As the first episode of Deceit begins, we learn that the drama is based on real events and characteristics of Sadie Byrne have been fictionalized for legal reasons. It is Autumn of 1992, and we join a group at a party. Sadie Byrne (Niamh Algar) approaches the bartender and orders five beers. She returns with the beers, drinks, and dances. She notices two men talking about something serious in the distance but continues dancing. When another man enters, she follows him to the corridor to the bathroom and purposefully bumps into him. Sadie flirts with him until he asks if she is going to be lucky for him tonight. She tells him who she is there with and the fact that her friend is looking to expand his business. He is looking to move into Enfield but needs a bigger supplier. She soon learns that the man’s name is Kash (Edwin de La Renta) and she introduces herself as Lisa.

Kash asks if she comes as a part of the deal when he agrees to do business with her friend. She continues teasing him before leading him into the bathroom nearby. Later that night, Lizzie and her friends follow Kash back to an apartment complex. Once they step into one of the apartments, Lizzie is forced to wait alone. She looks around the filthy apartment and finds drug users abusing drugs and having sex. Kash closes the door on her and we see that they’re bartering for drugs. A woman walks past, gets in Lizzie’s face, and asks what she is looking at before continuing downstairs. Lizzie looks down the stairs and sees the woman chatting with someone else. Unexpectedly, armed police break through the door and loudly identify themselves to everyone in the apartment.

Baz (Nathaniel Martello-White) locks the door before Sadie bangs on it and pleads with him to let her inside. It doesn’t take long before she is detained by police. She elbows one officer, so he slams her around causing her head to smash into the wall. We jump forward and watch as Lizzie sits in a cell for a while. An officer arrives and puts her in cuffs before leading her down the hallway. As she walks by one cell, Kash tells her he thought she was going to be lucky for him. She is taken away from the station, uncuffed, and put back on the streets. She notices bright car lights in the distance and finds Baz waiting for her. He chuckles as she gets into the vehicle. She complains he took his time. He drops her off moments later and she immediately takes a shower. Next, we hear a detective congratulating his team for getting this done since they’ve been trying to infiltrate the TMC for a while.

He says they’ve been trying to get behind those doors for 18 months so what they achieved was off the scale. They confiscated enough AK-47s and ammunition to take out half of Tottenham and 20k worth of crack. He explains they arrested Mark Bailey or Kash and Adio Campbell or Toxic. Their fingerprints are on the gear so it should be an open and shut case. Sadie or Lizzie listens to everything. Their boss beings praising one officer who always goes above and beyond to get the job done. Sadie hopes it’ll be her, but it is Da Costa instead. Baz gets a round of applause while Sadie and Lucy (Rochenda Sandall) look at each other with bruises on their faces. Later that night, Sadie watches Baz leave with two other officers before she is approached by a woman with a newborn. Ellie lets her hold the baby before Baz tells her not to spread the baby fever.

Sadie gives the baby back and admits she has a lot of paperwork to get done. Baz tells her one of the Wombles called and they want to see her about the Rachel Nickell murder. She is given the number for Detective Inspector Keith Pedder (Harry Treadaway). As she drives, we learn more about the murder of Rachel Nickell in southwest London. She was sexually assaulted and stabbed numerous times. It is believed that the murder was random. Her two-year-old son was found clinging to her body. She goes to the scene of the discovery to look around. After that, she meets with DI Pedder who explains the press is in a frenzy for Rachel and their coverage has generated 5,000 lines of inquiry. He admits they need a break and believes offender profiling can help.

He asked profilers Robert Ressler from the FBI and Professor Paul Britton (Eddie Marsan) to examine the evidence. Both came back with near identical profiles of the killer. Pedder tells her about Colin Stagg (Sion Daniel Young) who matches the profile and many on the estate suspect him. Stagg claims he was at home watching a quiz show at the time with a headache, but that show wasn’t even on. Sadie looks at pictures of the victim while Pedder tells her more about Rachel’s injuries. Professor Britton is convinced the killer will strike again. They only have circumstantial evidence on Stagg, so they want Sadie to get what they need. They assigned Britton with designing an undercover operation based on the killer’s deviant sexuality. Pedder believes it will either clear or implicate Stagg. The operation is being called Operation Edzell.

They want Sadie to become a part of Stagg’s world, gain his trust, indulge his darkest fantasies, and get a confession. When she leaves, she immediately visits Professor Paul Britton who goes through a long, awkward process when preparing her tea. Before he explains the operation that he designed, he wants to know why Sadie decided to go undercover. She explains herself and Britton reveals Stagg sent an unsolicited sexual fantasy to a woman called Tracy Hynes in response to her lonely heart column. Britton reads the sexual fantasy which contains sex outdoors. Paul says that is a common sexual fantasy. Sadie knows it interests the professor because it has similarities to the attack on Wimbledon Common. Britton explains that Stagg wants to punish and humiliate her like Rachel’s killer. They want Sadie to write to Colin and play the part of Tracy’s friend who was aroused by the letter written by Colin.

The professor warns her she will be dealing with a dangerous man if Pedder is right. Sadie believes she’ll be okay, but Britton doesn’t think she has ever crossed a man like this before. He tells her how Colin would likely enjoy total dominance and cutting human flesh with a knife. He whispers in her ear that she has beautiful blue eyes. She doesn’t flinch so Britton says he thinks Sadie is up to the task of making Stagg fall in love with her. Sadie returns to the office and tells her friend she is going to be working on Rachel’s case. She goes back to Pedder and Britton who insists this is not a trap. He insists the operation is designed so Colin can either implicate or eliminate himself. Pedder says everyone from the top to bottom and lawyers have agreed to it. Britton reminds her that she should never put words in Colin’s mouth.

The letters will be written by Britton and Sadie will need to memorize her cover story. She will pretend to be a woman with a dark history of being involved in a Satanic cult and she’ll let Stagg know she is open-minded. She cannot express interest in Rachel Nickell’s murder. She can only engage him once Colin has mentioned Rachel three times. Before long, Sadie writes and sends her first letter. Once again, she uses the name Lizzie. Next, she goes out with Baz and tells him about one of her undercover operations. She blew it because she had good teeth and no crackhead does. Sadie insists she’ll never let that happen again. They work through her cover story. She is told it would be wise to work an angle that is close to Rachel’s. Baz tells her he is only worried about keeping her safe. Colin returns her letter and tells her more about his life, his dog, and his appearance.

He offers a fantasy but includes it anyway. Sadie explains he gave Lizzie a choice but took it away from her. The professor admits that might or might not be significant and could depend on the fantasy. Sadie reads the fantasy, and it involves outdoor sex in the garden. Once she finishes, Britton admits it contains nothing to suggest Stagg is the killer. Paul wants to wait a week before responding and Sadie believes they should give him a picture as requested. Sadie goes to a stylist and transforms herself into Lizzie James. She sends him a letter and picture while asking him to send more. Then, Sadie watches a news report about Colin being arrested and released.

She watches old videos of Rachel and her family before going to the office and seeing the boy and his father. She sits down with Britton who checks on her before Pedder arrives with another letter. This time, she has trouble trying to read his violent fantasy and asks Pedder to finish it. They agree that Colin wants to hurt Lizzie and Britton says the violence is more extreme than what is carried out by other individuals. He believes it is a clear indication of the same sexual fantasies of Rachel’s killer, but it isn’t the same violence exhibited in the murder. There is no mention of a knife, so the letters continue, and Colin admits he’d like to know more about what happened in Lizzie’s past. He tells her what he wants to do to her and how he wants to know all her fantasies.

He talks about abusing her and destroying her self-esteem. Pedder gets everyone together in the middle of the night to say they want to move this forward. He doesn’t think a confession is going to come in writing, so they want to move the operation to the next stage. Before long, a phone call is arranged. She gets and records her first call from Colin. Lizzie apologizes for dragging him down the garden path but says it’ll be easier to say it instead of writing it down. He asks about the secret from her past. She hangs up without telling him her secret. Colin returns home and looks at the picture of Lizzie.

 

Deceit Review

With so many formulaic detective shows, Deceit is a breath of fresh air. With the first episode out of the way, it is clear Deceit is going to be gripping from start to finish. Although the series is just getting started, the main characters are fascinating in their own unique ways. Eddie Marsan is creepy as Professor Paul Britton while Sion Daniel Young is a bit terrifying as Colin Stagg.

Niamh Algar is doing well as the distraught undercover officer who might’ve bitten off more than she can chew. The cat and mouse game should be tantalizing until it becomes utterly disgusting in a good way. As someone who knows little about the case, I am confident I’ll enjoy Deceit.

Thanks to the gripping story, excellent acting, and uniqueness, Deceit can quickly become one of the most interesting shows of this year. Plus, it’ll help that the show will shine a light on the real story and everything that happened. I am so eager to devour the next episode and see what happens next. The opening episode scores an 8 out of 10. Future recaps of Deceit will be available on Reel Mockery here.