Fake: This Gripping Aussie Drama Is Coming To UK Screens Next Month

Like the unwitting people they prey on, we’re always drawn to stories about scammers – and we’ve been waiting for this Aussie drama to come to UK screens. Here’s what to expect from Fake, plus when it’ll air in the UK.

Fake: Plot, Cast, UK Release Date & More

What Is Fake About?

Fake centres on Birdie Bell (Asher Keddie), a magazine writer who meets her ideal match on a dating app. Meet Joe (David Wenham), the successful grazier (a sheep or cattle farmer) turned architect Birdie is besotted with. That is until she discovers he’s not all he led her to believe…

Fake: The Full Cast

• Asher Keddie as Birdie Bell
• David Wenham as Joe Burt
• Janet Andrewartha as Kath Tovey
• Nicholas Brown as Anton
• Anne Charleston as Shirley Burt
• Heather Mitchell as Margeaux
• Ming-Zhu Hii as Kirsty
• Spencer McLaren as Tovey
• Jack Sandle as Connor
• Greg Stone as Peter Van Rotterdam
• Louisa Mignone as Peggy
• Arka Das as Rohit
• Freya Stafford as Tessa Rain
• John Stanton as Percy
• Peta Brady as Milena
• Petra Yared as Jessa
• Tony Rickards as Mr Whitney

Is Fake Based On A True Story?

Fake is inspired by journalist Stephanie Woods’ 2019 memoir of the same name, which chronicles the true story of her experience dating a serial scammer. Reflecting on the surreal experience of her life being depicted on screen, Woods wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald: ‘I wrote a book to try to make sense of a devastating relationship I had with Joe, a man who turned out to be a mendacious fantasist. Countless solitary hours at my computer, pouring out words for more than a year, turned into this, this huge, unimaginable thing [the TV series].’

Stephanie adds that the passing of time (her relationship with the real Joe ended in 2015) and the creation of the TV series made the events feel ‘remote, blurred, as though it were someone else’s story, something I read about as I was falling asleep one night’.

Stephanie continues: ‘For years I’ve barely given a thought to the man who claimed to be a farmer and property developer, who led me to think he was a man of ­integrity and that we had a future together, but who turned out to be of no fixed address, morally and ­financially bankrupt, a man with a criminal conviction for a fraud-related offence in his past and another lover, maybe more than one.’

There are naturally some departures from the truth; Stephanie’s mother, for example, ‘bears no resemblance to [her] actual mother’ in her acerbic, nasty nature, Stephanie writes. But the open-ending is true to life: ‘there are things about the real Joe I gave up trying to understand,’ Stephanie says, choosing to write to process her feelings, and eventually let go of her unanswered questions.

Where Was It Filmed?

Fake was filmed in Melbourne, Victoria in September 2023. The real events, however, took place in Sydney, New South Wales, eventually ending with Stephanie and the real Joe’s breakup in 2015.

Fake UK Release Date

Fake is finally launching in the UK: all eight episodes will land on ITVX on Sunday 20 April 2025.

Fake will also air weekly on Saturday nights on ITV1 from Saturday 26 April.

‘We’re excited to partner with ITVX to bring this series to UK audiences,’ says Agapy Kapouranis at Lionsgate TV. ‘With a powerhouse cast led by Asher Keddie and David Wenham, Fake is an enthralling psychological drama that will leave viewers on the edge of their seats.’