Bonafide Films, the indie behind Bafta winning MOOD, is developing an original, contemporary, true-crime drama based on research from access to the National Crime Agency.

BAFTA winning writer Nick Leather (Murdered for Being Different, Nightsleeper) is attached to write the series which will reveal  the inner workings of the National Crime Agency, through a “thrilling, high-octane” initial story that focuses on the 2020  infiltration of the encrypted phone-system ‘EncroChat’ and how it gave the agency a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to decimate the criminal underworld. There have been more than 3,400 arrests including  almost 13,300 years of combined sentencing so far, and is still ongoing.

Leather won a Best Single Drama BAFTA for the true-crime drama Murdered for Being Different, and is also behind the acclaimed factual drama Mother’s Day starring Anna Maxwell Martin and Vicky McLure, and last year’s hit BBC thriller Nightsleeper.

He and Bonafide’s Executive Producer, Tom Dunbar, (The Walk-In, The Reckoning) have been allowed “extraordinary” access for a drama production company to senior NCA officers who led the response to EncroChat’s takedown.

Leather said: “Spending time within the NCA, digging into this landmark operation and finding out what and who is right at its heart, has been an absolute delight. This is one of the great success stories of modern policing – how the best of British came together to bring down the worst. And I can’t wait to tell it.”

Dunbar added: “We’re delighted to be working with the immensely talented Nick on this ground breaking project that will reveal some incredible characters and thrilling stories at the UK’s equivalent of the FBI. We’re hugely grateful for the access the NCA has given us, and recognise the careful path we need to tread in order to show the world some of what they do without giving away trade secrets. Some of these people are everyday heroes who are protecting the public from serious and organised crime and we want to highlight the incredible activity going on just below the surface and how shockingly advanced and mercenary the criminal underworld truly is.”

Bonafide Films is in discussion with a number of broadcast platforms interested in the drama.

The as yet untitled project is the latest in a development slate from Margery Bone’s production company. Bonafide Films is working with writers including 2025 BAFTA nominee Peter Straughan (Conclave) who is writing Folio; a feature screenplay inspired by the true story of the assembly of Shakespeare’s first folio, and multi-award winning Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice) who is adapting Jonathan Freedland’s non-fiction bestseller, The Escape Artist.

Led by MD Margery Bone, Bonafide Films has an investment and distribution deal with BBC Studios.