Frauds, ITV’s new thriller, has all the ingredients of a great show. It has a compelling premise: two con-artist friends, reunited after years apart. It has a great plot: said friends are on a mission to pull off one last heist.
It’s also got a killer cast, including a stacked top billing of Jodie Whittaker and Suranne Jones. It’s the partnership some fans have been waiting years for, but they’re also backed up by some great talent.
Here’s who’s who.
Suranne Jones as Bert
Bert is a former con artist. She’s a former criminal who as spent the last ten years banged up in jail, but ends up leaving on compassionate grounds after a terminal diagnosis. Reunited with her former friend and scammer Sam, she wants to pull of one last heist: a multi-million-pound art one.
Jones herself is a mainstay of British TV. The actor broke through on Coronation Street, where she played Karen McDonald in 2000, but in recent years she’s gone onto appear in shows like Hostage, Doctor Foster, Gentleman Jack and Vigil.
Jodie Whittaker as Sam
Sam is Bert’s former partner in crime. When Bert was jailed, Sam did her best to lie low and turned her back on the con life. She’s spent the last ten years looking for her daughter, whom she gave up for adoption at birth - but of course Bert’s reappearance will complicate things.
Whittaker is another British TV titan. In the last ten years, she’s played the Thirteenth Doctor in Doctor Who, appeared in ITV show Broadchurch and (more recently) cropped up in hit dramas like Time and Netflix series Toxic Town.
Talisa Garcia as Miss Take
Miss Take runs a drag bar in Malaga. She’s also something of a parental figure to Bert, and took them in when they were young – and has also been involved in several of her schemes.
Garcia, who plays her, is a British actor who was born in and adopted from Chile. She played Kim Vogel in the BBC thriller Baptiste, and played Queen Arianna in the Disney+ show Willow – becoming the first trans actress to be cast in a cisgender role in a Disney production.
Abdul Salis as Mateo
Mateo runs the drag bar with Miss Take.
Salis, who plays them, has appeared in the Prime Video epic series The Wheel of Time, playing Eamon Valda, as well as shows like Beyond Paradise, F1: The Movie and in Catherine Tate’s Netflix comedy Hard Cell, where he played Sebastian.
Karan Gill as Bilal
Bilal is one of Sam and Bert’s contacts. An accomplished painter and forger, he’s quickly dragged into the pair’s scheme over the course of the show – but is also hiding a dark secret. He owes a dangerous loan shark a lot of money.
Gill, who plays him, has appeared in shows like I May Destroy You, the prison drama Screw and even Netflix’s adaptation of Boccaccio’s The Decameron, as Panfilo.
Elizabeth Berrington as Jackie Diamond
A former associate of Bert and Sam. These days, Jackie runs a club in Spain and works as a magician with her partner, Craig, otherwise known as The Great Diavolo. However, their relationship has gone stale in the past few years, and she wants out.
If you recognise Berrington, there’s a good reason for it: she’s appeared on our screens regularly in the last few decades. Recently, she’s been in Mark Gatiss’ show Bookish, ITV show Ridley and the BBC show Lost Boys and Fairies – but she’s also appeared in Good Omens, Psychoville and the UK Office.
Lee Boardman as The Great Diavolo
Jackie’s partner. The Great Diavolo, or Craig, performs the shows, while Jackie works as his ‘assistant’. Boardman, who plays him, is a busy man: he’s recently appeared in the Star Wars/ Disney+ show Andor, Netflix film Enola Holmes 2 and ITV drama Bancroft.
Christian Cooke as Deegs
Deegs isn’t somebody you want to cross. He’s a loan shark and gangster, and unfortunately for Bert and Sam, Bilal also owes him a lot of money.
Cooke himself is a British actor who is cousins with Mel B (yes, the one in the Spice Girls). Over the course of his career, he’s played Freddie Taylor in Apple TV+ show Cemetery Junction, and Len Matthews in Channel 4 show The Promise. He’s also played Garry Kasparov, the chess player, in the Disney+ show Rematch.
Thais Martin as Caitlin
We don’t know much about Sam’s daughter yet, other than that Sam gave her up for adoption at birth and is trying to find her again. We also don’t know much about Thais Martin, who plays her: this is her on-screen debut.
Kate Fleetwood as Celine
The answer to all Bert and Sam’s woes, or the cause of it? The wealthy Celine is a patron who books Bert for a potentially life changing job - with big stakes and big rewards.
Fleetwood herself is best known for her roles in shows like Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time, playing Mary Cattermole in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and the period drama Harlots. She was also nominated for an Olivier Award in 2012 for playing Julie in London Road at the National Theatre.
Frauds is streaming on ITV
