David Tennant's new role is worlds away from Doctor Who as he stars in the brand new ITVX Litvinenko.
Tennant will be portraying ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who was fatally poisoned in London in 2006, in the four-part mini-series. The show, which is available to stream on ITVX from Thursday, December 15, follows the police investigation into his murder and his widow Marina's 10-year search for justice.
The trailer saw the Bathgate-born actor, 51, transform into the now-famous image of Litvinenko lying in his hospital bed following his poisoning. Tennant's transformation to recreate the image left him wondering whether or not he was looking at himself or Litvinenko.
But what is the true story behind the chilling case? Here's everything you need to know..
Who is Alexander Litvinenko?
Litvinenko was a former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and the KGB. In 1998, Litvinenko and several other Russian intelligence officers said they were ordered to kill Boris Berezovsky, a Russian businessman.
After that, the Russian government began to persecute him, so he fled to the UK.
During his time in the UK, Litvinenko worked with British and Spanish intelligence, sharing information about the Russian mafia in Europe and its connections with the Russian government.
As part of this operation, Litvinenko planned to fly to Spain with another former agent, Andrey Lugovoi, but he was never able to go on this trip.
Just days before he was due to head to Spain, Litvinenko met with Lugovoi and another ex-Russian spy – Dmitry Kovtun. The trio had tea at a central London hotel on November 1, 2006, where Litvinenko fell ill shortly after the meeting and was rushed to hospital.
What happened to Alexander Litvinenko?
On November 1, 2006, Litvinenko met two businessmen, and fellow ex-KGB agents, for tea at the Millennium Hotel in central London.
The pair slipped Polonium-210, a highly toxic radioactive substance, into his tea, and he was then raced to the nearby University College Hospital.
Three days later, the 43-year-old was admitted to hospital where his condition immediately got worse. Litvinenko contacted police to report a murder, knowing that his illness would result in his death.
Speaking to police officers, Litvinenko claimed to have been poisoned on the direct orders of Putin. Two Metropolitan Police officers, Detective Inspector Brent Hyatt and Detective Sergeant Jim Dawson, were sent to his bedside to interview Litvinenko.
The following investigations by British authorities into the circumstances of Litvinenko's death led to serious diplomatic difficulties between the British and Russian governments.
What happened after his death?
Litvinenko died 23 days after being poisoned, aged 43.
On January 20, 2007, British police revealed they had identified the man they believed poisoned Litvinenko after viewing footage of the suspected killer flying into Heathrow Airport.
The same month, British officials announced that police had discovered a teapot at London's Millennium Hotel with an off-the-charts reading for polonium-210, the radioactive material used in the killing.
A senior official said investigators had concluded the murder of Litvinenko was "a 'state-sponsored' assassination orchestrated by Russian security services."
In the years that followed, his widow Marina was determined to get justice for her late husband and vowed to get answers for his murder. Her efforts weren't wasted as she successfully lobbied for an official public inquiry into his murder.
The inquiry, which was held in 2016, saw the UK government name the killers as Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, and acknowledged that the poisoning had "probably" been carried out with Putin's approval.
It found that the use of the radioactive substance, which could only have come from a nuclear reactor, was a "strong indicator" of state involvement.
In September 2021, the ECHR ruled that Russia was responsible for the assassination of Litvinenko and ordered Russia to pay Litvinenko's wife €100,000 in damages plus €22,500 in costs.
The ECHR found beyond reasonable doubt that Lugovoy and Kovtun were responsible for the murder of Litvinenko. The Court's decision is in line with the findings of a 2016 UK inquiry.
The UK concluded that the murder was "probably" approved by Mr. [Nikolai] Patrushev, then head of the FSB, and also by President Putin.
The Kremlin has always denied any involvement in his death and refused to extradite the two suspects. Kovtun died from COVID in Moscow earlier this year, aged 56.
The full series of Litvinenko will be on ITVX from December 15.
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