Betrayal on Channel 7 and 7plus S1E1 and S1E2 – John Hughes joined MI5 in his heyday during the war on terror.
But now he’s in his mid 40s with a marriage that’s in trouble, two small children, and a workplace he feels alienated from.
On a hunch John meets a British Iranian man with links to the Stockport gangland who claims he has intelligence about a plot on UK soil. Before he can share intel, the informant is executed, and John kills the assassin in self-defence.
This puts John in direct conflict with his superiors who are furious that he appears to have got involved in a gang turf war. John’s efforts to save his marriage are complicated by his inability to let the case go. And when he meets Mehreen, an intelligence operative who is tasked with taking over John’s duties, he finds an unlikely ally.
As John becomes increasingly convinced of the involvement of a hardline faction of the Iranian regime, he also starts to worry there are enemies closer to home. But can he identify the target and avert the attack before it’s too late?
Episode 1
When MI5 operative John Hughes meets with a British Iranian informant who claims to have intel about a threat to national security, the informant is killed before he can talk. John, in self-defence, shoots the assassin dead.
John is chastised by his boss, Simone, who warned him not to follow that lead. All evidence points towards the informant’s death being a gangland dispute. At home, John meets with his wife, Claire, who is disappointed he missed their first couples therapy session.
She encourages John to accept the voluntary redundancy offer he’s been given, but John resists. Faced with an enforced period of leave, John meets his replacement, British Iranian operative Mehreen Askari-Evans. Mehreen takes over the investigation from John and traces him to Stockport when he secretly meets with a source – who reveals that answers might lie in a nearby Persian Cultural Centre.
But their investigation brings them into dangerously close contact with a formidable Stockport gang.
Episode 2
John is still reeling after his discovery that a proxy attack is possibly being planned on UK soil, targeting a prominent Iranian dissident. But when a visit to John’s informant’s widow throws up contradictory evidence, John becomes convinced that there is a cover-up, which permeates to the highest level.
Meanwhile, John’s refusal to accept voluntary redundancy means that his relationship with Claire is on thin ice. A visit from his in-laws stokes the tension in his marriage, as Claire decides to start pursuing greater success in her own career.
Increasingly suspicious of those he works with, John decides to investigate off the books, and a visit to a gang member provides him with a new lead. John undertakes some risky reconnaissance, uncovering something that forces him towards a painful person from his past.
John suspects the attack has been ordered by a senior Iranian General – but with the mysterious General expected imminently on UK soil, John must race to identify him.
Betrayal on Channel 7 and 7plus – Sunday 3 May at 9.00pm and 10.00pm
TV Central Seven content HERE
Betrayal on Channel 7 and 7plus S1E1 and S1E2
