This 2019 British Scam Drama Is Now On Netflix

By Olivia Emily

1 month ago

Cold Call originally aired on Channel 5 in 2019

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Many of us are obsessed with true crime. With podcasts, documentaries and dramas booming especially among women, some theories suggest we are so entranced by them because they teach our brains new strategies to survive – and grave situations to avoid. A sub-set of this genre is scams: from podcasts to films, documentaries to advice segments on morning TV, scams are top of the media agenda, with recent releases including Sweet Bobby, Instagram’s Worst Con Artist and The Man With 1,000 Kids.

With an estimated one in 10 Brits caught out by a scam each year, tuning in opens our eyes to scams most of us could never even dream of. The latest British scam drama to tune into has just landed on Netflix: Cold Call. Originally released on Channel 5 in 2019, here’s the story behind the drama.

Is Cold Call Based On A True Story?

No, Cold Call is not based on a true story – but its creators Karyn Dougan Buckland and Mark Buckland were inspired by real scams millions of Brits fall for each year. Thousands of Brits receive a phone call each day, with the scammers on the other end of the line typically targeting older, more vulnerable people to swindle their money. Cold Call centres on one such phone call scam: single mother June Clarke (Sally Lindsay) loses a large amount of money after falling for a scam over the phone. Taking matters into her own hands, she tries to track down the fraudster – and in doing so, fear and paranoia begin to take over her life.

While it may not be based on one particular story, Sally Lindsay drew on her own experience being scammed for her leading role in Cold Call. Just the week before Sally first met the team working on cold call, she received a worrying phone call from the gas board saying she was going to have a County Court Judgement lodged against her due to missed bill payments. They told her she had not paid her gas bill for two years, but ‘I know I had,’ she revealed on Chris Evans’ Virgin Radio Breakfast Show back in 2019. ‘The thing in my head was I got one [a County Court Judgement] years ago when I was a student, and I’ve never actually quite got over it. They play on that.’

The Cast

Sally Lindsay as June Clarke
Daniel Ryan as Des
Paul Higgins as Kirk Wiley
Taj Atwal as Hana
Elizabeth Counsell as Elisabeth Wiley
Katie Redford as Lizzie
Samantha Power as Laura

How Many Episodes?

There are just four episodes in this gripping thriller.

Is Cold Call Worth The Watch?

Cold Call first aired across four nights in November 2019 on Channel 5, but was so popular among audiences it has been aired again on the channel multiple times since, including as recently as June 2024. With a whole host of positive reviews, it’s definitely worth watching.