Alexander Litvinenko: Last News

David Tennant looks almost completely unrecognisable as Alexander Litvinenko in the new ITVX drama.

David Tennant's new role is worlds away from Doctor Who as he stars in the brand new ITVX Litvinenko.

David Tennant is once again returning to his most iconic role on Doctor Who next year.

EXCLUSIVE: The Deuce and Revenge actress Margarita Levieva has signed with Paradigm in all areas. In addition, we’ve learned she booked a guest star role on Disney+’s upcoming The Acolyte. She continues to be repped by Silver Lining Entertainment.

David Tennant’s transformation into the poisoned Russian Alexander Litvinenko was so good that he even fooled himself.

A first look at the new ITVX drama starring David Tennant as Alexander Litvinenko has been released ahead of its release in December.

Helena Bonham Carter, Matthew Macfadyen and John Boyega are set to appear in hilarious new adverts for ITVX. The famous trio have all filmed funny skits to promote the brand new streaming service and its exciting new shows. In sneak peek preview clips, Helena, Matthew and John's ads all feature the same premise.

A TV star looked unrecognisable as he was transformed into Alexander Litvinenko for a new ITV thriller. Alexander fled to Britain after leaving Russia's Federal Security Service before being poisoned with polonium-210 in November 2006. He died 22 days after the poisoning, and the new drama will follow the Metropolitan Police's investigation into his death.

ITVX and Viaplay four-partner Litvinenko, which will see David Tennant playing the doomed Russian dissident, has sold into 80 territories ahead of its launch. AMC+ and Sundance Now have taken rights in the U.S., while Prime Video bagged Canada from distributor ITV Studios. 

Liza Foreman CANNES  —  The four-part drama “Litvinenko,” starring Scottish actor David Tennant, has sold to more than 80 international markets, ahead of its debut on the new ITV streaming service, ITVX in the U.K., and on Nent Group’s Viaplay streaming service in the Nordics, Netherlands, Poland and the Baltics. AMC Networks’ Sundance Now and AMC+ have acquired the exclusive U.S. rights to the drama, and Prime Video has taken the series in Canada.  In Europe, “Litvinenko” will air on M6 in France, ProSiebenSat.1 in Germany, and Sky Italia, amongst others.

Manori Ravindran International Editor The David Tennant-starring “Litvinenko” has sold into AMC+ and Sundance Now in the U.S., along with a host of other buyers in 80 international markets. The drama has pre-sold ahead of its debut on ITV’s forthcoming U.K. streaming service ITVX, which launches this fall, and NENT Group’s Viaplay streaming service in the Nordics, Netherlands, Poland and Baltics. Written by George Kay (“Lupin”) and produced by Patrick Spence, ITV Studios and Tiger Aspect Productions, the drama tells the story of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian Federal Security Services and KGB officer, whose death from polonium poisoning in November 2006 triggered one of the most complex and dangerous investigations in the history of the Metropolitan Police.

Vladimir Putin green lighted the invasion in Ukraine has suddenly become ill with a rare neurological disorder, according to reports. Anatoly Chubais, Former Chief of the Presidential Administration of Russia and was an influential member of Boris Yeltsin's administration in the early 1990s, fled Russia in March after Putin's "special operation" kicked off in February.

London has died of Covid-19 in Moscow, according to reports.Dmitri Kovtun was one of two men who a UK inquiry ruled had poisoned Litvinenko’s tea with a rare radioactive substance back in 2006.Reports from state-owned Russian news agency Tass said Kovtun contracted coronavirus before dying in a Moscow hospital.Kovtun, along with Andrei Lugovoi, was accused of being behind Litvinenko’s assassination 16 years ago at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair.Reports said Tass cited Lugovoi, now a member of Russia’s parliament, as saying that he was mourning the death of a “close and faithful friend”.A British public inquiry concluded in 2016 that the killing of the outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, who died after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210, had “probably” been carried out with the approval of the Russian president.The inquiry found the two Russian men had deliberately poisoned Litvinenko by putting the radioactive substance into his drink at the central London hotel, leading to an agonising death.The European Court of Human Rights also ruled last year, following a case brought by the deceased’s widow, Marina Litvinenko, that Russia was responsible for his killing.Russia has always denied any involvement in the death and had refused to comply with international arrest warrants issued for Kovtun and Lugovoi.

EXCLUSIVE: Hulu’s WeWork director Jed Rothstein is forging landmark Sky documentary Once Upon a Time in Londongrad, exploring 14 mysterious deaths in the UK with alleged connections to Russia over two decades.

Manori Ravindran International EditorIn 2020, one of the first indications that all wasn’t right for a global TV industry just waking up to the threat of COVID was the Chinese delegation of buyers pulling out of the BBC Studios Showcase.As revealed by Variety on Feb. 5, 2020, around 20 Chinese companies skipped the early February event due to travel bans in place for parts of China following the coronavirus outbreak, whose death toll had just surpassed that of SARS.Two years later, world events are again affecting London Screenings. Several senior distribution sources have told Variety that most representatives from Russian streamers, broadcasters and distributors, as well as Ukrainian media companies, have canceled their trips to the U.K.

HBO is developing Londongrad, a limited series based on Alan Cowell’s book The Terminal Spy, about poisoned KBG agent Alexander Litvinenko, with Benedict Cumberbatch set to star as Litvinenko, Deadline has confirmed. Cumberbatch also will executive produce the project via his Sunnymarch production banner.

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch is coming off playing a Cold War-era civilian spy in the thriller “The Courier” and is getting another shot at the genre for a new HBO limited series, “Londongrad,” based on the book “The Terminal Spy” by Alan Cowell. According to Variety, Cumberbatch will play real-life former KGB Agent Alexander Litvinenko, who famously was poisoned while in England with the radioactive isotope polonium-2010 back in 2006 after defecting from Russia.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterBenedict Cumberbatch is set to star in the limited series “Londongrad” currently in development at HBO, Variety has learned exclusively.Based on the book “The Terminal Spy” by Alan Cowell, the series tells the true story of Alexander Litvinenko, the KGB agent and later defector killed by poisoning with the radioactive isotope polonium-210 in 2006 in England. Cumberbatch will star as Litvinenko and will also serve as an executive producer on the project under his Sunnymarch banner.David Scarpa is writing “Londongrad” and will also executive produce.

EXCLUSIVE: David Tennant is to play Alexander Litvinenko, who former Russian Federal Security Services and KGB officer who was poisoned to death, in a drama series for ITV and Nordic Entertainment Group.

Wondery Launches First UK Podcast U.S. podcast publisher Wondery is launching its first international podcast in the shape of British Scandal, which will unpick famous UK scandals including the Cambridge Analytica data breach and the Alexander Litvinenko poisoning.

Naman Ramachandran Global podcast publisher Wondery is launching its first U.K.-produced podcast, entitled “British Scandal,” with a trifecta of stories that rocked Britain and shocked the world.The three seasons are narrated by co-host of the award-winning podcast “My Dad Wrote a Porno” and ex-Radio 1 presenter Alice Levine, alongside comedian, host of “The Political Party Podcast” and former political advisor Matt Forde.“British Scandal” launches with the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian dissident who dared to take on the Kremlin and subsequently fled to the U.K., to be granted asylum in 2000.