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Line of Duty legend confirmed for The Tourist creators' new "breathtaking" TV thriller series
Lennie James will lead the cast of ITV thriller Nightswimming.
Jason Kempin/Getty Images for SCAD
- James Hibbs
Published: Thursday, 5 November 2026 at 11:28 am
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Line of Duty legend Lennie James will lead the cast of a new ITV thriller, Nightswimming, which is being written The Tourist and The Assassin creators Harry and Jack Williams.
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In the series, James will play Matthew, a man who returns to his home in Portugal where he was convicted of the brutal murder of his family years earlier.
The synopsis for the series says: "Weaving between past and present, Nightswimming picks apart the events that led up to the devastating night when Matthew's wife, Beth, and two teenage sons, Alex and Simon, were brutally attacked in their beachfront home, while Matthew was performing his nightly ritual, swimming in the ocean.
"In the present, Matthew mounts his own investigation into the crime that tore his life apart, confronting old friends, revisiting broken relationships and interrogating the people who built the case against him.
"But as he slowly unravels what happened a decade before, he struggles to plead his own innocence, when he discovers it was someone much closer to home that helped to put him away."
Filming is set to begin in Portugal in spring 2027.
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James said of starring in the series: "I am very excited about getting going on Nightswimming. It's a juicy, grownup thriller about family, love, loss, betrayal, redemption and the price of justice. Matthew is the kind of character I love to play, full of complexity, contradiction and conviction. This is top notch storytelling, and I'm chuffed to be a part of it."
Meanwhile, the Williams brothers added: "We absolutely relished writing Nightswimming, it’s a small-town thriller with a morally murky edge, grounded in a knotty, complex character. We can’t wait to work with ITV again and to see what Lennie - who we are thrilled to have on board - does with ‘Matthew’ when we begin filming in Portugal next year."
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The Williams brothers' latest series, The Assassin, is about to return for its second season, which will once again star Keeley Hawes and Freddie Highmore and this time is set in Spain.
As well as starring in Line of Duty, James has previously had prominent roles in series including Save Me, The Walking Dead, Mr Loverman and Mayor of Kingstown.
Nightswimming will air on ITV.
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Authors
James HibbsDrama Writer
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
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