‘The Hack’: David Tennant Phone-Hacking Drama Unveils First Look a Week After Prince Harry’s Historic Settlement

Alex Ritman

29 January 2025 at 5:44 am·2-min read

ITV has officially announced its drama about the U.K.’s phone-hacking scandal and investigation, a seven-part series now entitled “The Hack” and written by multi award-winner Jack Thorne.

The unveiling of the first look from “The Hack” — which shot last year — comes just a week after the hacking controversy concerning Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloids reached a new peak, with his News Group Newspapers making a historic apology to Prince Harry and agreeing to pay substantial damages.

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David Tennant — who himself accepted damages from NGN over a phone-hacking claim against the now-defunct News of the World — plays Nick Davies, the investigative journalist who uncovered evidence of hacking. Toby Jones plays his former editor-in-chief at The Guardian newspaper, Alan Rusbridger, while — in a story running parallel to the hacking expose — Robert Carlyle plays former Met Police detective chief superintendent Dave Cook, who led an investigation into the unsolved murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan.

An ITV Studios co-production with Stan in Australia, “The Hack” was commissioned for ITV by director of drama, Polly Hill. It was directed by BAFTA winner Lewis Arnold (“Time,” “Sherwood,” “The Long Shadow”) and is executive produced by BAFTA and RTS award-winning Patrick Spence (“Mr Bates vs The Post Office”), the managing director of AC Chapter One. The series is currently in post-production.

Thorne also executive produces alongside Joe Williams (“Mr Bates vs The Post Office”) for ITV Studios, Arnold and Tennant. Abi Bach (“The Honourable Woman,” “Black Earth Rising”) is the series producer.

“This is a strange and deceptive piece of our recent history. One with so many layers to it. I thought, as someone who is interested in politics, I understood everything that happened. I did not,” said Thorne. “It’s a fight for the truth that really shocked me. That is why it matters to tell this story now in an age where the truth seems more in danger than ever. It is a true honour to be bringing this story to the screen alongside David, Robert, Toby, Lewis, Patrick, Joe and Abi. I hope we find a way to do justice to the complexity of what happened and of celebrating the incredible reporting that sits underneath it.”

Alongside Tennant, Carlyle and Jones, the cast also includes Rose Leslie, Dougray Scott, Eve Myles, Adrian Lester, Katherine Kelly, Kevin Doyle, Neil Maskell, Lara Pulver, Lee Ingleby, Pip Torrens, Lisa McGrillis, Sean Pertwee, Robert Bathurst, Richard Pepple, Nadia Albina, Phil Davis, Ace Bhatti, Charlie Brooks, and Steve Pemberton.

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