The couple Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes star in the story of John Stonehouse

Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes will star together in a thriller drama about disgraced Labor Secretary John Stonehouse

Celebrity couple Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes will star in a thriller drama about disgraced Labor Secretary John Stonehouse.

The ITV series will chronicle how a notorious politician fakes his own death, has an affair with his secretary, and is unmasked as a Cold War spy.

Macfadyen’s successor, who will play Stonehouse, said: “I’ve always been intrigued by what prompted him to leave his beloved family and a promising political career.”

Hawes, 46, known for her roles in Line Of Duty and The Durrells, will play Barbara, Stonehouse’s wife.

She and her husband starred in the 2007 film Death At A Fu Tang and met on the set of Spooks in 2002. Their new film opens to tell the full story of Stonehouse’s incredible antics. .

A leading member of Government Harold Wilson, the congressman disappeared from the beach of a Florida hotel in 1974, leaving behind a pile of folded clothes as he swam into the ocean with the intention of faking his death.

He joined the Labor Party at the age of 16 and was an economist involved in cooperative enterprise in Africa before being first elected as a Member of Parliament for Cooperative Labor (MP) for parliament. Fourbury in Staffordshire in a by-election in 1957, contested Twickenham in 1950 and Burton in 1951.

His reputation as a devoted family man obscures the truth, as he begins an extramarital affair with his secretary, Sheila Buckley, and acts as a spy for the Agency. The Czech Secret Service is said to have started in 1962.

Then a MP for Walsall North, he left behind loving wife Barbara and three young children, shocking public opinion and media reports that he drowned or was eaten by a shark in 1974.

But in truth, he was facing financial ruin after a string of bad business deals and his political career was collapsing and so he was panicking enough to run away. went to Miami for a crude suicide jump and went to Australia under the false name of a dead member. of its constituency.

Brought back to the UK by Scotland Yard detectives, Stonehouse found he was crucial to keeping the Labor government in power with its slim majority.

Returning home, soon declared bankrupt, he was convicted of 18 counts of fraud, theft and deception and sentenced to seven years after a trial in which he defended himself and failed to act. get his trademark before the jury.

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He suffered three heart attacks while behind bars, but put on a brave face to his challenge, writing: “The opportunity to sleep nine hours a night and really relax is priceless. same good for me. I ask you not to tell yourself that prison is harmful. “

Towards the end of the decade in August 1979, he was released for his good behavior but he was a pervert. He suffered from poor health and died in April 1988 as a result of another heart attack.

ITV’s Polly Hill said: “John Preston’s brilliant screenplays and the perfect pairing of Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes promise to make this a drama not to be missed. This incredible true story and outstanding production team, led by director Jon S. Baird, will continue the unparalleled quality we have in delivering authentic movies on ITV. ”

Screenwriter John Preston said: “I have always been fascinated by John Stonehouse. The story of how he faked his own death and tried to start a new life in Australia under a fake name is one of the weirdest true stories I’ve come across. I’m really glad it’s made it to the screen with such an outstanding cast. ”

The Stonehouse TV series is scheduled to air on ITV later this year.

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