Hartswood Films behind ‘hotshot’ media lawyer series

Hartswood Films is working up a legal drama starring Jodie Whittaker for ITV.

In Contempt follows Olivia Savereid (Whittaker), a hotshot lawyer who has built her career defending people’s reputations and engaging in multi-million-pound litigations to prevent their good names being destroyed online.

She serves as legal counsel to news director Greg Dalman, editor of a London daily newspaper. A smart operator who is prone to pushing publication boundaries, Greg has forged a reputation over his 26-year career for taking no prisoners and behaving recklessly if he believes it is in the public interest to break a story. Olivia’s skills and knowledge of the legal system are routinely stretched to keep him out of libel suits.

As she juggles family duties and her job, Olivia’s world is sent into chaos when a professional misjudgment foments an already incendiary situation. With her reputation at stake, Olivia must draw on her expertise and guile to stave off the murk of defamation, libel and slander.

In Contempt was commissioned by director of drama Polly Hill and is produced by ITV Studios label Hartswood, in association with ITVS, which handles distribution. It is exec produced by Sue Vertue and Steven Moffatt, with Lawrence Till producing. It is written by Vienna Blood and Sherlock scribe Steve Thompson. Hill will oversee production on behalf of ITV.

Hill, who oversees production for ITV, said: “There’s always been a voracious appetite for what happens behind the scenes before news stories are published. Steve has created a gripping and thought-provoking series and I’m thrilled Jodie Whittaker has agreed to play ‘hotshot’ Olivia Savereid.

“I have no doubt In Contempt will captivate our audience, as it’s a really timely story for ITV to be telling.”

Vertue added: “I’ve been wanting to work with Steve again since Sherlock, but it was never the right time or the right idea. Then one day he sat down and said, ‘In the modern world, if you want to kill someone, you don’t use a gun – you destroy their reputation’.

“And so began In Contempt. A whirlwind drama of cancellation, online poison and media law, where there’s less than 12 hours to stop a headline that could detonate someone’s life. This is the story of now, and this is the series for today.”

Thompson promised the series will unpack the “challenging” relationship between the media and law and that between freedom of press and people’s right to privacy.

He added: “In a world where all of us are surfing the net, hungry for the latest gossip, this drama takes us behind the curtain and shows us the lawyers who are in the vanguard of that fight.”