By Guest Writer
DStv continues to bring some of the world’s most compelling international television to South African audiences with Hit Point, a new six-part crime thriller from BAFTA-winning writer Howard Overman. Premiering on M-Net (DStv Channel 102) on Monday, 26 October at 21:00 EAT, the series runs weekly until 30 November and combines the pace of a heist thriller with police drama, dark comedy and romance.
At the centre of Hit Point are detectives Leo and Bella, played by Nick Blood and Saffron Hocking. Their latest case begins when three men wearing animal masks intercept a Range Rover carrying £10 million in cash. The investigation immediately feels unusual, but the biggest complication is one Bella knows nothing about: Leo already knows exactly who committed the robbery because he was one of them.
Leo has stolen millions in drug money to help pay for the care of his younger brother, who was paralysed in an accident. He now finds himself investigating his own crime alongside Bella, his closest colleague and the woman he is quietly falling in love with, while trying to stay ahead of both the police and the ruthless criminal whose money he stole.
“It’s a bit of a hybrid show. At its heart, it’s about the relationship between Leo and Bella,” Blood says. Behind that relationship sits a heist, police corruption and an increasingly dangerous chain of lies. Hocking says the scripts initially appear to be setting up something much more familiar. “I just thought, this is going to be a cute, funny, smart, witty romantic police drama – where they’re on the beat, catching the bad guys. And then Leo is the bad guy. That made it darker than it originally presented itself to be, and darker is always more fun.”
That reversal gives Hit Point its tension. Rather than following a conventional police procedural, the audience watches a detective investigate a crime he committed while hoping his partner does not discover the truth.
Overman, whose credits include Misfits, War of the Worlds and Paris Has Fallen, builds the story around morally complicated characters whose good intentions quickly become entangled in bad decisions.
As Leo works to cover his tracks, the robbery also draws the attention of Pascal Dubois, a sophisticated and ruthless French crime boss played by William Abadie, who arrives in London determined to recover his missing money.
Peter Serafinowicz plays Carter, a disgruntled former police officer involved in the heist, while Moe Bar-El plays Dylan, the younger and more impulsive member of the group. The ensemble also includes Nadia Parkes, Ossian Perret, Joshua Sher and Brendan Coyle.
“Hit Point is a high stakes, adrenaline fueled British cop show. Very special in its own way and unlike anything I’ve ever read or seen. Not your typical procedural,” Abadie says.
Director David Caffrey, whose credits include Peaky Blinders, took a similarly unconventional approach to the production. Much of the series was filmed on location across London with a small, mobile crew, sometimes working among members of the public rather than closing streets and filling them with extras.
Filming took place in locations including Edgware Road and Paddington. Blood says the approach “gives the show a genuine sense of London, and that’s part of what this is. That realism is matched by a story that moves easily between genres, combining crime, corruption and action with humour, friendship and slow-burning romantic tension between its two leads.
“Hit Point is a thriller comedy romance that follows these two cool, savvy London cops,” Hocking says. Caffrey describes the series as a hybrid of a cop show, a heist story and a love story, with comedy emerging naturally from the characters and situations.
Cast member Brendan Coyle, who plays a corrupt police officer in the series, is also currently filming Shadow Has Fallen in South Africa and the UK. Like Hit Point, the series is written by Howard
Overman and produced by Urban Myth Films, a production company under the umbrella of STUDIOCANAL, a CANAL+ company. The CANAL+ Original Creation also stars South African actor Atandwa Kani.
Hit Point was developed and produced by Urban Myth Films, and co-financed by CANAL+, which will broadcast the series across more than 50 countries. STUDIOCANAL is handling international sales and distribution.
Hit Point premieres on M-Net (DStv Channel 102) on Monday, 26 October at 21:00 EAT, with new episodes every Monday until 30 November. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
