Going undercover
Paddy Considine stars as a counter-terrorism officer who recruits an informer…
Raza Shar is a secondgeneration Pakistani who’s living in east London with his parents and younger brother. He has a good family, a job and all is well in his world.
But when he’s arrested on a minor drugs charge, he finds himself forced into a position of becoming an informant by counter-terrorism officer Gabe Waters, in BBC1’s new six-part thriller, Informer.
Gabe, played by Paddy Considine (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher), is part of a unit looking into the movements of terrorist mastermind El Adoua, who’s just been killed in a drone attack.
Dangerous liaisons
The authorities know that, prior to his death, El Adoua was in London but they don’t know whether he recruited any bombers there. Needing someone in the community to find out more and prevent a possible terrorist attack, Gabe uses Raza’s misdemeanour as leverage to make him become an informer. But as the investigation heats up, the stakes gets higher for both Gabe and Raza (played by newcomer Nabhaan Rizwan).
‘There are certain rules about how to operate with informers,’ explains Paddy. ‘You can’t be friends with them because you have to be able to drop them at any moment. But sometimes that relationship can teeter into the personal. That’s what starts to happen with Gabe and Raza.’
Secret identities
Complicating matters is the fact that Gabe, who is married to Emily (Call the Midwife’s Jessica Raine), has a secret life that he has so far managed to keep hidden. But his new police partner, talented and ambitious officer Holly Morten (Benidorm’s Bel Powley), has an insatiable curiosity, which threatens to expose everything for Gabe.
‘He’s worked undercover for many years and most recently with a right-wing gang of skinheads,’ says Paddy. ‘And now Gabe finds his undercover life difficult to let go of.’