SkyShowtime is rolling out a new thriller, The Iris Affair, from the mind behind the acclaimed series Luther. The series,starring Niamh Algar and Tom Hollander,centers on a woman who unlocks a perilous secret and quickly finds herself on the run across Europe. Recent interviews reveal creator Neil Cross’s unique approach to writing and his distinct vision for the series, which he describes as a departure from his typically darker work.
SkyShowtime is betting big on a new thriller, The Iris Affair, from Luther creator Neil Cross. The series, starring Niamh Algar and Tom Hollander, promises a twisty, suspenseful ride for viewers. The streaming platform is hoping the series will draw in audiences looking for a compelling new mystery.
The story centers on Iris Nixon (Algar), a brilliant and enigmatic woman who unlocks a secret after solving a series of online puzzles. Her quest leads her to a piazza in Florence, where she meets the charismatic businessman Cameron Beck (Hollander). Beck invites Iris to join him in unlocking a powerful, highly classified technology, sparking her curiosity and leading her to accept. But when Iris discovers the dangerous potential of the technology, she steals the device’s activation sequence and vanishes.
Her disappearance sets off a relentless pursuit, beginning in a remote Sardinian cabin and winding through the bustling streets of Rome, as Beck races to find Iris in a high-stakes game where trust is a liability and failure could be catastrophic. Cross recently discussed his latest project, now available on SkyShowtime.
“Essentially, I only write for myself,” Cross explained when asked about his writing process. “Even when I hire other writers to work with me, I always tell them I’m only interested in reading what they write independently of whether it will be published or not. I started writing at six or seven years old, making comics where the drawings seemed easier than the speech bubbles. I never knew what to write, so I flipped it around, started writing dialogue and then completing it with drawings.”
Visually, the series is a departure from some of Cross’s darker previous work, boasting a brighter aesthetic. When asked if he anticipates critical acclaim, he responded, “I completely agree that there’s a mystery I constantly face. I think people confuse seriousness with intellectual weight. But works that deal with fundamental ideas of our existence, the masterpieces of our race, wouldn’t be anything without humor, because it’s an essential part of who we are.”
He continued, “I haven’t read Don Quixote, but it’s the best, the first, the greatest novel of humanity, and it’s fundamentally comedic. I’m going to get in trouble: in the most excellent places in our industry there are people who are insecure about their intelligence. They believe that, to compensate for that insecurity, they must be excessively serious and dark.”
“So, creating something like The Iris Affair means you’re at a point in your career where you don’t have to prove anything to anyone?” Cross was asked. “I don’t care what all these people think. As I mentioned, I grew up surrounded by comics, at a time when reading comics was marginal, it didn’t get you many friends. In the eighties, I played Dungeons & Dragons non-stop. I miss it a lot. I never sought validation from a higher step, from an intellectual elite, their judgment doesn’t interest me at all.”
Does he consider his audience? “I don’t have a relationship with them, I spend little time on the Internet, I don’t live there. I’ve never looked at Twitter and I don’t understand what Instagram is. I don’t interact with them that way. I know they exist, but if I’m honest, I think praise can harbor a particular danger, just like insults.”
“All I can do is keep going in my solitude, in my little boat, and tell my stories,” he said. “We had a premiere in New York for the Luther movie and it was great, there were a lot of fans. But beyond occasional events like that, I remain in the mystery, as far away from the attention of others as I can.”
Cross also shared his admiration for British television writer Nigel Kneale. “He created something that today we could define as ‘cosmic horror.’ He designed very ambitious, commercial and terrifying films and series, and he did it very successfully, he knew how to connect with the public. He had a recurring character called Bernard Quatermass, an astronaut who returned to earth but, in his travels, had ceased to be the man we once knew. I think he was the best screenwriter that the United Kingdom has ever had. I’m not going to say it’s a copy, but Doctor Who wouldn’t have existed without Nigel Kneale and without Quatermass.”
Returning to The Iris Affair, Cross discussed the development of the central characters. “What’s interesting, let me think. With Iris, I knew who she was early on. She has a lot of Hitchcock, Patricia Highsmith, but she’s very particular, contradictory. The idea of the woman as an anti-hero hasn’t been explored much. I had all those references in my head and thought it would be impossible to find the perfect actress, until my team told me, ‘you’re looking for Niamh Algar.’ We did a test with her the next day and there she was, exactly what I was looking for, we didn’t see any other actress.”
“Cameron Beck was the opposite system, I had a much longer process where I fell in love with Tom Hollander. He offered humanity, charisma and depth to a character that a less talented actor would have squandered.”
Cross recalled a story about Michael Caine, who starred in the film The Marseille Contract, filmed in the south of France. Caine reportedly didn’t even read the script, figuring a five-week shoot in the French Riviera was a win regardless. “Is it easier to start writing a project if, like in The Iris Affair, it takes place in Italy or somewhere sunny?” Cross was asked.
“The answer is: infinitely,” he replied. Before concluding, he shared his favorite Michael Caine anecdote.
“Someone asked him if he had seen Jaws: The Revenge, which he had starred in. And he replied, ‘No, but I’ve seen the house he bought my mother, and it’s incredible.’”
The Iris Affair is currently streaming on SkyShowtime.
