ITV commissions Firecracker Films to tell the story of Alexander Litvinenko in ‘Litvinenko: The Mayfair Poisonings’

ITV have commissioned Firecracker Films to produce a one hour film detailing the events surrounding the assassination of Russian national Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. Airing in conjunction with the ITV drama Litvinenko starring David Tennant, this is the real story of not just a murder inquiry, but also a radiation health emergency that shocked the world – told by the people that were actually there.

Alexander Litvinenko died over fifteen years ago, yet his poisoning is still one of the most prominent assassinations in history. For the first time ever, this documentary will reveal the previously untold story of the experts behind-the-scenes who dealt with the deadly radioactive poisoning on British soil and those who led the investigation into Litvinenko’s murder.

The film will give us a unique, alternative view of Alexander’s assassination, with an interview with his wife, Marina Litvinenko. In her first major documentary interview since The European Court of Human Rights ruled that there was outside involvement in Alexander’s assassination, Marina tells her side of the story; how difficult it was having her world turned upside down, only having 15 minutes to leave her house with her young son due to fears of radiation contamination, and about that world-renowned interview given from Alexander’s hospital bed.

Taking us behind the scenes of the high stakes criminal investigation, are the experts that were directly involved with the story as it unfolded. In an array of exclusive interviews, including Assistant Commissioner for the Met Andy Hayman CBE and James Cairns, Police Radiation Protection Advisor, who reveal how they tracked the assassins around London, and how the biggest civilian nuclear threat in British history was neutralised.

Also featured are two female unsung heroes who worked around the clock keeping Britain safe – Pat Troop CBE, former CEO at Health Protection Agency and Jan McClure, Team Leader of Chilton’s Radiation Metrology Lab. Other experts featured are Dr Nigel Lightfoot CBE – Director for Emergency Response at Health Protection Agency, Dr Jim Down at UCH, who performed CPR on Litvinenko and Sam Abdul, the nurse that treated Alexander at UCH.

As well as testimonies from the experts, this documentary will also feature interviews with the members of the public that were caught up in the Polonium trail.

The film is executive produced by Chief Creative Officer Jes Wilkins and Creative Director of Development Kirsty Calvert-Ansari at Firecracker Films, with John Holdsworth as Producer Director and Helen Wollner as Production Executive. It was commissioned by Priya Singh and Kate Teckman for ITV and will be distributed by Passion Distribution.

Kirsty Calvert-Ansari at Firecracker Films said; ‘’We are really excited to be producing this thrilling investigative murder documentary about Alexander Litvinenko to sit alongside a prestigious ITV drama. In such a populated crime space, this really is a unique crime story of spies and poison on our London streets. Building on from the success of Firecracker’s ‘Grace Millane: The Social Media Murders’, which was the highest rated factual programme on ITV2 last year, this has been a great production to be part of.’’