ITV’s new crime series Bancroft will explore “what happens when heinous crimes, long buried in the past, come back to haunt us.”

Set in a busy northern city, the four-part thriller is written and created by Kate Brooke (Mr Selfridge, Ice Cream Girls, The Making of a Lady).

Brooke commented: “I wanted to explore a powerful, charming, morally ambiguous woman who has a shocking secret in her past. I was also fascinated to explore the relationship between an older and younger woman – Katherine begins by hero worshipping Elizabeth and ends by obsessively wanting to bring her down.”

Executive producer Francis Hopkinson added: “Kate Brooke has written a clever and surprising script, with two fantastic parts for female actors to get their teeth into. We’re looking forward to letting Elizabeth Bancroft loose…”

The official synopsis reads: “Respected DCI, Elizabeth Bancroft, has given her life to the police force and her ruthlessness knows no bounds. She’s courageous and tackles crime head on, often at risk to her own life. Consequently, she’s trusted and adored by her colleagues and promotion to Detective Chief Superintendent looks assured. DS Katherine Stevens is an ambitious, fast-tracked recruit.  Her only indiscretion is an affair with a married police officer she finds hard to resist.   However, when Katherine is assigned to cold cases she unwittingly disturbs the ghosts of the past.  What she unearths couldn’t be more catastrophic in terms of the lives of her colleagues.”

ITV’s Drama Commissioner, Jane Hudson teased: “In spite of her exemplary record as a police officer, Elizabeth Bancroft is a manipulative and destructive character. She’s not all she seems and it’ll be interesting for the audience to get to know her.”

Bancroft begins filming on location in Manchester and Leeds next spring.

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