Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle to star in high-stakes Sky Original action-thriller ‘Prisoner’

*Headshots available to download from https://pxl.sky.com/

BAFTA and Golden Globe Award-nominated, César Award-winning actor Tahar Rahim (The Serpent, Un Prophète) will star opposite Scottish BAFTA Award-winning screen and stage actor Izuka Hoyle (Boiling Point, Big Boys) in the Sky Original series Prisoner— a high-stakes action thriller following a principled young prison officer escorting a dangerous, high-value prisoner to court to testify against his elite crime syndicate. Created by Academy Award® and BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Matt Charman and directed by BAFTA-winner Otto Bathurst (Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, Peaky Blinders), the series is produced by Binocular in association with Sky Studios.

Eddie Marsan (Back to Black, The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe), Catherine McCormack (Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, 28 Weeks Later), Leonie Benesch (September 5, Babylon Berlin), Finn Bennett (Black Doves, True Detective), Sam Troughton (Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, Black Doves), Laurie Davidson (The Girlfriend, Mary & George), Ken Nwosu (Black Doves, Sticks and Stones), Brían F. O’Byrne (Conclave, The Wonder) and Youssef Kerkour (Lockerbie: A Search For Truth) round off a star-studded cast.

Tahar Rahim, whose previous work includes the BBC/Netflix drama The Serpent and the STX film The Mauritanian (both of which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award), along with the BAFTA Award-winning, Academy Award®-nominated film Un Prophète, takes on the role of dangerous, high-value prisoner Tibor Stone. Izuka Hoyle stars as Amber Todd, a young principled prison officer who must put her life in Tibor’s hands when their transport convoy is brutally ambushed. As the sole survivors, Amber and Tibor are forced to go on the run. They must work together to reach their destination alive and on time.

Throughout the journey, their relationship twists and turns, with the stakes escalating as the crime syndicate stops at nothing to track them down. Amber can trust no one—least of all the killer she is handcuffed to. But as everything she holds dear hangs in the balance, she must confront an impossible question: what moral lines is she willing to cross?

Prisoner is produced by Binocular in association with Sky Studios. The series is written and created by showrunner Matt Charman (Bridge of Spies, Treason). Haleema Mizra is deputy showrunner and writer. The series is directed by Otto Bathurst (Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, Peaky Blinders), with later episodes directed by Pia Strietmann (Herrhausen – The Banker and The Bomb). Executive producers are Matt Charman, Foz Allan, Otto Bathurst, and Adrian Sturges for Sky Studios. Barney Reisz serves as series producer.

The series will be available on Sky in the UK and Ireland, with NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution handling international sales.

The production received support from the Welsh Government via Creative Wales.

Contact: Georgina.Anthony@sky.uk

Sky Studios is the home of Sky Original Drama and Comedy.

We develop, commission and produce unmissable programming for Sky’s customers across Europe.

Our teams partner with the best indies and talent globally, to drive creative excellence and tell original stories that are loved by audiences the world over.

Our Sky Originals include Emmy-nominated hit, Gangs of London, BAFTA-winning comedy, Brassic, Mary & George, starring Julianne Moore, The Day of the Jackal, with Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch, Mussolini: Son of the Century, directed by Joe Wright and Small Town, Big Story, created by Chris O’Dowd.

Alongside Sky Original Comedy and Drama, Sky Studios is home to an in-house Factual development and production team, and some of the world’s most exciting production companies including Blast! Films, True North and Love Productions.

We also operate Sky Studios Elstree, the UK’s newest film and TV studio with 13 sound stages, representing a significant investment in the UK and European creative economy. 

Tahar Rahim first gained widespread recognition for his breakout role in the Oscar-nominated film A Prophet, which earned him the prestigious César Award for Best Actor. In the recently released Monsieur Aznavour, Tahar portrays Charles Aznavour in Mehdi Idir and Grand Corps Malade’s biographical drama about the iconic French Armenian singer, songwriter, and actor. He also recently starred opposite Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon for Apple TV+. Looking ahead, Tahar is set to star in Alpha, FilmNation and Neon’s highly anticipated feature directed by Julia Ducournau, following her Palme d’Or win for Titane.

Tahar has delivered many compelling and critically acclaimed performances, including his role in Kevin Macdonald’s The Mauritanian alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Jodie Foster, for which he earned Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Tahar further cemented his presence in the awards circuit with his Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of Charles Sobhraj, the notorious 1970s serial killer, in The Serpent. Now streaming on Netflix, The Serpent has become one of the BBC’s most-watched series of all time.

Tahar’s diverse filmography includes playing Judas in Garth Davis’s Mary Magdalene opposite Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, as well as starring in Hulu’s The Looming Tower alongside Jeff Daniels, produced by Alex Gibney and Dan Futterman. He has worked with acclaimed directors such as Asghar Farhadi (The Past) and Fatih Akin (The Cut). In Damien Chazelle’s Netflix limited series The Eddy, Tahar gave a standout performance opposite Andre Holland. He also appeared alongside Meryl Streep, Sienna Miller, and Kit Harington in Scott Z. Burns’ anthology series Extrapolations.

Tahar is represented at UTA , Agence Adéquat, and Range Media Partners.

In November 2022, Edinburgh-born Izuka won the ‘Actress Film’ award at the BAFTA Scotland Awards for her portrayal of Camille in BOILING POINT. The film, which follows the head chef of a restaurant kitchen as he wrangles his team together on the busiest night of the year, was also nominated for a BAFTA film award and stars Stephen Graham. Izuka was recently seen reprising her role as Camille in the BBC television drama of BOILING POINT picking up six months on from where the film left off. The series was written by James Cummings and directed by Phillip Barantini and was released on BBC ONE on 1st October 2023 to critical acclaim including 5 star reviews in The Telegraph, The Evening Standard and The Radio Times.

 In 2023, Izuka was nominated for her second BAFTA Scotland Award in the ‘Actress Television’ category for her portrayal of Corinne in Channel 4’s BIG BOYS. Created by Jack Rourke, the comedy follows the seemingly unlikely friendship between two mismatched young men as they meet each other during freshers’ week at Brent University. Izuka stars alongside Dylan Llewellyn and Jonathan Pointing. The show returned for a second season last January and the third season will be released this February.

Izuka was recently seen starring in the film, THE OUTRUN, alongside Saoirse Ronan who’s character, Rona, returns to the Orkney Islands after coming out of rehab after more than a decade away. As Rona reconnects with the dramatic landscape where she grew up, memories of her childhood merge with the more recent challenging events that have set her on the path to recovery. Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, the film is based on Amy Liptrot’s 2016 award-winning memoir, Jack Lowden also stars.

Last year, Izuka starred in three notable television projects. LUDWIG, BBC One’s detective series, where she starred alongside David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin. Amazon’s re-telling of the Channel 4 sitcom FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER, DINNER WITH THE PARENTS, and finally, season two of BBC One’s BAFTA TV nominated police drama series THE RESPONDER, alongside Martin Freeman and Philip Barantini.

Other television credits include the role of Dana in Amazon Prime’s THE WHEEL OF TIME with Rosamund Pike, BBC’s FLOAT, BBC’s CLIQUE and BBC’s JERK.

Her film credits include Working Title’s MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS opposite Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan, Netflix’s adaptation of Jane Austin’s PERSUASIAN directed by Carrie Cracknell which stars Dakota Johnson and Harry Golding as well as Phillip Barantini’s VILLAIN.

On stage Izuka originated the role of Catherine Parr in the multi-award winning SIX and played the iconic role of Emily Davison in The Old Vic’s SYLVIA.

Izuka Hoyle is repped by Conway Van Gelder Grant, Prosper PR and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein.