Informer (TV series)

Informer is a British television drama programme, 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]

Informer
Genre
Created by
  • Rory Haines
  • Sohrab Noshirvani
Written by
  • Rory Haines
  • Sohrab Noshirvani
Directed byJonny Campbell
Starring
ComposerIlan 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
Producers
  • Julian Stevens
Production locationLondon
CinematographyTony Slater Ling
Editors
  • Fiona Colbeck
  • Gareth C. Scales
Running time58–59 minutes
Production companyNeal Street Productions
DistributorAll3Media
Release
Original networkBBC One
Picture format2:1 1080p
Audio formatStereo
Original release16 October (2018-10-16) –
20 November 2018 (2018-11-20)
External links
BBC Website
Production website

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), a counterterrorism officer for the fictional Counter-Terrorism Special Unit (CTSU), his newfound role in National safety leads him into a variety of dangerous situations, 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 informant.[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]
  • 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

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"No Sleep Till Brooklyn"Jonny CampbellRory 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.[20]

Filming took place at Shadwell railway station in January 2018 and in Brick Lane, Shoreditch. 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 Clipper ferry.[21]

References
  1. "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" – via NYTimes.com.
  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.
  18. "BBC One - Informer - Hanif Shar". BBC.
  19. "BBC One - Informer - Nasir Shar". BBC.
  20. "Where is Informer filmed in London?". Radio Times.
  21. Mitchell, Molli (16 October 2018). "Informer on BBC location: Where is Informer filmed? Where's it set?". Express.co.uk.
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