‘My new crime thriller delves into the mind of a sociopath – but he’s seductive’

A prisoner transport officer.

A prisoner who’s a sociopath.

An ambush.

Two unlikely people forced to work together.

When all I knew about Prisoner was this premise, as an avid thriller fan, I was instantly intrigued.

Throw in the fact that the series is written by Bridge of Spies screenwriter Matt Charman, starring The Serpent actor Tahar Rahim and Boiling Point’s Izuka Hoyle, and I was firmly seated.

The idea for the gripping new Sky crime drama has a simple origin – Matt was driving with his kids when they spotted a prison transport vehicle and asked who’s inside.

‘The way that I tend to work is that it is a bit of a snowball effect,’ Matt tells Metro.

‘So from sitting in the car and the kids saying, “Who’s in the front?

Who’s in the back?” And us pulling away, my brain just starts to go into this mode where you start to think about, “Okay, so who is in the back?

What would be the most interesting, strange, dangerous person to be in the back of that prison van?

And conversely, who’s the polar opposite of them for the front of the van?”
‘Because if you can lock two people together with handcuffs that absolutely do not belong together, should never be together, then that is a great ignition point for drama.’
Oh yes, that little detail.

In Prisoner, dangerous inmate Tibor (Tahar), who previously worked as an assassin, is handcuffed to Amber Todd (Izuka), who’s just returned to work after six months on maternity leave.

Amber has been tasked with escorting Tibor to the Old Bailey to give evidence and a key witness in a case against his former employer, the boss of a major organised crime group.

They have no choice but to trust each other… to a certain extent.

‘So a guy that’s killed 47 people versus a mum who’s back to work for the first day after being on maternity leave for six months, that just felt really, really interesting, particularly given the moral compass of her versus him,’ Matt says.

‘In terms of my development, I just started to imagine, if they’re handcuffed together, what are they going to face?

What are they gonna have to get through?

What are the obstacles?

What are the moral lines that he’ll cross in a heartbeat, that she’ll find harder to cross?

Quite quickly, I realised, I think there’s a show here.

I think there’s a particularly subjective journey that these two people are making through something pretty hellish.’
Tibor isn’t just a man who lives outside of the law, with the ability to end pretty much any life he so chooses.

He’s also a sociopath, which means that he may lack empathy, be unable to feel remorse, and be extremely – and effectively – manipulative.

Tahar, 44, delved deep into his research for the series, reading several books on sociopaths.

At a recent London screening for Prisoner that Metro attended, he emphasised that there’s a difference between psychopaths and sociopaths.

I wondered whether there were any times when the screenwriter felt as though Tahar should pull back from his research, considering the dark subject matter.

‘I try to look after actors.

So whenever he was saying, “I’ve read another book and another book,” I did say at one point, you should stop, because it is dark stuff,’ he responds.

‘But what you learn is, with these guys, it’s part of the process.

They have to do it.

They have to understand it.

They have to internalise it, and then they can forget it all.

But if they don’t have it, they’re reaching for something on the day that is just not in front of them, and that’s when they struggle.

I’ve worked with a lot of fantastic actors, but I don’t think anyone quite went as deep into the research as him.

Actually, he really disappeared into it.’
In Prisoner, on one side of the coin, you have Tibor.

A sociopathic killer who somehow manages to still make the audience root for him to some degree.

‘You’ve got to have someone that has a charm and a twinkle that is quite seductive, but underneath that you’re like, but my god, he’s done these awful things.

So he felt perfect for that,’ Matt says of the actor.

On the other side, you have Izuka, a prison transport officer with a thick skin, who’s guided by a strong moral compass.

She feels a sense of duty to complete her job and get Tibor to court, but teaming up with him means that she’s forced to act in ways that go against her integrity.

‘When she came in the audition room, it became clear that she had this really interesting combination of strength and vulnerability,’ Matt recalls.

‘She could not only take care of herself – physically, she lifts this guy up and puts him on her back.

She’s capable of some pretty cool things.’
When Izuka first read for the role, Matt felt ‘goosebumps’, and the feedback he received about her from other actors on the show was testament to her performance.

‘I’ve worked with a lot of really wonderful people, and I’ve never had a production where more actors have come up to me that are working with her and said, sort of under their breath, “She’s incredible.” So many people, Eddie Marsan and Catherine McCormack, brilliant actors, Brían F.

O’Byrne, wonderful people, have come up and said, “Where did you find her?

She’s great.

So that makes you feel pretty good as well,’ he says.

Prisoner might end up staying contained as one season, but it could just as easily continue, with more fascinating prisoners being transported around the country, Matt avers.

‘I feel like there’s a lot more stories to tell, particularly with the prison transport service, but also the journey that Amber’s on.

Where she starts at the start of the season to where she ends, she’s been on an incredible journey,’ he says.

‘She’s tested herself and learned things about herself that truly, she probably wished she didn’t know, but that’s only the start of a journey.

What’s she going to do with what she’s learned next?

I think her story has only just started.

Let’s see.’
All episodes of Prisoner will be available on Thursday 30 April on Sky Atlantic and NOW.

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