TRAPPED

MORVEN CHRISTIE and PETER MULLAN on their story of a widow caught between two worlds

- SEAN MARLAND

PAYBACK

WEDNESDAY, 9PM, ITV1 THRILLER (BOX SET, ITVX)

Morven Christie takes a sip of her coffee and exhales deeply as she prepares to tell TV Times about the plight of her character in new ITV1 thriller Payback.

Written by Debbie O’Malley (All Creatures Great and Small) and produced by Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio, the six-parter sees the acclaimed Scottish star play mum-of-two Lexie Noble, who witnesses the murder of her husband, Jared (played by Thoren Ferguson), in a seemingly random street attack.

‘It happens so early in the story, so I had to play everything with that grief underneath, which was an incredible challenge as an actor,’ explains Morven, 42, as we catch up with her during the press launch for the series in London.

‘But I loved being under that level of tension all the time. It’s interesting to see what you find when you’re pushed that hard.’

DOUBLE DEALINGS 

It’s just the start of Lexie’s troubles, however, as she soon makes the shocking discovery that her husband was entangled in a dangerous web of organised crime.

Before he was killed near the Edinburgh home he shared with his wife and their two young children, high-profile accountant Jared was on the verge of tying up a secretive business deal on behalf of a notorious crime lord, Cal Morris (Mum star Peter Mullan). And with millions of pounds now in limbo, Cal believes Lexie, who’s a partner in Jared’s accountancy firm, is his only hope of retrieving the money.