The Hunt for Raoul Moat cast: Lee Ingleby leads ITV true story manhunt drama – everything you need to know

ITV and World Productions (Line of Duty, Vigil) are teaming up on a true crime drama about the infamous manhunt for murderer Raoul Moat.

The Hunt for Raoul Moat currently airing on ITV1 and ITVX shines a light on the human tragedies behind the headlines of 2010, when ex-prisoner Moat went on the run in Northumberland after attacking his ex-girlfriend and killing her new partner before blinding a police officer.

The incident - which was followed live on news channels and social media - ended with Moat's suicide following a six-hour stand-off with police.

The series will focus on Moat’s victims - Christopher Brown, Samantha Stobbart and PC David Rathband - along with other police officers who put themselves in the firing line and a local journalist seeking to tell Moat’s real story amid a flurry of sensational reporting and social media provocation.

Behind the scenes: How we made The Hunt for Raoul Moat

The Hunt for Raoul Moat - Where is it filmed?

Discover all you need to know about The Hunt for Raoul Moat cast here...

The Hunt for Raoul Moat cast - full list

• Lee Ingleby – Plays Neil Adamson
• Vineeta Rishi – Plays Nisha Roberts
• Matt Stokoe – Plays Raoul Moat
• Sonya Cassidy – Plays Diane Barnwell
• Sally Messham – Plays Samantha Stobbart
• Angela Bain – Plays Sally Brown
• Sophie Wise – Plays Beckie Brown
• Josef Davies – Plays Chris Brown
• Gavin O’Connor – Plays Steve Neill
• Mark Stobbart – Plays Neil Robson
• Jessica Johnson – Plays Suzie Clarke
• Gina Murray – Plays Lesley Stobbart
• Joe Blackmore – Plays Karl Ness
• Anand Toora – Plays Qhuram Awan
• Dan Skinner – Plays PC David Rathband
• Eléna Gyasi – Plays PC Debbie
• Clare Cobett – Plays Kath Rathband
• Paul Charlton – Plays Justin Endsley
• Gemma Page – Plays Sue Sim
• Bill Ward – Plays Mike Anderson
• William Owen – Plays Reporter Harry
• Joanna Horton – Plays Penny Andrews
• Dale Meeks – Plays Rory Sutcliffe
• Brian James Leys – Plays UC Jimmy
• Leah Baskaran – Plays Hannah
• Neil Grainger – Plays Matt
• Marianne McIvor – Plays Jody Wills
• Chris Garner – Plays Justin McCombe
• Christina Berriman Dawson  - Plays Louise Robinson
• Matthew Bates – Plays Surgeon
• Nicholas A Newman - Plays Sergeant Malcolm Wright
• Fiona Skinner – Plays Tracey
• Dylan Blore – Plays Ricky
• Stevie Raine – Plays Nicholas Spencer
• Stephanie Putson – Plays Resident
• Daniel Watson – Plays Suspect
• Sacharissa Claxton – Plays Sarah Wallasey

The Hunt for Raoul Moat - Meet the cast

Durham-born actor Matt Stokoe (Cursed, Jamestown, Bodyguard) is playing Moat.

Stokoe is engaged to his Bodyguard co-star, actress Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders, Gentleman Jack, The Diplomat).

Lee Ingleby on playing Neil Adamson

"When I read Kevin Sampson's scripts I thought it was a really intelligent piece. Then talking to the director Gareth Bryn and a few of the police officers involved, it was good that it wasn’t a sensationalist take on the story," said Ingleby.

"It was very much matter of fact and it felt real. And we got to follow the story of Chris Brown, who was shot and killed by Moat, and Sam Stobbart, who he shot and injured. Along with PC David Rathband who was shot and blinded.

"The drama highlights the victims and also reveals the truth about Moat."

He added: "Most people think they know what happened in this story. But they don’t. This drama shows you what actually happened."

Where have you seen them before?

Crossfire, The A Word, Innocent, Inspector George Gently, Line of Duty.

Matt Stokoe on playing Raoul Moat

"With someone like Raoul Moat it’s frightening because he still has people out there who support and endorse what he did," said Stokoe.

"It’s always difficult to play a real life character and one that society agrees is evil. When it comes to someone like Moat you don’t want your decision to embody that character to in any way be viewed as an endorsement of his behaviour.

"You have to have empathy as an actor but you don’t want to be seen as sympathetic to him."

Stokoe added: "David Rathband called Moat a coward for not facing up to what he had done. I agree with that. It's OK to have embodied this guy for such an extended period of time but still think that.

"I think he was a coward... His opinion of what masculinity is was completely misplaced at its core. He had a total misunderstanding of what masculinity is."

Where have you seen them before?

Misfits, Bodyguard, The Village, The Muskateers, Jamestown, Cursed.

Vineeta Rishi on playing Nisha Roberts

"My character is based on two or three different police officers. Nisha wants to do the right thing by everyone. Particularly the victims and their families," said Rishi.

"Early on there were situations when the family of Chris Brown, who was murdered by Moat, were finding out details through the press before the police had time to talk to them.

"Nisha does become involved in liaising with Chris’s mother and sister and we see that relationship throughout the story as the rest of the world forgets about him."

Rishi added: "Getting to work in the North East on a story connected to the region meant a lot to me. Pulling together with everyone.

"We all felt that shared responsibility of wanting to tell this story from the point of view of the victims and their families. Hoping that we do it justice and that we have dealt with it sensitively."

Where have you seen them before? 

Holby City, Doctors, The Last Detective, Criminal Justice, Collateral.

Sally Messham on playing Samantha Stobbart

"I knew we would be in safe hands with Kevin Sampson, who wrote the Hillsborough drama ‘Anne’, and World Productions," said Messham.

"This drama also looks at the public’s fascination with this fugitive. Understanding their relationship to the police and authority. And it takes the power and hysteria away from the murderer."

Talking about what she hopes viewers will learn from the series, she added: "However it’s perceived, I hope I did justice to highlighting Samantha as more than the tabloid pictures that were seen at the time. She was not just a victim.

"It was important to bring her story to the fore. This will never end for Sam. She will forever live with being associated with Moat. And the media that surrounded it." 

Where have you seen them before?

Our Ladies, Sherwood, Doc Martin, The Miniaturist, Blitz, Aftersun.

Sonya Cassidy on playing Diane Barnwell

"In the drama Diane is a crime reporter at the Newcastle Chronicle newspaper," said Cassidy.

"Diane is representative of a member of the press who is not looking for the cheap, quick headline. Someone who was part of this community doing what she could to inform and help in whatever way possible.

"I enjoyed playing someone from the North East and invested in that area. I really admired the character's integrity and what the Newcastle Chronicle newspaper was doing at a time when the national press would just sweep into a story like this and sweep out again."

Where have you seen them before?

The Paradise, Vera, Humans, Lodge 49, Olympus, The Man Who Fell to Earth.

Is Paul 'Gazza' Gascoigne in the Raoul Moat TV series?

"From the very start, when we started researching or planning, everyone who was not intimately involved in the case, the first thing they would say is, ‘Oh yeah, the one where Gazza turned up with the fishing rod’," said writer Kevin Sampson.

"That trivialises and undermines the tragedy of what really happened. If there is one mission statement for us it’s to challenge people to revaluate how they look back on these events.

Executive producer Jake Lushington (Vigil, The Suspect) added: "For us, the story we’re talking about is Raoul Moat’s crimes, his victims and the efforts to bring him to justice.

"We refer to [Gazza], we say it happens, but for us it’s not the story we’re trying to tell. We’re not minimising the impact, it didn’t have any impact on the story of the people really involved."

What events will The Hunt for Raoul Moat cover?

The series begins with Moat’s ex-partner Samantha piecing her life back together following Moat’s imprisonment for an assault.

When Moat is released from HMP Durham after serving a four-month sentence, Sam, who now has a new boyfriend, Chris, is terrified that he will try and force his way back into her life.

Despite making serious threats against Sam from inside prison, the former Newcastle doorman is hell bent on rekindling their relationship.

When he realises that isn’t going to happen, Moat equips himself with a shotgun to confront Sam and her new partner.

The manhunt played out against a warped perception of Moat as an 'anti-hero', a persecuted victim fighting back against the authorities. The reality was a narcissistic sociopath armed with guns and explosives who declared war on the police.

"Kevin has written a compelling and unflinching account of these shocking events which highlights the human tragedy behind the lurid headlines," said Simon Heath from World Productions.

"The drama is a timely reminder of how social media and fake news can create a dangerous myth, in this case that Raoul Moat was any kind of hero."

ITV head of drama Polly Hill said: "Following on from his success with Anne, Kevin Sampson's scripts are once again insightful and compelling. Equally, the World Productions team are brilliant and they've set the bar extremely high for true crime drama."

When does The Hunt for Roaul Moat start?

The Hunt for Raoul Moat starts on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm on Sunday, 16 April.

How many episodes are there of The Hunt for Roaul Moat?

There are three episodes.

Episode 2 airs on Monday, 17 April.

Episode 3 airs on Tuesday, 18 April.

Is there a Raoul Moat documentary to watch?

Manhunt: The Raoul Moat Story, an hour-long documentary about how Moat was tracked down by police is also available on ITVX.

Presented by Nicky Campbell, the doc tells the exclusive inside story of how one of Britain's most notorious killers was tracked down - while in the glare of 24-hour rolling news.

Who is making The Hunt for Raoul Moat?

The Hunt for Raoul Moat is written by Kevin Sampson. He previously wrote critically acclaimed 2022 drama Anne, which told the story of Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams.

"The hunt for Raoul Moat gripped me from the start, as it was the first such case to be covered ‘live’ by the new 24-hour news channels in the UK," said Sampson.

"Even then, it interested me that Moat was being portrayed by some as a 'legend' in spite of the brutality of his crimes.

"In 2022, violence against women remains rife and is all too often accompanied by a victim-blaming agenda. I hope this drama will go some way to condemning this narrative."

Is there a trailer for The Hunt for Raoul Moat?

The Hunt for Raoul Moat trailer debuted on ITV1 on Sunday 3 April before Grace.

The Hunt for Raoul Moat starts is available now on ITV1 and ITVX.