Litvinenko writer has brought shocking true story to screen – but its former Russian spy’s widow he wants to impress: ‘It is immensely nerve-wracking’-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

Margarita Levieva plays Marina Litvinenko in George Kay’s ITV drama (Picture: ITVX)

The murder of Alexander Litvinenko sent shockwaves around the world, but when it came to telling his story on screen, writer George Kay had just one person in mind – his widow Marina.

In 2006, the former KGB officer was poisoned with a radioactive substance, which slowly took hold of his body and killed him three weeks later.

Immediately after his death, a statement from Litvinenko was read out in which he said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was the man responsible and over the next decade, Marina tirelessly campaigned, chasing justice for her husband.

Despite the shocking targeted attack, Marina never backed down, and has backed Kay’s four-part drama about what unfolded.

‘She is very supportive of documentaries and plays and drams which keep telling his story,’ the writer said.

While he said it was a ‘huge honour’ to work on the series and tell the family’s story, it had also been ‘immensely nerve-wracking’.

David Tennant stars opposite Levieva as Alexander (Picture: ITV)

‘It isn’t just his story, but the story of so many other things that are going on in the world today, but the only person we are worried about watching this is Marina, because if she’s not happy we’ve really let ourselves and herself and everyone involved down,’ Kay added.

However, he did say that she had ‘been happy’ with what she’d seen so far.

The series stars David Tennant as Alexander, while Marina is played by Margarita Levieva.

Given access to an ‘incredibly moving’ 18 hours-worth of deathbed statements that Litvinenko gave to police before his death, Kay was also able to speak to so many of those involved in the case because of Marina’s blessing and support.

Marina was involved in bringing her husband’s story to the screen (Picture: Susannah Ireland)

‘The research was really extensive – we interviewed pretty much everyone who is a real character in the drama,’ he said.

‘We met with them and we talked with them and had their backing.

‘Everyone was really wanting to talk, but the real reason that everyone was so open and helpful with us was that everyone was so inspired by Marina Litvinenko’s perseverance and what she is like as a person.’

Marina helped set up the Litvinenko Justice Foundation, which called for an inquest into her husband’s death, and has also been a vocal critic of what her husband dubbed the ‘mafia state’.

She has also criticised Putin herself in the wake of the Ukraine War.

Faced with the task of telling such an shocking story, Kay said that his aim was to ‘trying to make an extraordinary story relatable to viewers’.

‘With Marina we thought we could do the same story about standing up to a bully – it’s about perseverance, knowing what is right and standing your ground, stamina, ongoing courage and never giving up,’ he said.

‘Several themes I think we all find in our ordinary lives, but she has just done them on an extraordinary scale.

‘That was the link we wanted to make and that is what is inspiring about her. Even if we’ve never been to Russia or been involved in an incident like that, those are core values we all try to live by.’

Litvinenko died in 2006 (Picture: PA)

Although there had been many documentaries and accounts of the Litvinenko case before, Kay wanted to hone in on ‘the emotional effects of the story’.

‘What really feels interesting and important is to understand what those people went through in order to frame their achievements,’ he said.

‘As a drama writer I am concerned in asking the audience how they might feel if they were the people from this story they’ve heard about in the news.’

It has now been 16 years since Litvinenko’s death, but Kay says he remains a very present presence in the series as his story plays out.

Kay opened up about the sensitivity of dramatising the true-life story (Picture: ITV)

‘We do it through his family and sharing what was important to him,’ he said.

‘He was a wonderful father and a very upstanding person who confronted people over corruption or incorrect behaviour and in doing so he put himself at risk essentially dragging up things he thought Putin was responsible for.’

In 2016, a UK public inquiry concluded that Russians Dmitri Kovtun and Andrei Lugovo had deliberately poisoned Litvinenko by putting Polonium-210 into his drink at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair.

It also found the tea poisoning had ‘probably’ been carried out with the approval of the Russian president.

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The European Court of Human Rights also ruled last year, following a case brought by Marina, that Russia was responsible for his killing.

Russia has always denied any involvement and had refused to comply with international arrest warrants issued for Kovtun and Lugovoi.

Litvinenko starts streaming on December 15 on ITVX.

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