Frauds cast on ITV: Female-driven heist thriller brings together Vigil and Doctor Who powerhouses
Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker play two old friends getting the band back together for one last heist in Spain.
Frauds sees ITV subvert expectations, untethering lead cast Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker from their most celebrated alter-egos to give viewers a “toxic” take on Thelma & Louise.
The suntanned six-part thriller follows con artists Bert and Sam as they rekindle their friendship in order to pull off the “art heist of the century” in southern Spain.
The synopsis tells us: “When Bert is released from prison on compassionate grounds, it’s Sam she calls. And it’s Sam she needs to help her carry out one last epic job.
“Bert and Sam embark on the most audacious of art thefts, gathering a talented team of outcasts to help them plan this crime.
“Whilst the team must overcome numerous challenges before they can pull off the heist, it’s the power struggle between Bert and Sam that threatens to derail their plans and destroy them both.”
So, who’s bringing the goods in front of the camera in the Frauds cast on ITV?
Suranne Jones plays Bert in the cast of Frauds on ITV
Co-leading this one as the terminally ill Bert is Suranne Jones, who happens to be co-creator and executive producer too.
Arguably Coronation Street’s finest export – she was Karen McDonald up until 2004 – Suranne has moulded herself into something of a TV powerhouse since departing the soap.
She headlined Sally Wainwright‘s mini-series Unforgiven in 2009, before nailing down a five-year job on detective drama Scott & Bailey.
Charlie Brooker’s detective spoof A Touch of Cloth came in 2012, followed closely by First World War medical drama The Crimson Field.
Between 2015 and 2017, we witnessed Suranne’s Gemma Foster exact her rage on her cheating husband in psychological nail-biter Doctor Foster.
For that towering display, the now 47-year-old won the National Television Award for Best Drama Performance twice.
Manchester-born Suranne eventually announced herself across the pond via Gentleman Jack, which aired on HBO as well as BBC One. In that series, Jones portrayed “the first modern lesbian” and famed diarist Anne Lister.
Police thriller Vigil, which returns next year with a “frozen north” mystery, sees her in the role of DCI Amy Silva. The star’s recent work includes Maryland, Netflix‘s Hostage, and the upcoming Film Club.
Who is the character of Bert?
Discussing her Frauds character, Suranne Jones described Bert as “an addiction for other people”. She said: “People know they don’t need her and she’s bad for them but she’s hard to give up.”
But what shaped Bert’s dynamism? Suranne added: “When she was younger, her mother dragged her to Spain because she split with her father and then she bought this drag club with this woman, Miss Take.
“Bert was working at a very early age in a drag club, earning money and on the rob for Miss Take as well, stealing out of drunk people’s pockets.
“Bert’s mum met a guy who had a big credit card, and she liked the sound of that rather than the daughter that reminded her of her husband. So off she popped with the guy, Bert never saw her again and she was left with Miss Take.
“Miss Take never wanted to be a mother either and so these two oddbods were left with each other to forge this strange life together. It wasn’t the best start to life.”
Frauds cast on ITV: Jodie Whittaker plays Sam in the Frauds cast?
The other half of this criminal duo is brought to life by Jodie Whittaker. For the first seven years of her career, the future Doctor Who incumbent neatly drifted between big screen and small screen parts.
She starred alongside Peter O’Toole in comedy-drama Venus; Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson in Perrier’s Bounty, and John Boyega in cult alien invasion film Attack the Block.
Amidst those cinematic credits, the West Yorkshire native also featured in one of Black Mirror’s earliest episodes, The Entire History of You. Her character’s husband uncovers an affair through memory-traversing technology in that one.
Jodie Whittaker was then Beth Latimer in Broadchurch, which proved to be the springboard for her and Chris Chibnall’s creative partnership.
When Chibnall became the new boss of Doctor Who, he ripped up the script by casting her as the first female to play the Time Lord. They stayed on the classic sci-fi show together for five years, as the groundbreaking actress moved onto prison drama Time and Toxic Town on Netflix.
Jones and Whittaker pictured together at a Frauds screening [Credit: Cover Images]
Bert and Sam’s backstory is as ‘rich and as relevant’ as the heist
Talking about why she took on the role of Sam, Jodie Whittaker said: “There are no female parts that I’ve read for a really long time that come anywhere near the dynamic of Bert and Sam.
“It crosses into a genre we don’t often see on TV. There’s the female-led genre, it’s a play on a heist and it’s not set in the UK. Everything felt really exciting.
“Those two genius brains, Anne-Marie [O’Connor] and Suranne, have come up with these people that you can love and hate… sometimes all in the same sentence. And their backstory is as rich and as relevant as the heist that you watch play out.
“Every moment of that heist is fuelled by what has happened in the past and that creates its own mystery. So many things present themselves and make you understand why this relationship is as much a pair of enemies as friends.”
The Wheel of Time’s Kate Fleetwood is onboard the new sunny crime thriller [Credit: John Rainford/Cover Images/INSTARimages.com]
Who plays Celine?
Royal Shakespeare Company alumnus Kate Fleetwood will appear in the show as Celine.
Recognised as Liandrin Guirale in Prime Video fantasy The Wheel of Time, she’s also dipped her toes in the young adult world via Fate: The Winx Saga.
Kate Fleetwood played Princess Feodora in Jenna Coleman’s historical drama Victoria too, as well as Nancy Birch in the frisky Harlots.
Away from television, the 53-year-old can be spotted in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. Philomena and Star Wars: The Force Awakens are two more CV highlights for the Gloucestershire-born actress.
Elizabeth Berrington has appeared in a variety of high-class films [Credit: ABACA/INSTARimages.com]
Frauds cast on ITV: Who plays Jackie Diamond?
As for sharp-witted magician’s assistant Jackie Diamond, it’s none other than Elizabeth Berrington.
Making her debut in Mike Leigh’s unforgettable tragicomedy Naked, she’s since gone on to gain work in Oscar-nominated films such as Vera Drake, In Bruges, Mr. Turner, and Spencer.
In the late 1990s, she had meaty roles in Jimmy McGovern’s The Lakes for two series, and My Wonderful Life.
Cheshire-born Elizabeth Berrington, 55, was part of The Office cast, playing Anne in the two-part Christmas special. Her series regular credits range from Waterloo Road to Stella, to The Syndicate, The Nevers, and Sandition.
More recently, she’s popped up as Sylvia Orr in Bookish, DS Clare Conway in Virdee, and Jackie in Lost Boys & Fairies. Ridley fans will know her as Jean Dixon.
Former Coronation Street star Lee Boardman plays Craig
Frauds sees Lee Boardman take on the narcissistic magic peddler Craig. Between 2005 and 2007, audiences saw him unleashed as Timon amongst the sprawling ensemble of Rome.
Drop Dead Gorgeous is another well-known title of his, as are Da Vinci’s Demons, The Last Kingdom, Andor, and Enola Holmes 2.
Manchester-born Lee Boardman, 53, most recently starred alongside Daisy Ridley and Clive Owen in the action flick Cleaner – touted as ‘the new Die Hard’.
Of course, soap fans will know him best as Jez Quigley in Coronation Street. He played the villain between 1997 and 2000.
Who plays Deegs in cast of ITV drama Frauds?
Money lender Deegs is being played by Christian Cooke in the cast of Frauds. The actor burst onto the scene as Wilmot Tanner at the turn of the millennium. Shortly after kids sitcom Wilmot finished, the actor worked on Where the Heart Is for six years playing Luke Kirkwall.
Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant would later cast Cooke as their lead in the coming-of-drama Cemetery Junction.
The film boasted big names like Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson, Felicity Jones and Dept Q’s Matthew Goode. Meanwhile, Doctor Who nuts might remember him from the David Tennant-era adventure The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky.
Cooke portrayed Private Ross Jenkins in those episodes. Other notable roles include Brae Marrack in Echo Beach, Luke Van Helsing in Demons, Danny Evans in Magic City, and Frederick Beauchamp in Witches of East End.
Between Graham Connor in The Art of More.
Who plays Bilal?
Karan Gill, an increasingly familiar face on British screens, has nabbed the part of expert forger Bilal. The actor’s first notable project was in I May Destroy You back in 2020, which still owns a remarkable 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Gill appeared across four instalments of Robert Carlyle’s political thriller COBRA, and the first series of Screw on Channel 4.
In Netflix’s medieval comedy The Decameron, he was the character Panfilo.
Skip to January this year and Gill also starred in Brian and Maggie. The two-parter was a dramatisation of Brian Walden and UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s final televised interview in 1989. Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter portrayed the duelling friends.
The full cast for Frauds on ITV:
Suranne Jones is Bert.
Jodie Whittaker is Sam.
Kate Fleetwood is Celine.
Elizabeth Berrington plays Jackie Diamond.
Lee Boardman plays Craig.
Christian Cooke is Deegs.
Karan Gill plays Bilal.
Talisa García plays Miss Take.
Abdul Salis appears as Mateo.
Neelam Bakshi appears as Nita.
Michael Karim appears as Kyan.
Karise Yansen is Komet.
Eduardo Ferrés is Father González.
Horacio Colomé plays Miguel.
Thais Martin is Caitlin.
Victor Solé plays Carlos Pérez.
Omar Muñoz is Jorge Jiménez.
Marta Fuenar is Dr. Carmen Sanz.
Abi Humpleman is Young Bert.
Ana Batuecas plays Carola.
