Payback: The ITV Crime Drama From The Team Behind Line of Duty
If you’re looking for a tense crime thriller with money laundering, organised crime and a woman caught between the police and a dangerous criminal empire, Payback is one ITV drama worth revisiting.
The six-part series, first broadcast in 2023, comes from writer Debbie O’Malley and was executive produced by Jed Mercurio, the creative force behind Line of Duty. Set in Edinburgh, it follows Lexie Noble, played by Morven Christie, whose seemingly comfortable family life collapses after she discovers the truth about her husband’s criminal dealings. ITV describes the series as a character-led thriller centred on Lexie’s increasingly dangerous position between a crime lord and the police operation targeting him.
What Is Payback About?
At first, Lexie appears to have an ordinary, settled life in the suburbs of Edinburgh.
A mother of two, she has spent years at home caring for her children and is preparing to return to work at the accountancy firm she shares with her husband, Jared Noble, played by Thoren Ferguson.
Then Jared is killed in what initially appears to be a random street attack.
His death forces Lexie to confront a reality she never knew existed. Jared had secretly been laundering vast amounts of illegal money for notorious crime boss Cal Morris, played by Peter Mullan.
At the same time, Jared’s activities have attracted the attention of financial investigators DC Jibran Khan, played by Prasanna Puwanarajah, and DCI Adam Guthrie, played by Derek Riddell.
Their investigation is focused on bringing Cal Morris and his criminal operation down, with the Noble family becoming an important part of the police strategy.
Lexie is soon caught between both sides.
Cal forces her to work for him while the police operation continues to close in. As the pressure increases, she has to navigate an increasingly dangerous situation in which protecting herself and her family becomes inseparable from the choices she makes.
A Crime Thriller Built Around Financial Crime
One of the elements that distinguishes Payback from more conventional crime dramas is its focus on financial crime and money laundering.
Jed Mercurio has said the financial storyline gives the series something distinctive, while writer Debbie O’Malley makes the complicated subject accessible by constantly connecting it back to Lexie’s personal predicament.
The central conflict remains straightforward even as the financial investigation becomes more complicated: Lexie is trapped between a powerful criminal organisation and police investigators determined to dismantle it.
That balance keeps the story focused on the consequences for one family rather than allowing the financial details to overwhelm the drama.
Morven Christie At The Centre Of The Story
Morven Christie carries the series as Lexie, a woman forced to reconsider everything she believed about her marriage.
Speaking to ITV, Christie explained that Lexie has some suspicions that Jared has been keeping secrets, but initially assumes those secrets might involve another relationship.
The reality is far more serious.
Lexie is furious when she discovers what Jared has actually been doing, yet she also remains protective of him because she believes he acted with his family’s interests in mind.
That conflict becomes increasingly difficult to manage when her children’s safety is threatened.
Christie described Lexie as someone trapped by circumstances far beyond her control, giving the character room to move from an ordinary family life into a world of crime, surveillance and danger.
The Cast Of Payback
Alongside Christie and Mullan, the six-part thriller features a strong ensemble cast.
- Morven Christie as Lexie Noble
- Peter Mullan as Cal Morris
- Prasanna Puwanarajah as DC Jibran Khan
- Derek Riddell as DCI Adam Guthrie
- Steven Mackintosh as Malky Roberts
- Jack Greenless as Aaron Morris
- Eileen Duffy as Doris Szabo
- Andi Osho as DI Jean Royce
- Steven Miller as DS Rob Livingston
- Julie Graham as Connie Morris
- Henry Pettigrew as Rufus Hayes
- Anneika Rose as Rowena Hayes
- Grace Chilton as DC Alice Hardys
The series was directed by Jennie Darnell and Andrew Cumming, with Eric Coulter serving as producer. It was produced by Jed Mercurio’s HTM Television.
Why Payback Was Compared With Line Of Duty
The Line of Duty comparisons are understandable given Mercurio’s involvement, but Payback takes a different route.
Rather than focusing primarily on police corruption and internal investigations, the story places an ordinary woman at the centre of a financial-crime operation.
That gives the thriller a different perspective: Lexie is not an experienced detective or criminal mastermind. She is someone who discovers that the life she thought she understood was built around secrets she never saw coming.
When the series originally aired, The Guardian praised its pace and ensemble cast, particularly Christie’s performance as an ordinary woman suddenly caught in an extraordinary situation, while also highlighting Mullan’s understated menace as Cal.
Another review described it as an Edinburgh-set drama with a strong focus on financial crime and singled out the performances of Christie, Mullan and Puwanarajah.
Is Payback Worth Watching?
For viewers who enjoy tightly plotted British crime dramas, Payback offers a combination of organised crime, financial investigation, family secrets and shifting loyalties.
Its six episodes move Lexie from a seemingly secure suburban life into an increasingly dangerous struggle involving both Cal’s criminal operation and the police investigation surrounding him.
The result is a thriller driven less by a conventional detective hunt than by one question: how far can Lexie go to protect her family when the people on both sides of the investigation are demanding something from her?
Where To Watch Payback
All six episodes of Payback are currently available on ITVX. ITV’s official episode guide lists the complete series, beginning with Jared’s death and Lexie’s family being plunged into danger before the investigation and Cal’s demands increasingly close in around her.
With its Edinburgh setting, financial-crime storyline and cast led by Morven Christie and Peter Mullan, Payback offers another tense British crime drama from the production company behind Line of Duty — while telling its story from a very different perspective.