NPO, Cosmote & RTÉ ink pre-sales for Mercurio thriller ‘Payback’

L-R: Morven Christie & Peter Mullan

European broadcasters NPO Netherlands, Cosmote Greece and RTÉ Ireland have struck pre-sale deals for Payback, the new crime thriller from Jed Mercurio’s HTM Television.

The 6 x 60-minute crime thriller, distributed by Hat Trick International, is written by Debbie O’Malley and is set to debut on ITV1 in the UK this autumn.

It follows the story of Lexie Noble, played by Morven Christie (The Bay), whose comfortable suburban lifestyle is shattered when she discovers her husband has been laundering money for a notorious crime lord. Peter Mullan, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Derek Riddell and Stephen Mackintosh also star.

The series was ordered by ITV last year, with BritBox International on board as a co-production partner, serving as the exclusive home to the show in the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway.

Payback is executive produced by Mercurio, O’Malley, Madonna and Diederick Santer on behalf of BritBox International, and will be directed by Jennie Darnell (Trigger Point) and produced by Eric Coulter (Shetland).

Sarah Tong, director of sales at Hat Trick International, said: “Payback is more than a gripping crime drama: it also explores the place where integrity meets temptation — and how far any of us would go if we thought we could get away with it.

“Debbie has come up with thrilling storyline, which Jed has transformed into brilliant television with the help of a stellar line-up of creative talent. You don’t have to be a detective to work out that Payback is going to be a hit with audiences round the world.”