Litvinenko (ITVX)

Litvinenko

Full series drop on ITVX on Thursday 15 December.

Series overview

Four-part drama based on the true story of the police investigation into the poisoning of the former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko. In November 2006, Litvinenko, a former KGB officer, lies dying in a London hospital - poisoned by a mysterious radioactive substance. As police are summoned to take his statement, Litvinenko points his finger directly at the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Litvinenko's death a few days later sparks an investigation into a chemical attack on the streets of London and a ten-year investigation between Britain and Russia to find justice for his murder.
 

Episode 1:

November, 2006. Detective Inspector Brent Hyatt and Detective Sergeant Jim Dawson, are summoned to University College Hospital in London to interview a man named Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy who claims to have been poisoned. Litvinenko’s wife, Marina, tells the detectives that the doctors are sceptical of his story, though the Russian’s deteriorating physical condition is clear for everyone to see. Over three agonising days, Hyatt and Dawson interview the dying Litvinenko, who provides a meticulous account of who he believes to have killed him, and also the man responsible for ordering his murder, none other than Vladimir Putin.

Episode 2:

The day after Litvinenko’s death, radiation teams swarm across London to secure potentially contaminated sites visited by the Russian spy. Officers discover traces of Polonium at Itsu, a sushi restaurant where Litvinenko met Mario Scaramella before a later encounter with Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun at the Millennium Hotel, which has also tested positive for Polonium. Eliminating Scaramella from their enquiries, Timmons realises Lugovoy and Kovtun are their main suspects and resolves to send a team to Moscow to interview them directly.  Now living in an apartment owned by Boris Berezovsky, Marina receives a chilling phone call from Lugovoy.

Episode 3:

A team of detectives, led by Brian Tarpey arrive in Moscow to interview Lugovoy and Kovtun, now the prime suspects behind Litvinenko’s murder. Back in London, Timmons and Hyatt search for evidence as to how Litvinenko was poisoned. At Litvinenko’s funeral in Highgate Cemetery, Hyatt updates Marina on the investigation’s progress. She leaves the service considering taking matters into her own hands. Meanwhile, a breakthrough occurs when a teapot from the Millennium Hotel tests positive for Polonium: the police now have their murder weapon. 

Episode 4:

With their investigation complete, Timmons’ team submit their file to the Crown Prosecution Service, who charge Lugovoy and Kovtun with Litvinenko’s murder. However, with the killers safe in Russia and protected by Putin, the chances for true justice appear to be slim. With the encouragement and financial backing of Russian dissident, Boris Berezovsky, Marina hires Ben Emmerson, a charismatic human rights barrister, to push for an inquest into her husband’s murder. This begins Marina’s 8 year battle to try and find justice for her husband’s murder.