In an exclusive column for RadioTimes.com<\/a>, series writer Emilia di Girolamo explains how\u00a0Deceit challenges the narrative around a real-life honeytrap operation<\/a>, known at the time as Operation Edzell, which went catastrophically wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cDepicted from a unique female viewpoint, that of the undercover officer\u2026 Deceit examines the complicated and toxic sexual politics of the early \u201890s, the police\u2019s obsession with the wrong man and the devastating impact on all involved,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n Niamh Algar, Eddie Marsan and Nathaniel Martello-White star in the true crime drama series, which is inspired by real-life events, extensive research, and transcripts of real audio recordings. However, the personal life of the undercover cop codenamed \u2018Lizzie James\u2019 (including her name, Sadie Byrne) has been fictionalised.<\/p>\n Read on for everything you need to know about the cast and characters in Deceit.<\/p>\n Who is \u2018Lizzie James\u2019\/ Sadie Byrne? <\/strong>An undercover, London-based police officer (codename \u2018Lizzie James\u2019) who is asked to elicit a confession from a suspected killer as part of a covert operation, known as Operation Edzell.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Niamh Algar before?\u00a0<\/strong>She\u2019s known for Pure, The Virtues, Raised by Wolves, MotherFatherSon, and The Bisexual.<\/p> Who is Lucy?\u00a0<\/strong>A female undercover police officer, and a close friend and colleague to Sadie Byrne\/ \u2018Lizzie James\u2019.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Rochenda Sandall before?\u00a0<\/strong>She played Barbara Beese in Small Axe: Mangrove, and McQueen in Line of Duty. Other projects have included Criminal: UK on Netflix, Alan Bennett\u2019s Talking Heads, and upcoming drama The Rig.<\/p>\n Who is Baz?\u00a0<\/strong>Sadie Byrne\u2019s confidant, whom she confides in about her undercover operation.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Nathaniel Martello-White before?\u00a0<\/strong>He\u2019s starred in the likes of I Hate Suzie, Silent Witness, Kiri, and Small Axe: Magrove, among other projects.<\/p>\n Who is Paul Britton?\u00a0<\/strong>The nation\u2019s most famous criminal pro\ufb01ler, he\u2019s enlisted to help prep Sadie for her undercover operation.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Eddie\u00a0Marsan before?\u00a0<\/strong>He\u2019s starred in Happy-Go-Lucky, The World\u2019s End, The Gentlemen\u00a0(as Big Dave), Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, and the acclaimed film\u00a0Tyrannosaur, alongside Olivia Colman.<\/p>\n Who is Colin Stagg?\u00a0<\/strong>At the start of Channel 4 drama Deceit, all we know about Colin Stagg is that he\u2019s a suspected killer, and that the police have only circumstantial evidence linking him to the high-profile murder.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Sion Daniel Young before?\u00a0<\/strong>The actor is probably best known for playing Gareth in the drama Keeping Faith, but he\u2019s also starred in Private Peaceful, Doc Martin, The Left Behind, and Hinterland.<\/p>\n Who is DI Keith Pedder?\u00a0<\/strong>The young Detective Inspector leading the investigation into\u00a0the devastating murder of Rachel Nickell in 1992.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Harry Treadaway before?\u00a0<\/strong>He plays Narek in Star Trek: Picard, and has starred in the likes of The Lone Ranger, Penny Dreadful, and The Crown.<\/p>\n The four-part drama series Deceit begins on Friday 13th August at 9pm on Channel 4. While you\u2019re waiting, take a look at our TV guide<\/a>\u00a0for viewing inspiration or check out the rest of our Drama<\/a> coverage.<\/strong><\/p>\n Who’s who in the Channel 4 true crime drama, starring Niamh Algar, Eddie Marsan and Rochenda Sandall. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":2825,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/meet-the-cast-of-channel-4-honeytrap-drama-deceit-scaled.jpg",2560,1652,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/meet-the-cast-of-channel-4-honeytrap-drama-deceit-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/meet-the-cast-of-channel-4-honeytrap-drama-deceit-300x194.jpg",300,194,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/meet-the-cast-of-channel-4-honeytrap-drama-deceit-768x496.jpg",768,496,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/meet-the-cast-of-channel-4-honeytrap-drama-deceit-1024x661.jpg",800,516,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/meet-the-cast-of-channel-4-honeytrap-drama-deceit-1536x991.jpg",1536,991,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/meet-the-cast-of-channel-4-honeytrap-drama-deceit-2048x1322.jpg",2048,1322,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Who's who in the Channel 4 true crime drama, starring Niamh Algar, Eddie Marsan and Rochenda Sandall.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/2824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Niamh Algar plays \u2018Lizzie James\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Deceit"\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/Deceit-09d6df8.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C400"\" "\\"\"Deceit\"\\"")
<\/div> Rochenda Sandall plays Lucy<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Deceit"\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/Deceit-Sandall-d6660de.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C400"\" "\\"\"Deceit-Sandall\"\\"")
<\/div> Nathaniel Martello-White\u00a0plays Baz<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Deceit\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/07\/Deceit-Ep1-37-41dc507.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Deceit\\"")
<\/div>\nEddie Marsan plays Paul Britton<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Deceit\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/07\/Deceit-Ep1-31-2a91f95.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Deceit\\"")
<\/div>\nSion Daniel Young\u00a0plays Colin Stagg<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Harry Treadaway plays DI Keith Pedder\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"