'Bingeable' ITV crime drama loved by Victoria Coren Mitchel is free to stream

Victoria Coren Mitchell has been raving about an "outstanding" ITV television series which has viewers "hooked". The seven-part TV series is inspired by the 2011 phone hacking scandal by News International. The extensive scandal saw employees of the now-defunct newspaper News of the World engage in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories.

The series, written by Jack Thorne, also explores an investigation into the 1989 murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan, who had connections to News International and was the lead suspect. The two storylines eventually intersect, highlighting the deep entanglement between the press, the police, and the establishment.

It stars David Tennant as Nick Davies, Robert Carlyle as the Met Police detective chief superintendent Dave Cook, and Toby Jones as the then editor-in-chief of The Guardian, Alan Rusbruger. and has received rave reviews from fans since it dropped on ITVX last week.

The series, which is set between 2002 and 2012, follows Davies as he discovers evidence of the goings-on at the News of the World and Cook as he investigates the unsolved murder of PI Mr Morgan.

Although various publications have given the show mixed reviews, Victoria Coren Mitchell has been praising it online. In her latest column in The Telegraph, she gushed, "I've watched three episodes so far, and I'm really enjoying it!"

And she's not the only person glued to their screens for the jaw-dropping series, as viewers flocked to IMDb to share their thoughts on the popular critics' site.

One user penned: "Outstanding, the style may be out there for sure, but I like it. Excellent storytelling of an atrocious scandal. Opens your eyes to how easily we can be led by those in power, and how they get away with it."

Another agreed: "This is a great true story series for all viewers to watch and learn about the history of events that impacted the world today. The crew did a fine job creating this true story series, and the cast selection was fine and strong enough. This is a great true story series for everyone to watch."

A third chimed in with: "This is the most important series I have seen in ages! Of course, the lead actors are amazing in their roles, but so is everyone else. Such an important story. I did know the policy angle I learnt so much."

Following in the footsteps of last year's critically acclaimed series, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, The Hack has been produced by members of the team behind the Bafta-winning Mr Bates, which sparked widespread public outcry about the false conviction of sub-postmasters.

Speaking to James Acaster and Ed Gamble on their Off Menu podcast earlier this year, Tennant said that shooting the series had been "very intense". He explained: "Just because there's a lot of quite complicated information in that.

"I'm playing a journalist who sort of broke the case open, and there's just a lot of quite technical stuff. Obviously, you have to be very specific on that, because there's a lot of lawyers watching to make sure you don't say the wrong thing.

"That was quite a long shoot, and that was very intense. But you then do something like that, and you're very proud to be part of something like that. It's one of the stories of our time that needs telling."

The Hack is available to stream on ITVX.