Romola Garai to Co-Star with Shaun Evans in 'Betrayal'

Shaun Evans actually had a career before Endeavour; however, a decade is a long time to play one role on TV, and it will easily overshadow anything that came before with the general public. That's perhaps why Evans' first choice for a follow-up series was playing a real-life serial killer in Until I Kill You, the absolute opposite of the morally upright (sometimes too much so) Endeavour Morse. The series was far better than its title (or marketing) suggested, but unfortunately, most people never tuned in long enough to find out. For his next series, Betrayal, Evans will try splitting the difference, returning to playing a detective, albeit one not remotely like Morse.

Described by ITV as "a gripping new espionage thriller and relationship drama set in the shadowy world of MI5," Evans will lean into the fact that he's hit his mid-40s by taking on the role of an older MI-5 investigator, John Hughes, too set in his ways to deal with all this modernization, both technologically and societally, a grumpy Gen X type who wanders about grumping about "woke nonsense" without actually having a single clue what that means.

He'll be joined by Romola Garai (Emma), who makes her return to the small screen for the first time since she guest-starred in Vigil Season 2 in 2023. She'll co-star as John’s wife, Claire. Their relationship was already fragile and starts hitting the rocks in earnest as the series' events unfold.

Here is the series synopsis:

Betrayal is a gripping new espionage thriller and relationship drama set in the shadowy world of MI5, exploring the strain that modern intelligence work places on MI5 operatives. Regarded by his colleagues as out of touch with the times, John Hughes is a mid-career MI5 officer grappling with a rapidly changing security landscape and his own personal demons. When John’s clandestine encounter with a potential British-Iranian informant ends in bloodshed, he comes under scrutiny from superiors including Simone Grant. 

As John navigates the murky world of espionage, the strain on his marriage to GP Claire becomes increasingly unsustainable. Tensions escalate further with the arrival of Mehreen Askari-Evans, a sharp, ambitious operative who has recently transferred from MI6, challenging both his professional standing and emotional control.

Evans and Garai are joined by a leading ensemble that includes Zahra Ahmadi (Beyond Paradise) as Mehreen Askari-Evans, and Nikki Amuka-Bird (I, Jack Wright) as boss Simone Grant. The rest of the major cast PBS viewers will recognize includes Matthew Tennyson (Grantchester), Hayley Tamaddon (Unforgotten), Karim Kadjar (Wolf Hall), and Georgina Rylance (Sherlock). 

Supporting cast for the series includes Waj Ali (Out There), Gamba Cole (Three Little Birds), Omid Djalili (His Dark Materials), Anthony Flanagan (House of the Dragon), Emma Cunniffe (The Long Shadow), Ben Lambert (The Crown), Julia Watson (Doctor Who), Julian Wadham (Black Doves) and Paddy Rowan (Four Lives). The series will also feature the small-screen debuts of television newcomers Elham Karimpour, Aidan Rivers, Corin Silva, and Eliza Agrosoaie.

Betrayal was written by screenwriter David Eldridge (The Scandalous Lady W), with director Julian Jarrold (A Very Royal Scandal) helming all four episodes. Eldridge, Jerrold, and Evans are all listed as executive producers alongside Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen and Huw Kennair Jones for ITV.

Production on Betrayal is currently underway in Manchester and Liverpool. The series does not yet have an American distributor, but hopefully BritBox or PBS will be along to fix that before the show premieres in 2026.