Payback: release date, cast, trailer and latest news on ITV drama

She discovers that her late partner had been in business with some very dangerous individuals, with crime boss Cal Morris (Peter Mullan) being chief among them.

Soon, Lexie is torn between two sides, with Cal promising answers about her husband's grim fate, while a specialist police squad seek to prevent him evading justice once again. Which side holds the security she needs?

Here's everything you need to know about Payback.

Payback release date

Payback premieres on ITV1 at 9pm on Wednesday 4th October 2023. Episodes will also be available on ITVX and BritBox.

There are six episodes in the first season.

Payback cast

Morven Christie leads the cast of Payback as widowed accountant and mother Lexie Noble. Her previous crime drama credits include The Bay and Grantchester.

"She's quite hardened," said Christie. "She's found herself in this life that on one level she's built for herself but on another she's kind of an alien in it.

"In this family that she's built with Jared she has this idealistic, beautiful, loving home life, but outside of that she's really quite closed-off to the world.

"She doesn't really trust people, so when this starts to happen at the beginning of the show she plummets back into this survivalist, trust-no-one mode."

Peter Mullan co-stars as her fearsome nemesis Cal Morris; a gangster whose calm persona masks an inner brutality. The Scottish talent recently starred in Mum, Westworld and The Underground Railroad.

The Payback cast also includes Prasanna Puwanarajah (The Crown) as DC Jibran Khan, who is leading an exhaustive investigation into the financial crimes of Morris alongside DCI Adam Guthrie (Derek Riddell).

Puwanarajah said of his role: "He's ambitious in a strange, secret way and he wants his line of work - his particular corner of policing - to be recognised as having value over busting down doors. I think he's got a secret ego."

What is Payback about?

In true Jed Mercurio fashion – this series is executive produced by the Line of Duty creator – Payback kicks off with a shocking death that throws an individual's life into chaos and points to a larger conspiracy.

Lexie Noble is left devastated when her husband is stabbed to death on the street, with more turmoil to come as it emerges he was involved in covering up financial crime.

The ITV synopsis reads: "With an idyllic family lifestyle in the suburbs of Edinburgh, Lexie is unaware her husband, Jared, has been laundering Cal Morris’ illegal earnings on a vast scale.

"Jared’s every move is being monitored by financial investigators DC Jibran Khan (Prasanna Puwanarajah) and DCI Adam Guthrie (Derek Riddell), who are determined to use the Noble family to bring Cal Morris to justice.

"A partner in Jared’s business, Lexie is forced into working for Cal, at the same time as the police net inexorably tightens. Soon Lexie finds herself walking a treacherous tightrope between Cal and the police in which her safety, and even her life, are in grave danger."

Payback trailer

You can watch the debut trailer for ITV's Payback below:

Payback premieres on ITV1 at 9pm on Wednesday 4th October 2023. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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