# Betrayal (British TV series)
**Betrayal** is a four-part British espionage thriller broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX in February 2026, starring [Shaun Evans](https://www.edgepedia.org/shaun-evans) as a mid-career [MI5](https://www.edgepedia.org/mi5) officer drawn into an investigation of a planned terrorist attack on UK soil while his marriage falls apart.[1](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/media-packs/betrayal) It was written by the playwright David Eldridge, directed by Julian Jarrold, and produced by Mammoth Screen, an [ITV Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/itv-studios) label.[1](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/media-packs/betrayal)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format and premiere | Four-part thriller; episode one aired at 9pm on ITV1 on Sunday, 8 February 2026, with all four episodes available on ITVX[2](https://www.tvguide.co.uk/articles/betrayal-itv-ending-explained-what-happened-to-john-if-he-stopped-sarin-attack-news-on-series-2/) |
| Lead cast | Shaun Evans as John Hughes, Romola Garai as his wife Claire, Zahra Ahmadi as the agent Mehreen, and Nikki Amuka-Bird as his MI5 handler Simone[1](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/media-packs/betrayal) • [3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/betrayal-itv-review-shaun-evans-zahra-ahmadi-b2916413.html) |
| Premise | MI5 officer John Hughes, facing redundancy, meets a British-Iranian man with links to the Stockport gangland who claims to have intelligence about a plot on UK soil; the informant is executed and Hughes kills the assassin in self-defense[1](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/media-packs/betrayal) |
| Writer and director | Written by award-winning playwright and screenwriter David Eldridge; directed by BAFTA and Emmy nominee Julian Jarrold[1](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/media-packs/betrayal) |
| Production | Mammoth Screen in association with Navarino Pictures; overseen by ITV's Polly Hill, Director of Drama, and Drama Commissioner Huw Kennair Jones; distributed by ITV Studios[1](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/media-packs/betrayal) |
| Availability | Streaming on ITVX Premium, or free with ads on ITVX[4](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/betrayal-2026) |
## Premise and cast
The story centers on John Hughes (Shaun Evans), a mid-career MI5 officer navigating a changing intelligence landscape while his personal life deteriorates. Following a hunch, Hughes encounters a man of British-Iranian background connected to Stockport's criminal underworld who says he has knowledge of a forthcoming attack in the UK; the informant is killed before he can pass it on, and Hughes shoots his killer in self-defense.[1](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/media-packs/betrayal) Hughes then finds himself under investigation for acting on intelligence he failed to report.[5](https://tollbit.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/betrayal-itv-ending-explained/)
The narrative pairs two kinds of betrayal. Hughes teams up with Mehreen (Zahra Ahmadi), a British-Iranian agent, to pursue the threat, while his wife Claire ([Romola Garai](https://www.edgepedia.org/romola-garai)), still recovering from a previous affair Hughes had with a colleague, is pulled further from him as the two grow closer.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/betrayal-itv-review-shaun-evans-zahra-ahmadi-b2916413.html) [Nikki Amuka-Bird](https://www.edgepedia.org/nikki-amuka-bird) plays Simone, Hughes's handler at MI5, who tells him his gut is good but that resources must be used carefully.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/betrayal-itv-review-shaun-evans-zahra-ahmadi-b2916413.html) [Omid Djalili](https://www.edgepedia.org/omid-djalili) plays an Iranian general, Major General Qasem Asadi, connected to a criminal gang in Stockport that surveils, threatens, and attempts to assassinate a dissident.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/betrayal-itv-review-shaun-evans-zahra-ahmadi-b2916413.html) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/betrayal_2026/s01) The threat at the center of the plot is an Iranian plan to stage a terrorist outrage in the Manchester area, culminating in a sarin attack.[7](https://www.theartsdesk.com/tv/betrayal-itv1-review-seedy-side-espionage-racket) • [2](https://www.tvguide.co.uk/articles/betrayal-itv-ending-explained-what-happened-to-john-if-he-stopped-sarin-attack-news-on-series-2/)
## Development and production
The series began taking shape after Shaun Evans finished playing the title role in ITV's long-running *Endeavour*. He and Mammoth Screen met with David Eldridge, an acclaimed writer for both television and theater with whom Evans had previously worked on the BBC drama *The Scandalous Lady W*, and a new drama about Britain's secret services developed from those conversations.[8](https://rts.org.uk/article/le-carr-told-me-spies-are-just-ordinary-people-inside-new-itv-espionage-thriller-betrayal) Eldridge described the project as his first TV serial as a writer.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/betrayal-itv-review-shaun-evans-zahra-ahmadi-b2916413.html) While creating the show he used former BBC Security Correspondent Gordon Corera as a resource.[9](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/magazine-issue/2026-02/Television%20Feb%202026.pdf)
The series was developed by Rebecca Keane, Mammoth's Creative Director, and produced in association with and distributed by ITV Studios.[10](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/sites/default/files/2025-12/Winter%20Brochure%202025-26%206_0.pdf) • [1](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/media-packs/betrayal) Both Eldridge and Evans hinted that a second series was possible when asked about the show's future.[8](https://rts.org.uk/article/le-carr-told-me-spies-are-just-ordinary-people-inside-new-itv-espionage-thriller-betrayal)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. In The Guardian, Jack Seale described the series as an espionage thriller so drab and downbeat that it played more like a crime drama, with large stretches feeling like a different show from the MI5 plot.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/feb/08/betrayal-review-this-espionage-thriller-is-so-drab-and-downbeat-its-like-a-different-genre) Nick Hilton in The Independent judged that the premise, a marriage drama paired with a spy thriller, was squandered as the series reverted to a familiar primetime formula, though he found Evans a likeable lead who brought an unusual obnoxiousness to the role.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/betrayal-itv-review-shaun-evans-zahra-ahmadi-b2916413.html) Adam Sweeting at The Arts Desk wrote that the four-part format short-changed the story, with the finale leaping through plot hoops in haste.[7](https://www.theartsdesk.com/tv/betrayal-itv1-review-seedy-side-espionage-racket) Reviewers also placed the series in the context of a broader wave of British espionage dramas such as *The Night Manager*, *Slow Horses*, and *Black Doves*.[12](https://thekillingtimestv.wordpress.com/2026/02/09/review-betrayal-s1-e1-4/comment-page-1/) • [3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/betrayal-itv-review-shaun-evans-zahra-ahmadi-b2916413.html)
## Other series titled Betrayal
The title has been used by other television programs. A 2023 documentary crime series called *Betrayal*, distributed on Hulu and Disney+, examines real-life relationships destroyed by deceit; its first season, *The Perfect Husband*, was released in July 2023.[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/betrayal_2023) An earlier scripted drama of the same name, adapted from the Dutch series *Overspel* (adultery), was reviewed by critics in 2013.[14](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/betrayal/critic-reviews)
## References
1. [Betrayal, ITV Press Centre media pack](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/media-packs/betrayal)
2. [Betrayal on ITV ending explained: Did John stop the sarin attack?, TV Guide UK](https://www.tvguide.co.uk/articles/betrayal-itv-ending-explained-what-happened-to-john-if-he-stopped-sarin-attack-news-on-series-2/)
3. [Betrayal review – This pure ITV nonsense squanders an intriguing idea, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/betrayal-itv-review-shaun-evans-zahra-ahmadi-b2916413.html)
4. [Betrayal streaming guide, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/betrayal-2026)
5. [Betrayal ending explained: What was going on with Mehreen?, Radio Times](https://tollbit.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/betrayal-itv-ending-explained/)
6. [Betrayal: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/betrayal_2026/s01)
7. [Betrayal, ITV1 review – the seedy side of the espionage racket, The Arts Desk](https://www.theartsdesk.com/tv/betrayal-itv1-review-seedy-side-espionage-racket)
8. ["Le Carré told me spies are just ordinary people": Inside new ITV espionage thriller Betrayal, Royal Television Society](https://rts.org.uk/article/le-carr-told-me-spies-are-just-ordinary-people-inside-new-itv-espionage-thriller-betrayal)
9. [RTS Television magazine, February 2026](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/magazine-issue/2026-02/Television%20Feb%202026.pdf)
10. [ITV Winter Brochure 2025-26](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/sites/default/files/2025-12/Winter%20Brochure%202025-26%206_0.pdf)
11. [Betrayal review – this espionage thriller is so drab and downbeat it's like a different genre, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/feb/08/betrayal-review-this-espionage-thriller-is-so-drab-and-downbeat-its-like-a-different-genre)
12. [REVIEW: Betrayal (S1 E1/4), The Killing Times](https://thekillingtimestv.wordpress.com/2026/02/09/review-betrayal-s1-e1-4/comment-page-1/)
13. [Betrayal (2023), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/betrayal_2023)
14. [Betrayal critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/betrayal/critic-reviews)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Genre and subject-scripted series › Crime, police, and detective series › British and Irish crime series › Crime thrillers and gangster dramas*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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