Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker to play con artists in ITV heist drama
Actresses Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker are to play skilled con artists in an ITV heist drama exploring 'toxic female friendship'.
Gentleman Jack star Jones, 46, has co-created Frauds alongside Hullraisers co-writer Anne-Marie O'Connor, and stars as Bert, who has left a Spanish prison cell on compassionate grounds after a cancer diagnosis.
On the pretext of one final multimillion-pound art heist, Bert, who has spent the last decade locked up and is in the final weeks of her life, attempts to lure grifting partner Sam (Whittaker) out of retirement.
Jones said: 'Working on Frauds with Anne-Marie and (production company) Monumental for the last two years has been a wild ride.
'We took the idea of toxic female friendship and turned it on its head to give the heist genre an emotional heartbeat.
'I have always wanted to work with Jodie, and now I am. I hope you love Bert and Sam and all they get up to as much as we do.'
The six-part series recently began filming in Spain, which is where Sam had been content to live a life of anonymity awaiting Bert's release from a maximum-security prison.
O'Connor said: 'Suranne and I wanted to take a look at the importance and fierceness of female friendship and to do it using the propulsive heist genre.
'I am thrilled to be working with Monumental again, and having Jodie joining us alongside Suranne is a dream.'
O'Connor and Jones previously collaborated on Maryland, which aired on ITV1 and ITVX.
Helen Ziegler, ITV senior drama commissioning editor, said: 'Suranne and Jodie are two incredible actors and it'll be thrilling to see what they bring to the central characters.'
Production company Monumental Television is producing Frauds in association with ITV Studios.
Frauds is a co-production with TeamAkers, the production company founded by Jones and writer/producer Laurence Akers.
O'Connor is also executive producing, along with Jones on behalf of TeamAkers.
The series will air on ITV and STV and be available for streaming on ITVX and STV Player.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
An elementary school teacher went for a walk. She never came home.
Mariame Toure Sylla strolled around Schrom Hills Park in Greenbelt on a warm Saturday evening two years ago, her local spot for walking and praying. A friend called the police the next day after she hadn't heard from Sylla and let officers into Sylla's apartment, an officer testified in Prince George's County Circuit Court on Tuesday, where Harold Francis Landon is on trial for murder.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Legendary Coronation Street duo reunite after 11 years and fans can't believe it
Two Coronation Street legends have reunited 11 years after last appearing on the cobbles together, and fans can't believe it. It comes as Katherine Kelly, who played the role of Becky McDonald, posted a reunion picture with Julie Hesmondhalgh, best known for the character Hayley Cropper. Hayley was the first transgender character on a British soap and throughout her time in Weatherfield, formed close friendships with Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine) and Carla Connor (Alison King), as well as Becky. After first joining the ITV programme in 2006, Becky formed an unbreakable bond with Hayley and her husband, Roy, and they remained a tight-knit family-like trio until she departed for Barbados in 2012. Then sadly, after 16 years, Hayley's time came to an end on Corrie when she decided to end her life after battling with terminal pancreatic cancer in 2014. However, Katherine's recent Instagram post has left fans rather excited, as it appears the pair are working together once more. As well as a picture of the actresses hugging with huge smiles on their faces, Katherine also shared a picture of Julie in a recording booth and another of a recording studio set up with equipment. Katherine captioned the photos: 'A day spent with one of my FAVOURITE human beings deserves a place on the grid @jhesmondhalgh.' One fan commented: "Icons! And the 'Reunited' song comes to mind.' Another wrote: 'This photo has made my day, all we need is David in the middle x' Someone else said: 'What ever this is I can't wait to watch.' Also on social media, this Corrie viewer put: 'HAYLEY AND BECKY REUNION AHHH MY GODDDDD.' While this person added: 'Always Hayley n Bex to me but both great actors post Corrie.' Recommended reading: Corrie fans believe 'iconic' Liz McDonald set to replace Eileen Grimshaw Coronation Street bosses urged to 'wake up' as show 'worst' it has been in years Coronation Street's Sue Cleaver lands new job just days after exiting the soap A soap fan revealed: ''Just how fast the night changessss', I want Hayley and Becky back!' Others said 'ahhhh you guys rock' and some hailed the two 'amazing' actresses as 'legends'. What do you think Katherine and Julie are working on together? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Editorial: A win for the rule of law — Abrego Garcia return is first step in accountability for Trump deportations
Finally obeying the Supreme Court's ruling 9-0 to return to the U.S. Kilmar Abrego García, the Maryland man with legal protections who was illegally sent to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador, the Trump administration has followed the law and brought him back. That is good. But this being the Trump administration, Abrego García is now suddenly facing multiple federal criminal charges surrounding the allegation that he once ferried people in the country illegally to different states. Whether the indictment is solid or not, Abrego García will now have competent legal defense and will be before independent judges. He is entitled to all protections that are due under the Constitution, which the disappearance of him to El Salvador abrogated. There are no new facts in this case, only what was substantially already known to investigators and prosecutors. There could be myriad reasons why federal law enforcement did not take any action beforehand, ranging from lack of evidence to simple resource allocation. But what is certain is that only reason why they're pursuing it now: to send the signal that the Trump government won't tolerate questioning its enforcement efforts, and that if you become enough of a public thorn in their side — even if it is the result of popular outrage you don't have any hand in — they'll go after you. As predictable as a ploy, as this is, it's at least a good thing that he will not remain in the Salvadoran prison system; at this point, he's the only publicly-known person to ever leave CECOT alive. In the United States, he'll have access to the still-active protections of our legal system and can actually fight acknowledged charges with his attorneys. To state the obvious, this is a pretty clear indication that the administration always could get the Salvadorans to return custody. The insistence of Attorney General Pam Bondi and others that they had no ability to correct their acknowledged error was always a lie, and there should be consequences for that lie. Maryland Federal Judge Paula Xinis, who issued the original order for his return, has already set the groundwork to hold federal officials in contempt, and she should continue to explore that avenue even though he's now been brought back. The fact of Abrego Garcia's return does not mean that everything is above board with regards to the administration's use of CECOT or Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, under which most of the other detainees were sent. This was merely the case where the administration had most individually and egregiously violated the law, but, as D.C. Federal Judge James Boasberg recently ruled, every single removal under that policy — which to remind readers is based on the absurd conceit that the United States is in something akin to war against Venezuela — was unlawful. This isn't over until the government returns every person removed under the AEA and stops contracting with a foreign government to indefinitely imprison people on no charge, a policy for which it has never laid out any legal basis. The public outrage that was struck by Abrego Garcia's detention and removal should extend to all others who remain held there without charge, and to all of the people the administration continues to detain every day just for trying to follow the law. _____