Why was this series something you wanted to do?
“I remember the event happening in 2006 and being appalled and bewildered and shocked and confused by the news story, like the rest of the world. And then, the way [scriptwriter] George [Kay] told this story was so captivating and compelling.
“It just felt like a story that had to be told and keep being told. And then you meet Marina [Litvinenko, Alexander’s widow], and it goes from something that feels important on a geopolitical scale to the emotional fracturing of a family. [It’s about] the terrible truth of what was attempted by [Putin], who happens to have all this power, and how unjust that was.”
We all remember the front-page photo of Alexander dying in that hospital bed. Was that challenging to film?
“They were very intense scenes, but Jim [director Jim Field Smith] allowed us to inhabit that moment in that hospital room as much as we could. When I was in the bed, I tended to stay in the bed, and the crew were very respectful of the sort of processes I had to go through, because it did feel very intimate.”
Is there a sense of responsibility playing someone whose life and sudden death made such a global impact?
“Of course there is, because it’s a story that has repercussions every day. You’re very aware of that, and you feel you’re not only carrying this story as a signifier of things that the world needs to be alerted to, but you’re also carrying the story of a family.
“It meant so much to us that Marina and her son Anatoly gave us their blessing. That was the one thing we all craved, because it’s an important story for the world, but it’s also the story of their family.”
Litvinenko, ITVX, from Thursday,
December 15