Fearless: Helen McCrory to play lead in new ITV thriller from Homeland writer

The Peaky Blinders star will play 'complex and contradictory' lawyer Emma Blunt

Blunt is a character who 'fights for those outside the normal run of society'

Helen McCrory has been cast in the lead in an exciting new legal thriller from the writer of Homeland.

The Peaky Blinders actor will play Emma Blunt, a solicitor who sets about trying to free a man she believes was wrongly convicted of a schoolgirl’s murder, in six-part ITV series Fearless.

Described as a “complex and contradictory character”, Emma soon begins to sense that powerful forces both at home and abroad are determined to stop her uncovering the truth in a story “written in the crash zone where law and politics collide”.

“When l was at drama school l was inspired by Prime Suspect, watching as Britain led the way in creating strong female characters to lead their dramas,” said McCrory, adding that Fearless “starts deceptively small, then begins crossing borders to different cultures and continents”.

Writer Patrick Harbinson is thrilled by McCrory’s casting after first being approached about the project three years ago. “I am incredibly lucky to have someone of Helen’s wit, warmth and intelligence bringing [Emma] to life,” he said, explaining that he wanted to create a character who “fights for those outside the normal run of society…who is uncompromising, difficult and completely indifferent to unpopularity and danger”.

Much of Harbinson’s US work in the last decade (24, Persons of Interest, Homeland) has focused on life post-9/11. “The so-called War on Terror has put serious stress on the ordinary workings of the law,” he said. “National security justifies all sorts of police and state over-reach – and the great majority of us are prepared to accept this. So I wanted to create a character who challenges these assumptions. The result was Emma Blunt and Fearless.”

Bafta winner Pete Travis is directing while Mammoth Screen, the company behind Poldark, Endeavour and upcoming historical drama Victoria, on board to produce. Filming is scheduled to begin in London and East Anglia in September, with an air date and further casting yet to be confirmed.