Jones and Jodie Whittaker are astonishing as conwomen bent on pulling off one last job. It’s a wild, thrilling ride whose portrait of a toxic friendship is fantastically stylish
What would you do if your most reckless friend from your teenage years got back in touch? What if you were dying of cancer and had nothing to lose? What if you felt guilty for landing your friend in the clink 10 years ago? If you were the one she landed in the clink and you were only being released to die of cancer in her care? If you used to be a nearly unbeatable pair of scam artists who still had a stash of disguises left over from your glory days and a longing to feel some excitement again?
All this and more are the questions that Frauds, a new drama starring Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker, flings at us on a wild, thrilling six-part ride that follows two conwomen bent on pulling off one last job. As with 2023’s Maryland, Jones co-created this with Anne-Marie O’Connor – who wrote every episode – and it has all the same strengths. Just as the mystery-thriller formula there was used as background to the psychodramas gradually unveiled, here the grand heist Jones’ character Roberta (Bert) has carefully planned in prison since her diagnosis is the vehicle for an exploration of friendship, betrayal and love in all its forms.
Frauds aired on ITV1 and is on ITVX now.
