Two highly anticipated shows about Soviet spy Alexander Litvinenko are simultaneously in the making. One is HBO’s limited series starring Oscar-nominated Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog, Doctor Strange), while the other is ITV’s four-part show where BAFTA-winner David Tennant (Doctor Who, Des) is set to play the lead role.
Alexander Litvinenko was an officer for the Russian Federal Security Services (FSB) before joining KGB as an agent. In 1998, he was arrested after allegedly plotting the assassination of a Russian tycoon. Litvinenko fled to the UK in 2000 and was granted asylum shortly after. He became a journalist, a writer, and a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin and his closest circle. Shortly before his death, Litvinenko became a British citizen in 2006. He was poisoned with Polonium-210, which was believed to have been mixed into his cup of tea by a former Russian agent he was meeting with, Andrei Lugovoi. At that time, Litvinenko was working on a piece about potential ties between the Spanish and the Russian mafia. Before his death, he gave interviews from his deathbed and claimed that his poisoning was ordered directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Following his passing, Litvinenko’s wife blamed the Kremlin for the assassination and launched a campaign asking authorities in the UK and the EU to acknowledge Putin’s responsibility.
No wonder why both HBO and ITV chose to produce shows about such a dramatic, intriguing, and controversial subject. However, due to unlucky timing, the two shows happen to be in development right at the same time. This is not the first case, and probably not the last, that “twin films” or “twin shows” are in the makings. It is enough two think about Deep Impact and Armageddon, Succession and Press, or Darkest Hour and Churchill, just to name a few. A lack of original ideas? Maybe. But it has a lot to do with the relevance and momentum of the subject as well. If there is potential for high demand, big sharks such as HBO will not hesitate to bite. Here’s everything we know about the differences and similarities between the two rival dramas.
ITV’s Litvinenko
David Tennant will play the former KGB agent in the ITV’s four-part drama Litvinenko. Deadline broke the news on ITV’s take on the story back in September 2021, making it the first out of the two shows to be announced. The series will delve into Litvinenko’s poisoning at the Millennium hotel in London and his widow Marina’s desperate fight to convince the British government to name her husband’s murderers and acknowledge Russia’s responsibility. In 2021, The European Court of Human Rights found the state of Russia responsible for Litvinenko’s death. Therefore, Litvinenko is expected to be more about the Scotland Yard officers and the assassination’s aftermath regarding criminal and political justice rather than the escalating threat of nuclear armament.
Here's the series logline:
"The drama will relate how in November 2006, two police officers were called to University College Hospital in London to interview a patient in declining health. The patient was Litvinenko, a Russian dissident who claimed to have been poisoned on the direct orders of Vladimir Putin."
So far, there is a bit more from the creators behind the ITV show. We know that Litvinenko will be written by George Kay and executive-produced by Patrick Spence. Screenwriter Kay said about his story:
“In late 2006, Alexander Litvinenko was a living witness to his own murder. He spent his dying days entrusting the Metropolitan police with the details of what happened to him. It took those police and his remarkable widow, Marina Litvinenko, a decade to have those claims ratified. Their stamina, hard work and bravery are what make this not only an essential story of our times but a privilege to be asked to write.”
Patrick Spence described working on the series by saying, “This one is a privilege, a once in a career opportunity to tell a story about a family and a police team who have shown such courage and resilience that it has inspired us all,” he said. He also believes that the Litvinenko investigation is one of the most complex criminal investigations in the history of the UK. Litvinenko’s widow will be played by Margarita Levieva (The Deuce).
ITV has also released a statement regarding the accuracy of their show “many of the key individuals involved in the investigation and subsequent public inquiry.” The show is still without a release date.
HBO’s Londongrad
The HBO Max limited series is based on Alan Cowell's novel The Terminal Spy: A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder. Variety gave the first report on the show a month after news broke on Tennant's Litvinenko. The show’s logline reads:
"Based on the book The Terminal Spy by Alan Cowell, the series tells the true story of Alexander Litvinenko, the KGB agent and later defector killed by poisoning with the radioactive isotope polonium-210 in 2006 in England."
After portraying such historical figures as Alan Turing, Dominic Cummings, and Greville Wynne, Cumberbatch will take on the challenging role of Alexander Litvinenko. He will serve the show as an executive producer under his SunnyMarch production banner. David Scarpa, known for penning screenplays for The Last Castle and Man in the High Castle, will adapt Cowell’s book. Academy Award-winning Bryan Fogel (Icarus) will be in charge of directing. They will all executive produce together with Len Amato, Claire Marshall, and Adam Ackland. Altogether much less is known and said about HBO's project.
Based on the trajectory of its source material, the limited series will focus on the poisoning of the former Russian spy, events and motivations leading to his high-profile assassination, and the terrifying rise in nuclear terrorism. This makes Londongrad more about the life and death of the former spy rather than the implications and aftermath of his death.
According to Variety, the show is currently in development. However, knowing the pace at which HBO produces shows, a release date will surely be announced in the near future. Londongrad could land sometime in November, alongside the 15th anniversary of Litvinenko’s death. Having an American producer and distributor backing the project will definitely make its way easier compared to the limitations ITV will have to face unless Amazon or PBS’s Masterpiece picks Litvinenko up for distribution.