{"id":27256,"date":"2022-12-15T18:00:50","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T17:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1756050"},"modified":"2022-12-15T18:49:53","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T17:49:53","slug":"litvinenko-star-says-involvement-of-real-life-figures-was-important","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/litvinenko-star-says-involvement-of-real-life-figures-was-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Litvinenko star says involvement of real-life figures was \u201cimportant\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 15 December 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Mark Bonnar has insisted it was \u201cvery important\u201d to have the real-life figures caught up in the Alexander Litvinenko case involved in a new ITVX series that dramatises those events.<\/p>\n

While true crime programming remains a popular genre with audiences, the approach to portraying traumatic, violent events on screen can vary wildly and sometimes attract criticism, with Netflix\u2019s Dahmer<\/a> a recent example that proved controversial when relatives of the victims alleged they had not been consulted about the series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By contrast, ITVX\u2019s Litvinenko<\/a> \u2013 which stars David Tennant in the title role \u2013 was made with the blessing of Alexander Litvinenko\u2019s widow and son and with the involvement of key figures including the police detectives who investigated Litvinenko\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n

The four-part drama chronicles Litvinenko\u2019s poisoning and the 10-year investigation that followed, with Alexander\u2019s widow Marina Litvinenko (Margarita Levieva), DS Clive Timmons (Mark Bonnar) and DI Brent Hyatt (Neil Maskell) all acting as key figures.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Margarita Levieva as Marina and David Tennant as Alexander in Litvinenko.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Speaking at a recent press screening, Marina Litvinenko said that watching the TV drama \u201cwasn\u2019t easy,\u201d but added: \u201cI realise with this drama, [there] will be more understanding for what happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still some questions [from people]. \u2018Are you sure it\u2019s happened like this? Are you sure he was poisoned?\u2019 \u2013 when they watch this episode, I think more and more people will realise what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking afterwards exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a>, Mark Bonnar suggested that the involvement of Marina and the real Clive Timmons is part of what helps the series to be as \u201cpowerful as it needs\u201d to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level of detail, depth of character\u2026 when you\u2019re referring all that back to the real person who can say, \u2018No, it wasn\u2019t like that\u2019 or whatever\u2026 it helps invest it with everything that it needs, to be as powerful as it needs [to be],\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo yeah, [it was] very important to have them all on board. I\u2019m very, very grateful to them for their time and continued support as well \u2013 I still get emails from Clive. He\u2019s a fantastic bloke.\u201d<\/span><\/p>