Frauds Review: The Talented Suranne Jones Presents An Exceptional Performance in This Triumphant Heist Drama

What would you do if your most reckless companion from your teenage years reappeared? Imagine if you were battling a terminal illness and had nothing to lose? What if you were plagued by remorse for landing your friend in the clink a decade back? If you were the one she landed in the clink and you were only being released to die of cancer in her care? What if you had been a almost unstoppable pair of con artists who retained a stash of disguises from your prime and a deep desire for one last thrill?

These questions and beyond are the questions that Frauds, an original series starring Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker, presents to viewers on a exhilarating, intense six-part ride that traces two female fraudsters bent on executing a final scheme. Similar to an earlier work, Jones developed this series with a writing partner, and it retains similar qualities. Much like a suspense-driven structure served as a backdrop to emotional conflicts gradually unveiled, here the elaborate theft the protagonist Roberta (Bert) has meticulously arranged while incarcerated since her diagnosis is the vehicle for an exploration of friendship, betrayal and love in all its forms.

Bert is released into the care of Sam (Whittaker), who resides close by in the Spanish countryside. Guilt stopped her from seeing Bert during her sentence, but she has stayed close and avoided scams without her – “Rather insensitive with you in prison for a job I botched.” And for her new, if brief, freedom, she has purchased numerous undergarments, because various methods exist for female friends to show repentance and one is the acquisition of “a big lady-bra” following ten years of underwire-free prison-issue rubbish.

Sam wants to carry on leading her quiet life and look after Bert till the end. Bert possesses different plans. And if your most impulsive companion devises alternative schemes – well, those tend to be the ones you follow. Their old dynamic gradually reasserts itself and her strategies are underway by the time she lays out the full blueprint for the heist. This show plays around with the timeline – to good rather than eye-rolling effect – to present key scenes initially and then the rationale. So we watch the pair stealing gems and timepieces from affluent attendees at a funeral – and acquiring a gilded religious artifact because what’s to stop you if you could? – before ripping off their wigs and turning their mourning clothes inside out to become colourful suits as they stride out and down the church steps, filled with excitement and assets.

They require the stolen goods to finance the operation. This involves hiring a document expert (with, unbeknown to them, a betting addiction that is likely to draw unwanted attention) in the form of magician’s assistant Jackie (Elizabeth Berrington), who has the technical know-how to help them remove and replace the intended artwork (a famous surrealist piece at a prominent gallery). They also enlist art enthusiast Celine (Kate Fleetwood), who specialises in works by artists depicting female subjects. She is equally merciless as any of the gangsters the forger and their funeral robbery are drawing towards them, including – most dangerously – their former leader Miss Take (Talisa Garcia), a contemporary crime lord who had them running scams for her from their teens. She reacted poorly to their declaration of independence as independent conwomen so unresolved issues remain in that area.

Plot twists are layered between progressively uncovered truths about Bert and Sam’s history, so you get all the satisfactions of a Thomas Crown Affair-ish caper – carried out with immense energy and praiseworthy readiness to skate over rampant absurdities – plus a captivatingly detailed portrait of a bond that is possibly as toxic as Bert’s cancer but equally difficult to eradicate. Jones gives perhaps her finest and most complex performance yet, as the damaged, resentful Bert with her endless quest for thrills to divert attention from her internal anguish that is unrelated to her medical condition. Whittaker supports her, doing brilliant work in a slightly less interesting part, and together with the writers they create a incredibly chic, emotionally rich and profoundly intelligent piece of entertainment that is inherently empowering devoid of lecturing and an absolute success. Eagerly awaiting future installments.