''Identity'' is a British

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series starring

Aidan Gillen Aidan Murphy (born 24 April 1968), better known as Aidan Gillen (), is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, a ...

and

Keeley Hawes Claire Julia Hawes (born 10 February 1976), known professionally as Keeley Hawes, is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including ''Our Mutual Friend'' (1998) and ''Tipping the Velvet'' (2002), Haw ...

, airing in the UK during July–August 2010. Concerning

identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was co ...

, the series was created and written by

Ed Whitmore Ed Whitmore is a British screenwriter. He has written for a number of successful British TV series such as ''Waking the Dead (TV series), Waking the Dead'' and ''Silent Witness''. Whitmore is an alumnus of Westfield College. Career In 2003 he wro ...

, a writer most noted for his work on the BBC's '' Waking The Dead'' and the acclaimed

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

mini-series ''He Kills Coppers''. The remake rights have been sold to the ABC Network in the United States, which is developing their own version of the show. ITV confirmed that the show had been cancelled on 19 October 2010, after a single series.

Plot

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the Identity Unit led by

Detective Superintendent Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...

Martha Lawson, the founder of the unit, specialises in cases concerning

identity fraud Identity fraud is the use by one person of another person's personal information, without authorization, to commit a crime or to deceive or defraud that other person or a third person. Most identity fraud is committed in the context of financial ad ...

by outsmarting, hunting down and unmasking the modern day

Jekyll and Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

s. Martha takes a risk in employing DI John Bloom, an SO-10 officer who has just spent 15 years

undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

. He knows first hand what it’s like to pretend to be someone you are not. He’s also only too aware of how easy it is to lose your own identity when you’ve lived a lie for the previous 15 years as a

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

money launderer Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdicti ...

and

bagman The term bagman (or bag man) has different meanings in different countries. One group of definitions centers on the idea of traveling. In British usage, "bagman" is a term for a traveling salesman, first known from 1808. In Australian usage, ...

for the

Turkish mafia Turkish mafia ( tr, Türk mafyası) is the general term for criminal organizations based in Turkey and/or composed of (former) Turkish citizens. Crime groups with origins in Turkey are active throughout Western Europe (where a strong Turkish immi ...

and the past will not go away. Completing the team are Tessa Stein, IT expert in everything from trawling databases to cracking security codes, DS Anthony Wareing, who has his eye on promotion and a stance on cases that can err on the self-righteous, and DC José Rodriguez - cocky, self-assured, yet with a seriousness and sensitivity that gives him insight into cases. As the series unfolds, DS Wareing becomes more and more concerned about Bloom’s methods and frustrated by what he sees as Martha’s blind and foolish indulgence of him.

Cast and characters

as DI John Bloom *

as DSI Martha Lawson *

Holly Aird Imogen Holly Aird (born 18 May 1969) is an English television actress known for playing forensic pathologist Frankie Wharton in the BBC1 drama series '' Waking the Dead'', having previously starred in productions such as ''Soldier Soldier'' a ...

as Tessa Stein *

Elyes Gabel Elyes Cherif Gabel (; born 8 May 1983) is an English actor. He gained recognition for his portrayal of Dr Gurpreet "Guppy" Sandhu in the BBC medical drama ''Casualty'' (2004–2007), computer genius Walter O'Brien in the CBS series ''Scorpion'' ...

as DC Jose Rodriguez *

Shaun Parkes Shaun Parkes (born 9 February 1973) is an English actor. Biography At 16, Parkes enrolled at Seltec College to study drama. Two years later, he was accepted into RADA. Having acted in both theatre and television support roles, Parkes made his ...

as DS Anthony Wareing *

Patrick Baladi Patrick Bashir Baladi (born 25 December 1971) is an English actor and musician. He is best known for playing Neil Godwin in the BBC sitcom ''The Office'', Michael Jackson in the Sky 1 drama '' Stella'' and Stephen Holmes in the ITV thriller ''Ma ...

as AC Hugh Wainwright

Episode list

Official ratings include the

ITV HD ITV1 HD is a British free-to-air high-definition public broadcast television network operated by ITV plc, the company which is contracted to provide 13 ITV1 services across the UK. ITV1 HD simulcasts them in high-definition (excluding former Cha ...

simulcast audience.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Identity (Tv Series) 2010 British television series debuts 2010 British television series endings 2010s British police procedural television series English-language television shows Television series by ITV Studios ITV television dramas 2010s British television miniseries Television shows set in London Identity theft in popular culture