Who The Hack's all-star cast are playing, plus their shocking true story that inspired tonight's ITV drama

ITV's new real-life drama series The Hack is due to premiere this evening, with a star-studded cast and a shocking true story behind it.

The seven-part series focuses on the phone-hacking scandal, which saw evidence of the practice uncovered at the News of the World, eventually leading to the paper's closure, while the series also follows private investigator Daniel Morgan's murder.

Described as "shocking" by The Guardian – the paper which helped uncover the scandal – and an "explosive true crime drama" by ITV, the series features huge names such as David Tennant and Toby Jones.

The Hack is written by Adolescence's Jack Thorne and Sex Education's Annalisa Dinnella, the former of whom called the story "a strange and deceptive piece of our recent history" with "so many layers to it".

"I thought, as someone who is interested in politics, I understood everything that happened. I did not," he added. "It’s a fight for the truth that really shocked me. That is why it matters to tell this story now in an age where the truth seems more in danger than ever."

If you want to learn more about who the cast is playing, as well as the real-life story and the episode release schedule, take a look below.

• David Tennant (Doctor Who) as Nick Davies, investigative journalist for The Guardian
• Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty) as former Met Police detective chief superintendent Dave Cook
• Toby Jones (Mr Bates vs the Post Office) as Alan Rusbridger, former editor of The Guardian
• Steve Pemberton (Inside No. 9) as News UK owner Rupert Murdoch
• Eve Myles (The Guest) as hacking victim Jacqui Hames
• Cara Theobold (Downton Abbey) as The Guardian reporter Amelia Hill
• Lisa Dillon (Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale) as journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown
• Steven Waddington (Slow Horses) as journalist Mick Sullivan
• Patrick Baladi (DI Ray) as former Culture, Media and Sport Committee chair John Whittingdale
• Daniel Ryan (The Bay) as former minister Tom Watson
• Alec Newman (Dept Q) as former The Independent on Sunday editor John Mullin
• Paul Kaye (The Stranger) as Gary Eaton
• Jay Simpson (Black Mirror) as Glenn Vian
• Nicola Stephenson (Father Brown) as Cynthia Edmonds
• Jade Harrison (Foundation) as Julie Anne Cleveland

Further cast members include:

• Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones)
• Dougray Scott (Crime)
• Adrian Lester (The Sandman)
• Charlie Brooks (EastEnders)
• Kevin Doyle (Happy Valley)
• Katherine Kelly (Gentleman Jack)
• Lara Pulver (MobLand)
• Lee Ingleby (The Long Shadow)
• Neil Maskell (Hijack)
• Pip Torrens (The Crown)
• Sean Pertwee (Elementary)
• Lisa McGrillis (Rivals)
• Robert Bathurst (Toast of London)
• Richard Pepple (Cobra)
• Nadia Albina (Bookish)
• Phil Davis (Poldark)
• Ace Bhatti (EastEnders)

The first rumblings that phone hacking was being undertaken by journalists and private investigators surfaced in the mid-2000s around the Royal family, when a report was published in the News of the World that Prince William had borrowed an editing suite from ITV's Tom Bradby, as well as a report over an appointment the Royal had made with a knee surgeon. William and Bradby then deduced that journalists were likely to be hacking their voicemails, with police discovering that the messages were from his aides, leading them to the paper's Royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.

The forces found notes listing thousands of public figures, police officials and victims of crime who had likely been hacked, with both Goodman and Mulcaire eventually found guilty and given months-long sentences in prison, while News of the World editor Andy Coulson resigned. The scandal died down for a while, with an aide to the paper's owner Rupert Murdoch telling parliament that they had found no evidence of a wider hacking culture at the paper.

However, in 2009 the scandal blew open again when The Guardian published claims that the News of the World had hacked the mobile of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, reporting that the hacking had interfered with the police's investigation. These logs were in the evidence taken by police in the 2000s, who The Guardian reported had decided to seal it, while the paper also uncovered settlements that the paper made with hacking victims and the wider culture of hacking.

While Met assistant commissioner John Yates decided not to reopen the case due to "insufficient grounds or evidence", he did eventually agree for the Mulcaire evidence from years before to be entered into the police database.

The Guardian later reported that the News of the World's chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and assistant editor Greg Miskiw (who worked under Coulson) had employed Mulcaire to hack, which contradicted owner News UK's claims to parliament that only Goodman and Mulcaire knew about the practice.

In the end, the News of the World was shut down by Murdoch in 2011, with Coulson eventually sentenced to 18 months in prison for conspiracy to intercept voicemails, while Rebekah Brooks – who was editor of the paper between 2000 and 2003 – was charged and then later cleared. She is now CEO of News UK.

The Leveson Inquiry was also opened to look into the culture of the British press, as well as Operation Elveden, which looked into police corruption.

All seven episodes are available to stream now via ITVX, while The Hack will broadcast on TV as follows:

• Episode 1 – tonight (24 September) at 9pm
• Episode 2 – 1 October at 9pm
• Episode 3 – 8 October at 9pm
• Episode 4 – 15 October at 9pm
• Episode 5 – 22 October at 9pm
• Episode 6 – 29 October at 9pm
• Episode 7 – 5 November at 9pm

The Hack begins tonight on ITV at 9pm. All episodes are now available to stream on ITVX.

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Sam Warner

Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International.  Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.