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

‘They both knew people caught up in the conflict,’ says Matt. ‘I was worried about them being so far away from home, but actually they managed to help each other through the experience together.’

Olga, who first found fame in Bond film Quantum Of Solace, says, ‘It was crazy what was happening. We finished our show but the real show is still going on, sadly.’

Treason will be on Netflix from Boxing Day

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BEST NEW DRAMAS 

Murder, mystery, friendship… and elves – there’s something for everyone in the new dramas starting this week, and the most eagerly anticipated is Without Sin (from Wednesday, ITVX).

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

The action then moves on three years, when the Restorative Justice department – which enables criminals to face their victims – tells Stella that Charles would like to speak to her. What he has to say leads to a nail-biting ride of pain and retribution.

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

There’s something for everyone in the new dramas starting this week, and the most eagerly anticipated is Without Sin (from 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 vow 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 sun-drenched murder mystery Riptide (Tuesday-Friday, 9pm, Channel 5), a four-part series airing on consecutive nights. Jo plays Alison, who is newly married to wealthy Sean, lives in a stunning house in Melbourne and appears to have a perfect life.

The Witcher prequel saga Blood Origin focuses on an ancient Elven civilisation in which seven outcasts (including elves Fjall and Eile, pictured) join forces in a quest against an all-powerful empire

Then one morning Sean goes surfing and doesn’t return. It’s presumed he’s been caught in a riptide, but something doesn’t add up – and Alison begins to suspect he’s been murdered.

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

The four-parter focuses on an ancient Elven civilisation in which seven outcasts (including elves Fjall and Eile) join forces in a quest against an all-powerful empire.