Identity (TV series)

Identity
Identity titlecard
GenrePolice procedural
Created byEd Whitmore
StarringAidan Gillen
Keeley Hawes
Holly Aird
Elyes Gabel
and Shaun Parkes
ComposerJohn Lunn
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6 (Episode list)
Production
Executive producersKate Bartlett
Ed Whitmore
ProducerLachlan Mackinnon
Running time51 minutes (including adverts)
Production companyITV Studios
Original release
NetworkITV
Release5 July (2010-07-05) –
9 August 2010 (2010-08-09)

Identity is a British police procedural television series starring Aidan Gillen and Keeley Hawes, airing in the UK during July–August 2010. Concerning identity theft, the series was created and written by Ed Whitmore, a writer most noted for his work on the BBC's Waking The Dead and the ITV mini-series He Kills Coppers. It was cancelled on 19 October 2010, after a single series.[1]

Plot

In London, the Identity Unit led by Detective Superintendent Martha Lawson, the founder of the unit, specialises in cases concerning identity fraud by outsmarting, hunting down and unmasking the modern day Jekyll and Hydes.

Martha takes a risk in employing DI John Bloom, an SO-10 officer who has just spent 15 years undercover. He knows first hand what it’s like to pretend to be someone you are not. He’s also only too aware of how easy it is to lose your own identity when you’ve lived a lie for the previous 15 years as a Dublin money launderer and bagman for the Turkish mafia and the past will not go away.

Completing the team are Tessa Stein, IT expert in everything from trawling databases to cracking security codes, DS Anthony Wareing, who has his eye on promotion and a stance on cases that can err on the self-righteous, and DC José Rodriguez - cocky, self-assured, yet with a seriousness and sensitivity that gives him insight into cases.

As the series unfolds, DS Wareing becomes more and more concerned about Bloom’s methods and frustrated by what he sees as Martha’s blind and foolish indulgence of him.

Cast and characters

Episode list

Episode # Title Directed by Written by Original airdate Viewers (millions)[2]
1"Second Life"Brendan MaherEd Whitmore5 July 2010 (2010-07-05)6.37
Justin Curtis claims to have had his identity stolen when he stands accused of a hit and run accident. He names "Smith" as the thief and it is the Identity Unit's task to prove he exists.
2"Chelsea Girl"Brendan MaherEd Whitmore12 July 2010 (2010-07-12)4.56
The Identity Unit investigate the murder of Olivia Knighton in Australia, when hours after her death records show another woman using her passport to enter the UK to fulfil a psychological need from her childhood. Identified as the mentally scarred Jane Calshaw they have to find her father and his new fiancée in order to work out what she’s got planned.
3"Pariah"Brendan MaherEd Whitmore19 July 2010 (2010-07-19)4.77
Amy Quilan and her son Sam - on a witness protection scheme after her husband kidnapped, ransomed and killed a seven-year-old girl are exposed on the internet and are placed in grave danger. The Identity Unit investigate and find everybody involved are working to their own agenda.
4"Reparation"Andy HayEdward Bennett26 July 2010 (2010-07-26)4.18
The Identity Unit have to prove an Indian businessman, with a dubious past, lying in a guarded sick bed is who he is claimed to be when he is about to sign a major government deal worth £50 million.
5"Somewhere They Can't Find Me"Andy HayEdward Bennett2 August 2010 (2010-08-02)4.03
A respectable woman, admitted to hospital following a traffic accident, has the DNA of a woman terrorist missing for the last 25 years. When she escapes from hospital the Identity Unit have to track her down; but her past life is more complicated than they suspect.
6"Tomorrow Comes Early"Andy HayEd Whitmore9 August 2010 (2010-08-09)4.03
Bloom's past undercover life catches up with him when a mass grave containing the body of a Turkish mafia boss whose killing he was involved in is discovered. The Identity Unit are tasked with the job of identifying the victims.

Official ratings include the ITV HD simulcast audience

References

  1. ^ "» ATV Today UK » ITV axes Identity". Archived from the original on 4 April 2013.
  2. ^ "BARB | Broadcasters Audience Research Board".