Informer (TV series)

Last updated

Informer
Genre
Created by
Written by
  • Rory Haines
  • Sohrab Noshirvani
Directed by Jonny Campbell
Starring
Composer Ilan Eshkeri
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Nicolas Brown
  • Elizabeth Kilgarriff
  • Sam Mendes
  • Julie Pastor
Producer
  • Julian Stevens
Production location London
CinematographyTony Slater Ling
Editors
  • Fiona Colbeck
  • Gareth C. Scales
Running time58–59 minutes
Production company Neal Street Productions
Original release
Network BBC One
Release16 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]

Contents

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 a struggle to balance both his civilian lifestyle and be the person that his family knows, as well of that of a police informer. [1]

Cast

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"No Sleep Till Brooklyn" Jonny Campbell Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani16 October 2018 (2018-10-16)
2"Strawberry Fields"Jonny CampbellRory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani23 October 2018 (2018-10-23)
3"Charlie Don't Surf"Jonny CampbellRory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani30 October 2018 (2018-10-30)
4"Ruby Tuesday"Jonny CampbellRory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani6 November 2018 (2018-11-06)
5"November Has Come"Jonny CampbellRory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani13 November 2018 (2018-11-13)
6"The Masterplan"Jonny CampbellRory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani20 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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MI5</span> British domestic intelligence agency

MI5, officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and Defence Intelligence (DI). MI5 is directed by the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), and the service is bound by the Security Service Act 1989. The service is directed to protect British parliamentary democracy and economic interests and to counter terrorism and espionage within the United Kingdom (UK).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism Act 2000</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Terrorism Act 2000 is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland Act 1996. It also replaced parts of the Criminal Justice Act 1998. The powers it provides the police have been controversial, leading to noted cases of alleged abuse, and to legal challenges in British and European courts. The stop-and-search powers under section 44 of the Act have been ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Transport Police</span> Police force responsible for railways in England, Wales and Scotland

British Transport Police is a national special police force that polices the railway network of England, Wales and Scotland. The force polices more than 10,000 miles of track and more than 3,000 stations and depots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Federal Police</span> Federal police department of the Australian Government

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. The AFP is an independent agency of the Attorney-General's Department and is responsible to the Attorney-General and accountable to the Parliament of Australia. As of October 2019 the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police is Reece Kershaw, formerly the Northern Territory Police Commissioner.

A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in India</span> Law and order system of india

Law enforcement in India is imperative to keep justice and order in the nation. Indian law is enforced by a number of agencies. Unlike many federal nations, the constitution of India delegates the maintenance of law and order primarily to the states and territories.

The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) was a not-for-profit private limited company that for many years led the development of policing practices in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Established in 1948, ACPO provided a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinate their strategic operational responses, and advised government in matters such as terrorist attacks and civil emergencies. ACPO coordinated national police operations, major investigations, cross-border policing, and joint law enforcement. ACPO designated Senior Investigative Officers for major investigations and appointed officers to head ACPO units specialising in various areas of policing and crime reduction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Fuller</span> First ethnic minority chief constable of police in the UK

Michael Fuller, also known as Mike Fuller, is a former Chief Constable of Kent Police and Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service. He was the first ethnic minority chief constable in the United Kingdom and the first black officer of chief constable-equivalent rank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mubin Shaikh</span>

Mubin Shaikh is a Canadian former security intelligence and counter terrorism operative, currently a Professor of Public Safety at Seneca College and also Counter Extremism Specialist for the U.S.-based NGO, Parents for Peace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bel Powley</span> British actress (born 1992)

Isobel Dorothy Powley is an English actress. Born and raised in London, Powley was educated at Holland Park School. She began acting as a teenager on television, starring on the CBBC action television series M.I. High (2007–2008).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counterintelligence state</span> Form of government where state security services permeate society

A counterintelligence state is a state where the state security service penetrates and permeates all societal institutions, including the military. The term has been applied by historians and political commentators to the former Soviet Union, the former German Democratic Republic, Cuba after the 1959 revolution, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, China under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and post-Soviet Russia under Vladimir Putin, especially since 2012.

The National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) was run by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), a private company connected to United Kingdom police intelligence, and was set up in 1999 to track green activists and public demonstrations. It has been found that much of the Unit's work was against "activists working on social justice, anti-racist, and environmental campaigns" and legitimate dissent, rather than extremist groups, with more than 1,000 political groups having been subjected to surveillance by covert officers. The work of the group has been accused as having hobbled Climate-related protest in the late 2000s in the United Kingdom and more widely.

CONTEST is the United Kingdom's counter-terrorism strategy, first developed by Sir David Omand and the Home Office in early 2003 as the immediate response to 9/11, and a revised version was made public in 2006. Further revisions were published on 24 March 2009, 11 July 2011 and June 2018. An Annual Report on the implementation of CONTEST was released in March 2010 and in April 2014. The aim of the strategy is "to reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence." The success of this strategy is not linked to total elimination of the terrorist threat, but to reducing the threat sufficiently to allow the citizens a normal life free from fear.

Robert Lambert MBE is a British academic and former undercover police officer. He served in the controversial Special Demonstration Squad and posed as a left-wing animal rights activist from 1983 to 1988, fathering a child with an activist, who was unaware of his true identity, during his deployment. Both the woman and her child have needed psychiatric treatment as a result, and both have been awarded damages against the Police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Police Scotland</span> Police Service of Scotland

Police Scotland, officially the Police Service of Scotland, is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottish Police Services Authority, including the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. Although not formally absorbing it, the merger also resulted in the winding down of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

<i>Bodyguard</i> (British TV series) 2018 British television drama series

Bodyguard is a British political thriller television series created and written by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions as part of ITV Studios for the BBC. The six-part series centres around the fictional character of Police Sergeant David Budd, a British Army war veteran suffering from PTSD, who is now working for the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service. He is assigned as the principal protection officer (PPO) for the ambitious Home Secretary Julia Montague, whose politics he despises. The series draws attention to controversial issues such as government monitoring of private information and its regulation, the politics of intervention and terrorism, and PTSD.

<i>Mogul Mowgli</i> 2020 film by Bassam Tariq

Mogul Mowgli is a 2020 drama film directed by Bassam Tariq, and written by Tariq and Riz Ahmed. It stars Ahmed and features Aiysha Hart, Alyy Khan, Sudha Bhuchar, Nabhaan Rizwan, and Anjana Vasan. It tells the story of a British-Pakistani rapper who is struck down by a disease.

<i>The Informer</i> (2019 film) 2019 British film directed by Andrea Di Stefano

The Informer is a 2019 British crime thriller film directed by Andrea Di Stefano and written by Matt Cook, based on the novel Three Seconds by Roslund & Hellström. The film stars Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Common, Ana de Armas, and Clive Owen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mawaan Rizwan</span> British actor (born 1992)

Mawaan Rizwan is a Pakistani-born British actor and comedian who began his career as a YouTuber. He created and starred in the BBC Three comedy Juice (2023). He won a British Academy Television Award for his performance, in addition to receiving writing nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)</span> UK police unit

Special Branch was a unit in the Metropolitan Police in London, formed as a counter-terrorism unit in 1883 and merged with another unit to form Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) in 2006. It maintained contact with the Security Service (MI5) and had responsibility for, among other things, personal protection of (non-royal) VIPs and performing the role of examining officer at designated ports and airports, as prescribed by the Terrorism Act 2000.

References

  1. 1 2 "Informer". BBC Writersroom. 15 October 2018. 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. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  5. "Review: Amazon's Informer Is Smart and Captivating". ScreenRant. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  6. "BBC One - Informer - DS Gabe Waters". BBC.
  7. D'Addario, Daniel (10 January 2019). "TV Review: 'Informer'".
  8. Hale, Mike (10 January 2019). "Review: 'Informer' Finds a Fresh Take on the Terrorism Thriller". The New York Times.
  9. "BBC One - Informer - DC Holly Morten". BBC.
  10. Greene, Steve (11 January 2019). "'Informer' Review: Solid Counterterrorism Drama For Anyone 'Bodyguard' Left Cold".
  11. "BBC One - Informer - Emily Waters". BBC.
  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.
  15. "Informer, BBC1 review: Another troubled counter-terrorism officer, another boring cliche". The Independent. 23 October 2018.
  16. "BBC One - Informer - Sadia Shar". BBC.
  17. "'Informer': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 10 January 2019.
  18. "BBC One - Informer - Hanif Shar". BBC.
  19. "BBC One - Informer - Nasir Shar". BBC.
  20. "Belfast's West End star Rachel Tucker lands wicked role in new BBC drama". Belfasttelegraph. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  21. "Where is Informer filmed in London?". Radio Times.
  22. Mitchell, Molli (16 October 2018). "Informer on BBC location: Where is Informer filmed? Where's it set?". Express.co.uk.