Betrayal sees John Hughes… no, not that one… he sadly passed away in 2009…
but this one is played by Shaun Evans (Until I Kill You), and his character works for MI5, where he’s having a very bad day at work, and to make matters worse, he’s missing his marriage counselling appointment with the missus, Claire (Romola Garai – The Critic).
Before you can blink, drugs have gone missing in Stockport… YES! Stockport gets a namecheck! It’s usually just Manchester, although occasionally Stockport gets a showing in the occasional Harlan Coben drama, like The Stranger.
As for the location of the drugs, they’re probably where all the chavvy Tommeh flags hang badly from lamp posts, still not being brough down after the rain lashes down on them.
I’ll avoid spoilers obviously, but it’s safe to say that joining John in his pursuit of the baddies and their illicit substances is MI6’s Mehreen (Zahra Ahmadi – Innocent), although the wife doesn’t like him working with other women, so her nose feels a bit pushed out of joint.
But before she comes into the picture too much, there’s a scene set in what’s referred to as “Stockport City car park“… which turns out to be the main Merseyway car park, and since it’s empty, I’m guessing they filmed it before or after Sunday shopping. And on a rare day when there was sunshine.
But… Stockport is a TOWN, and NOT a city. Or is it the new Berlin? It’s so difficult to keep track!
Oh, and this drama also features cartoon-like baddies who use a knife to cut… an apple, which rather reminds me of Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark brandishing a set of nunchuks… to hang his coat up.
Still, while I’ll add more as the series goes on, Betrayal is enjoyable fluff, and certainly a damn sight better than BBC1’s Lord of the Flies, which is on at the same time.
Still, before we get to episode 2, we need to discuss the locations…
From the opening episode, for the first two pictures, below, John is shown walking towards Merseyway car park, and then talking to someone dodgy inside. However, just before that, he’s seen leaving the train station, and walking past a ‘Stockport’ sign that is certainly not leaving the main Stockport side of the station, but appeared to be the Edgeley side. However, that side has a tarmac path as you walk up it, not a fully-cobbled street – although the road section for cars is cobbled.
Well, if you were going to Merseyway car park, you’d have gone out the Stockport side of the station anyway, but when it comes to the ‘Edgeley’ side location, he’s actually leaving Edge Hill Station, Liverpool!!! WTF?! (Thanks to Louise Humphreys for the Google screenshot in the penultimate image, below)
i also remember that I’m sure I saw a scene shot on Bengal Street, where John is talking to some lads, so that’s just across from the station entrance, if he had left the Edgeley side and walked up to the main road (King Street West), so they did get to film around there, even with the problems caused by the year-old roundabout works. Then again, the Bengal Street scene was night time, and it’s possible they might not have been able to get chance to film during the day, amongst when lots of people are going to and from the station. God, I’m a nerd 😃
Below those pics are two of the ACTUAL Edgeley side of the train station, to see what it ACTUALLY looks like!
Oh, and to that end, WH Smiths stores have been replaced by TG Jones, so this was clearly filmed just before that. Google tells me the rebranding took place between July-October 2025.
Oh… again, in that last shot as they walk down the steps as the camera circles around them, you can see an obvious CGI plane flying in the background 😀
UPDATE EPISODE 2:
UPDATE EPISODE 3:
UPDATE EPISODE 4:
Thanks to our friends at ITV for the screener prior to release.
Betrayal begins tonight on ITV at 9pm, and then will be available to stream on ITVX.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Director: Julian Jarrold
Producers: David Eldridge, Irma Inniss, Tom Leggett
Writer: David Eldridge
Music: Adrian Johnston
Cast:
John Hughes; Shaun Evans
Claire Wardly: Romola Garai
Simone Grant: Nikki Amuka-Bird
Mehreen Askari-Evans: Zahra Ahmadi
Jordan Ainsworth: Aidan Rivers
Craig Beeston: Anthony Flanagan
Eve Hardy: Emma Cunniffe
Ehsan Taremi: Waj Ali
Ian Blakefield: Ashley Zhangazha
Marta Vasilescu: Eliza Agrosoaie
Kit Wardly-Hughes: Albie Wickstone
Chloe Wardly-Hughes: Maggie Livermore
Sardar Farahani: Karim Kadjar
The General: Omid Djalili
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.