Litvinenko

Having spent several years working in Moscow, I began watching through personal interest, but rapidly became hooked by the superb quality of this production on every level, in every department. The whole cast should feel massively proud of what they have achieved with this. They have done the Litvinenkos proud. Marina Litvinenko was beautifully portrayed, and David Tennant did a great job as the man himself. Best drama we've seen on any TV channel for years, including Line of Duty, The Crown, and all the other flagships. This is a true must watch.......hope it reaches the widest possible audience worldwide.

If this was from a book by John Le Carrier telling a tale of a former traitor to the Russian state, who was poisoned to death whilst living in London by the most lethal poison on earth then you would dismiss it as piece of fiction.

But this was no Cold War piece of fiction but a truly frightening tale of the lengths that Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin would go to, to take out Sasha Litvnenko a former Russian agent.

Rather like the Salisbury poisonings this was Putins way of sticking up two fingers to the west. With compulsive evidence from CCTV to trace's of Polonium found, it became impossible to get the killers to trial due to a communist regime and diplomatic immunity.

With high production costs and superb performances throughout I would highly recommend this show. 8/10.

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful

In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko (David Tennant), a former FSB agent who had relocated to London, was poisoned and taken to hospital. Detectives Brent Hyatt (Neil Maskell) and DS Clive Thomas (Mark Bonner) are sent to take his statement, and anything his wife, Marina (Margarita Levieva) has to say, only for Litvinenko to make the claim that his poisoning is the work of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. After his death, a seemingly straightforward murder investigation spirals into a saga of diplomatic relations and international espionage.

I can recall in late 2006 when the story of Alexander Litvinenko was in the papers, even if I didn't follow the story closely, but it definitely caught my eye, so I'm surprised I've dragged my heels so much getting round to this four part drama chronicling the events in the immediate aftermath of it happening. With the current sanctions placed by the UK on Russia in the aftermath of the on-going war in Ukraine, it highlights the amount of dirty money from Russia that's been keeping the economy afloat for so long, and just how much of a blind eye that's been turned to Putin's wrongdoing on British soil, and so there's an uncomfortable prescience to this if nothing else.

The story seems to have been recreated quite accurately and believably, without any corny sensationalism, sadly it plays out in a pretty robotic, workmanlike way that doesn't allow the human drama to blossom in quite the way it should. Performances wise, in the lead role, Tennant brings the titular character to life as well as could be hoped for, in a role with inevitably limited screen time, while there's sturdy support from Levieva as his emotionally overwhelmed but strong willed wife, along with Maskell and Bonner as the hard nosed detectives determined to get justice for the Litvinenkos. In the second act, as the murdered man's past becomes more clear, the tone uncomfortably shifts from straight laced drama to something a little more easy going, even if the dark core of the drama remains.

Overall, it's a perfectly serviceable drama, with all the cylinders firing in the right places, just somewhat perfunctory and without that extra energy required to really give it a kick. ***

The audacity of Putin to have his minions murder British citizens on the streets of Britain is beyond belief. First, this using radiological warfare and later using a banned nerve agent. This and the later events in Salisbury were shocking and showed the world what an appalling and murderous dictator Putin is. The painstaking investigation which proves what happened can be a little sterile but it would be. Obviously, Tennant is not in it long but very good use is made of his time and he delivers a fantastic performance. The whole cast do very well in their roles and the producers deserve praise for recreating these terrible events.

This is a brilliant insight into the murderous Russian regime. The deniability on every level is laughable.

David Tennant's portrayal of Litvinenko is brilliant. Margarita Levieva as his wife is solid and believable.

This is not only a drama but a thriller true crime which will hook you from the first the first episode.

I hope that those who watch Litvinenko will understand the difficulty of bringing justice to those in power.

Mark Bonner, Neil Maskell along with supporting cast are brilliant. It is obvious that a lot of care was taken to depict the true story of a murder that was orchestrated by an evil regime.