Informer (TV series)

Informer
Genre	Crime Drama
Created by	Rory Haines Sohrab Noshirvani
Written by	Rory Haines Sohrab Noshirvani
Directed by	Jonny Campbell
Starring	Paddy Considine Bel Powley Nabhaan Rizwan Arsher Ali Sharon D. Clarke Nell Hudson Roger Nsengiyumva Sunetra Sarker Stanley Townsend Rachel Tucker Jessica Raine
Composer	Ilan Eshkeri
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producers	Nicolas Brown Elizabeth Kilgarriff Sam Mendes Julie Pastor
Producer	Julian Stevens
Production location	London
Cinematography	Tony Slater Ling
Editors	Fiona Colbeck Gareth C. Scales
Running time	58–59 minutes
Production company	Neal Street Productions
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	16 October (2018-10-16) – 20 November 2018 (2018-11-20)

Informer is a British television drama series, created and written by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani and produced by Neal Street Productions for the BBC. ^[1] The six-part series stars Paddy Considine, Bel Powley, Nabhaan Rizwan, and Jessica Raine. ^[2] The series began broadcasting on BBC One on 16 October 2018. ^[3]

Amazon Prime Video agreed to a distribution deal to broadcast the show outside the United Kingdom and Ireland. ^{[4] [5]}

In Belgium, Canvas started broadcasting the series on 27 April 2019.

Synopsis

Raza (Nabhaan Rizwan) is a young second-generation British Pakistani man from London who is coerced into informing by Gabe (Paddy Considine), an officer in the (fictional) Counter-Terrorism Special Unit (CTSU). His newfound role in national security leads him into a variety of dangerous situations and alliances, and he struggles to balance his civilian lifestyle as the person that his family knows, with the secrecy and dangers of being a police informer. ^[1]

Cast

• Paddy Considine as DS Gabe Waters, a counterterrorism officer for the fictional Counter-Terrorism Special Unit. ^[6] Haunted by his past undercover work for the Met's Special Branch, infiltrating a far-right movement in West Yorkshire, ^[7] he struggles to balance his workload with time for his wife and daughter. ^[8]
• Bel Powley as DC Holly Morten, a young officer recently selected to join the Counter-Terrorism Special Unit and assigned as Gabe's partner, though her inquisitive nature threatens his police work on many occasions. ^[9]
• Nabhaan Rizwan as Raza Shar, a British Pakistani who is coerced by Gabe into working as an informer to uncover information about a possible cell connected with a terrorist attack in the Netherlands. ^[10]
• Jessica Raine as Emily Waters, wife of Gabe. While she is initially loyal to him and she never questions his police work, her burning questions about his past work have what it takes to make Gabe's two world collide and unravel her life and family. ^[11]
• Arsher Ali as Imran Aziz, an undercover police detective ^[12]
• Sharon D. Clarke as DCI Rose Asante ^[13]
• Nell Hudson as Charlotte Humphreys
• Roger Nsengiyumva as Dadir Hassan, a third-generation British Somali ^[14] befriended by Raza working as a drug dealer in East London. His suspected terrorist connections are of interest to Raza's informing work. ^[15]
• Sunetra Sarker as Sadia Shar, a Pakistani national who poses as the mother of Raza and Nasir. ^[16] Having overstayed her student visa by at least 16 years to raise the two following their mother's death, Sadia's threatened deportation is used against Raza to coerce him into becoming an informer. ^[17]
• Stanley Townsend as Geoffrey Boyce, DCI Rose Asante's counterpart
• Paul Tylak as Hanif Shar, father of Raza and Nasir. His humorous personality and alcoholic tendencies mask the pain of his wife's death. ^[18]
• Reiss Jeram as Nasir Shar, younger brother of Raza. Unpopular at school and with few friends, an absent older brother, and an alcoholic father, he soon becomes easily influenced by Akash. ^[19]
• Rachel Tucker as Sharon Collins, a Yorkshire woman caught up in the shady world of undercover policing ^[20]
• Fehinti Balogun as Officer Cooper
• Arinzé Kene as Sal Brahimi, a former professional boxer known as "Big Shot", who owns a boxing gym frequented by Raza and Dadir, and is later discovered to be a recruiter for the London terror cell.
• Elizabeth Rider as Lady Justice Spencer
• Robert Whitelock as Officer Worrall
• Emily Taafe as Megan Morten
• Olivia Popica as Roxy Novac

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"No Sleep Till Brooklyn"	Jonny Campbell	Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani	16 October 2018 (2018-10-16)
2	"Strawberry Fields"	Jonny Campbell	Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani	23 October 2018 (2018-10-23)
3	"Charlie Don't Surf"	Jonny Campbell	Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani	30 October 2018 (2018-10-30)
4	"Ruby Tuesday"	Jonny Campbell	Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani	6 November 2018 (2018-11-06)
5	"November Has Come"	Jonny Campbell	Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani	13 November 2018 (2018-11-13)
6	"The Masterplan"	Jonny Campbell	Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani	20 November 2018 (2018-11-20)

Production

The series was largely filmed on location in London. Raza's home and the fictional nearby "Bridge Town Estate" were primarily filmed at the Thamesmead estate in south-east London as well as the Silverlock Estate in Southwark. ^[21]

Filming took place at Shadwell railway station in January 2018 and in Brick Lane. The Silver Building, a former Carlsberg-Tetley factory at the Docklands Depot in Silvertown was used as a set for the Counter-Terrorism Special Unit headquarters. The Printworks nightclub in Rotherhithe can be seen in the trailer alongside Delights Hair & Beauty salon on Rye Lane, Peckham. Other locations include Old Crown Courts in Kingston, Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, a restaurant at Fiveways on Sidcup Road in New Eltham and the Thames Clippers ferry. ^[22]

References

1. "Informer". BBC Writersroom. 15 October 2018. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
2. Dowling, Tim (16 October 2018). "Informer review – counter terror drama is gripping and artful … but you'll need to pay attention". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 21 January 2019.
3. Jeffries, Stuart (16 October 2018). "Can BBC Informer finally subvert the Muslim stereotype problem on TV?". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 21 January 2019.
4. Gilbert, Sophie (14 January 2019). "Amazon's 'Informer' Deftly Mines the War on Terror". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
5. "Review: Amazon's Informer Is Smart and Captivating". ScreenRant. 10 January 2019. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
6. "BBC One - Informer - DS Gabe Waters". BBC. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
7. D'Addario, Daniel (10 January 2019). "TV Review: 'Informer'". Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
8. Hale, Mike (10 January 2019). "Review: 'Informer' Finds a Fresh Take on the Terrorism Thriller". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
9. "BBC One - Informer - DC Holly Morten". BBC.
10. Greene, Steve (11 January 2019). "'Informer' Review: Solid Counterterrorism Drama For Anyone 'Bodyguard' Left Cold". Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
11. "BBC One - Informer - Emily Waters". BBC. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
12. "Meet the cast of BBC thriller Informer". Radio Times.
13. "BBC One - Informer - DCI Rose Asante". BBC.
14. "BBC One - Informer - Dadir Hassan". BBC. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
15. "Informer, BBC1 review: Another troubled counter-terrorism officer, another boring cliche". The Independent. 23 October 2018.
16. "BBC One - Informer - Sadia Shar". BBC. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
17. "'Informer': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 10 January 2019. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
18. "BBC One - Informer - Hanif Shar". BBC.
19. "BBC One - Informer - Nasir Shar". BBC. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
20. "Belfast's West End star Rachel Tucker lands wicked role in new BBC drama". Belfasttelegraph. Archived from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
21. "Where is Informer filmed in London?". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
22. Mitchell, Molli (16 October 2018). "Informer on BBC location: Where is Informer filmed? Where's it set?". Express.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.

External links

• Informer at BBC Online
• Informer at IMDb
• Informer at epguides.com