ITV Commissions Alexander Litvinenko Assassination Doc

ITV has commissioned Firecracker Films to produce the one-hour film Litvinenko: Murder in Mayfair, about Russian national Alexander Litvinenko’s assassination on British soil in 2006.

The film will give a unique view of his murder, featuring an interview with his wife, marking her first major documentary interview since the European Court of Human Rights ruled that there was outside involvement in his radiation poisoning. It will debut in conjunction with the ITV drama Litvinenko, starring David Tennant.

The documentary will take viewers behind the scenes of the high-stakes criminal investigation with the experts who were directly involved as it unfolded. Those interviewed include Assistant Commissioner for the Met Andy Hayman and Police Radiation Protection Advisor James Cairns, who tracked the assassins around London and helped neutralize the biggest civilian nuclear threat in British history.

Also featured are two women who worked around the clock to keep Britain safe: Pat Troop, former CEO of Health Protection Agency, and Jan McClure, team leader of Chilton’s Radiation Metrology Lab. Other experts interviewed are Dr. Nigel Lightfoot, director for emergency response at Health Protection Agency; Dr. Jim Down at University College Hospital (UCH), who performed CPR on Litvinenko; and Sam Abdul, the nurse who treated Litvinenko at UCH.

“We are really excited to be producing this thrilling investigative murder documentary about Alexander Litvinenko to sit alongside a prestigious ITV drama,” said Kirsty Calvert-Ansari at Firecracker Films. “In such a populated crime space, this really is a unique crime story of spies and poison on our London streets. Building on from the success of Firecracker’s Grace Millane: The Social Media Murders, which was the highest rated factual program on ITV2 last year, this has been a great production to be part of.”