What Do We Know About ITV’s The Hack?
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6 hours ago
David Tennant, Robert Carlyle and Toby Jones star in this new biographical drama
It’s been two decades since the story broke, but the phone hacking scandal still looms large over British media. It revealed a dark side of the tabloid industry that we can never again squirrel away: that journalists and private investigators were not just willing but able to break the law and intrude on people’s privacy in pursuit of a splashy story.
Of course, against a backdrop of public outrage, the perpetrators were rightly punished: Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World was closed down; high-profile media figures like Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch and top officials in the Metropolitan Police were forced to resign; and numerous individuals served prison time for their crimes, including Glenn Mulcaire and Andy Coulson.
Today, the IPSO Code regulates the media, informed by the Leveson Inquiry. But cases continue: right now Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex is still in legal battles with Mirror Group Newspapers related to unlawful information gathering, and in late 2023 the High Court ruled that phone hacking was ‘widespread and habitual’ at MGN titles. Meanwhile ‘blagging’ (the use of private investigators) continues and data privacy concerns remain paramount.
This is all to say the phone hacking scandal is as prevalent as ever – so we can’t wait to flashback with ITV to the court case at the centre of the story. From the creators of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, The Hack spans 2002 to 2012 and retells this complicated and fateful legal battle, brought to life by a star studded cast of characters. Here’s what you need to know.
DAVID TENNANT as Nick Davies & TOBY JONES as Alan Rusdridger in The Hack. (ITV)
The Hack: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More
There’s a stellar team behind this upcoming seven-part drama, filmed in 2024. It was written by BAFTA, Tony and Olivier award winning (and now Emmy-nominated) screenwriter and playwright Jack Thorne – the man behind everything from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Enola Homes (2020) and His Dark Materials (2019–22) to This Is England (2010, 2011 & 2015), Glue (2014) and recent Netflix hits Toxic Town and Adolescence (both 2025). Thorne describes the British phone hacking scandal as ‘a strange and deceptive piece of our recent history, one with so many layers to it’.
‘I thought, as someone who is interested in politics, I understood everything that happened,’ Thorne adds. ‘I did not. It’s a fight for the truth that really shocked me. That is why it matters to tell this story now in an age where the truth seems more in danger than ever.’
He describes making The Hack as ‘a true honour’, adding ‘I hope we find a way to do justice to the complexity of what happened and of celebrating the incredible reporting that sits underneath it.’
After the whopping success of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, the team behind that biographical drama have produced The Hack, too.
What Will Happen?
The Hack will whisk us back to 2002 and trace two real stories up to 2012: that of investigative journalist Nick Davies (David Tennant) who discovered evidence News of the World journalists were using phone hacking; and the the Met Police’s investigation into the unsolved murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan, led by DCS Dave Cook (Robert Carlyle).
ROBERT CARLYLE as Dave Cook in The Hack. (ITV)
Who Stars?
Joining David Tennant and Robert Carlyle to lead the series is Mr Bates star Toby Jones, who plays former editor in chief of The Guardian, Alan Rusbridger. This leading trio will be joined by a roster of famous British faces, spanning Game of Thrones to Happy Valley stars.
The cast list we know so far is as follows:
- David Tennant as Nick Davies
- Toby Jones as Alan Rusbridger
- Robert Carlyle as DCS Dave Cook
- Cara Theobold as Amelia Hill
- Rose Leslie
- Dougray Scott
- Eve Myles
- Adrian Lester
- Katherine Kelly
- Kevin Doyle
- Neil Maskell
- Lara Pulver
- Lee Ingleby
- Pip Torrens
- Lisa McGrillis
- Sean Pertwee
- Robert Bathurst
- Richard Pepple
- Nadia Albina
- Phil Davis
- Ace Bhatti
- Charlie Brooks
- Steve Pemberton
The Hack Release Date
ITV is teasing The Hack across its channels, but there’s no specific release date just yet. We think the series will launch in autumn 2025.
Once they have aired on ITV1, episodes will be available to stream on ITVX.
