A gang of criminals teaming up to pull off a big heist is familiar ground in film and TV, but ITV Studios-distributed drama Frauds flips the script by making this a female team.
Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker plays Sam and is part of the ensemble alongside Suranne Jones, who co-created the show, and a cast including Elizabeth Berrington, Kate Fleetwood and Talisa Garcia.
Whitaker has journeyed through space and time as the Doctor but Frauds served up something new, she told Deadline in Cannes, where ITV Studios had the drama as one of its big titles at the MIPCOM market.
“We’ve never seen those parts for us before,” she said. “It is an amazing ensemble and all of our characters have a unique energy and skillset, which is why, as a team, we end up all working together so brilliantly. The heist genre doesn’t usually involve this group of people.”
Gentleman Jack star Jones created Frauds with Anne-Marie O’Connor, who she previously teamed with on ITV’s Maryland. It is on air on ITV in the UK and ITV Studios was teeing up international sales in Cannes.
Whittaker said what also stood out for her was the reason why these characters were joining forces for the heist.
“When you read something like this, you always look for motive,” she said. “Very often, with female characters it’s because you’re wanting to feed your children at home, or you’ve been left in a destitute scenario, and that’s the only reason why you would commit these horrible crimes. I love the fact that actually, some of us here are just financially motivated and it’s ego-based, that is very refreshing.”
The series comes from Monumental Television, producer of the UK Ghosts series, in association with Jones’ indie TeamAkers.
