ITV Hunts Down New Detective Franchise ‘Invisible’ Starring ‘The Crown’s Jason Watkins

EXCLUSIVE: ITV is hunting down a new detective franchise in Invisible starring The Crown’s Jason Watkins and Cold Feet’s Tala Gouveia.

The British commercial broadcaster has ordered two feature-length films from Victoria and Poldark producer Mammoth Screen. Invisible is written by Robert Murphy, the lead writer on Left Bank’s long-running detective series DCI Banks.

Set in Bath, Watkins, who is playing former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in season three of The Crown, plays the shy, modest DS Dodds, who is paired with the wildly ambitious DCI McDonald, played by Gouveia.

While McDonald has transferred from the mean streets of South London to leap up the career ladder, Dodds has happily languished on the shelf for most of his working life. McDonald is a tough, driven, battering ram of a cop who cracks cases through sheer force of will and Dodds is quiet, unassuming and enigmatic. But thrust back into frontline action for the first time in a decade, he discovers a hidden talent for deciphering puzzles. Thrown together, boss McDonald and loyal sidekick Dodds forge a rumbustious, entertaining and ultimately effective partnership.

Each episode takes us into a world from a greed-fueled murder in the upper echelons of Bath society to an unexplained death in a private hospital for recovering addicts.

Filming begins in August on Invisible, which is exec produced by Murphy, Mammoth Screen’s Preethi Mavahalli and Damien Timmer with Humans and Doctor Who director Richard Senior directing the first episode. Commissioned by ITV head of drama Polly Hill, ITV’s Drama Commissioner Huw Kennair Jones, will oversee production of the drama from the channel’s perspective.

Hill said, “Robert Murphy has created a brilliant new partnership in Dodds and McDonald and I’m thrilled they will be played by Jason Watkins and Tala Gouveia. I think this is a fresh and contemporary double act that the audience will love, and we are delighted to be working with Mammoth to bring them to ITV next year.”

Mammoth Screen boss Damien Timmer added, “We’re delighted to have Tala Gouveia and Jason Watkins on board to bring the McDonald and Dodds to life. With the city of modern Bath as the backdrop to their double act, and with Robert’s scripts which crackle with wit, modernity and cleverness, I’m confident viewers will be gripped as they investigate their first intriguing cases together.”

ITV Studios Global Entertainment will distribute Invisible internationally.