| Nemesis | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Spy |
| Created by | Frank Spotnitz |
| Starring | Melissa George, Adam Rayner |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Frank Spotnitz, Jane Featherstone, Stephen Garrett, Alison Jackson, Christopher Aird |
| Producer(s) | Eliza Mellor |
| Running time | 60 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One, Cinemax |
| Original airing | TBA |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | X-Files, Spooks/MI5 |
Nemesis is an upcoming British espionage series by the independent production company Kudos, in association with Big Light Productions for BBC One and American premium cable broadcaster, HBO (for Cinemax).
Australian actress Melissa George (Grey's Anatomy, Alias, The Slap) stars as Samantha, an espionage operative for a private intelligence agency. After an attempt on her life she realizes that it probably had been orchestrated by members of her own squad. After recovering and back in active duty, she must perform her secret missions without knowing who to trust and who wants her dead.[1]
George has said Nemesis is the "role of a lifetime". It will require the New York-based actress to move to London for six months of the year. [2]
English actor Adam Rayner (Hawthorne, Mistresses) will portray Adian, Sam’s colleague at the firm and love interest.[3] [4]
Additional cast includes Stephen Dillane (Game Of Thrones), Morven Christie (The Sinking of the Laconia) Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost, Strike Back), Lex Shrapnel (Captain America: The First Avenger), Uriel Emil (Criminal Justice), Patrick Malahide (Five Days, Game Of Thrones), Stephen Campbell Moore (Johnny English Reborn, History Boys) and Oscar Kennedy (Toast).[5]
Dhafer El Abidine one of Tunisia’s most famous actors has also joined the cast playing a French businessman named Bernard Farraux.[6] [7]
The series was created by Frank Spotnitz (best known as Executive Producer and head writer for X-Files) who will write the eight episodes that will serve a season 1. Spotnitz is executive producing Nemesis with Kudos’ Stephen Garrett (executive producer of Law & Order: UK, Spooks/MI5 plus feature films Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Eastern Promises), Jane Featherstone (producer behind Spooks/MI5, The Hour, Life on Mars), Alison Jackson (Ashes to Ashes, Eternal Law) and for BBC'sChristopher Aird (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Spooks/MI5).
S.J. Clarkson will direct the series. Clarkson has worked on many British television series such as Life on Mars, Whitechapel and Hustle as well as some episodes of US shows (Dexter, Heroes and House M.D.).[1]
Filming has started on location in Scotland, London and Morocco.[8] [9]
When Spotnitz had wrapped up X-Files he met Stephen Garrett and Jane Featherstone of Kudos Film and Television. They asked him to come to England and work with British television. Spotnitz had lived in Europe before and was interested in returning. He claims the ideas was appealing but it simply never happened. The years passed and Spotnitz was talking to talking with X-Files star Gillian Anderson who was visiting Los Angeles from London, were she lives and she said 'Would you ever consider doing a show (in England)?' Spotnitz started talking to her about doing a spy series and then the first call he made was to Stephen Garrett since the two lost touch. 'You know the idea of doing a show in England? I think I may finally have it.'[10]
On January 13, 2011 the BBC announced the show, then called Morton.[11] Gillian Anderson is no longer attached to the show. It took Spotnitz and Kudos longer than estimated to get a “yes” from BBC and by then, Anderson was too busy with other projects.[1]
Spotnitz relocated to London with his family.[1] While trying to get Nemesis/Morton off the ground, he served as co-producer and head writer for Strike Back: Project Dawn (or just Strike Back in the United States), a co-production between British broadcaster, BSkyB (for Sky1) and American premium cable broadcaster, HBO (for Cinemax).
On September 22, 2011 reports confirmed that HBO/Cinemax would come on board as co-producers and that the name Morton had been scrapped and the new name was Nemesis.[12]