Colwyn Bay illusionist joins Suranne Jones for ITV thriller

Stuart Loughland, producer and director at Magic Light Productions, a theatrical production company that produces live theatre shows, worked as the Illusions and Magic Consultant on ITV's Frauds, which tells the story of skilled confidence tricksters who’ve been separated by an arduous 10-year prison sentence.

Sam, played by Whittaker (Time, One Night, Doctor Who, Broadchurch), has been content to live a life of quiet anonymity in the hills of southern Spain, whilst her grifting partner Bert, played by Jones (Maryland, Vigil, Gentleman Jack, Doctor Foster, Scott & Bailey), has spent the last decade in a Spanish prison cell with a burning desire to pull off one final job that will prove her worth.

Stuart, a member of the inner Magic Circle, said: "In December 2000 I was appearing in my illusion act Safire at the Southport Theatre in the pantomime Aladdin. Suranne Jones played Aladdin and I was the Genie. She was working on Coronation Street at the time and every morning went into film so she asked me to show her some magic tricks so that she could show some of the cast and the camera crew in between filming. She also showed an interest in the illusions in my act.

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"A couple of years ago, Suranne contacted me about a project that herself and Anne-Marie O’Connor were working on. It was called Frauds and it was about a couple of con women who wanted to steal a famous Salvador Dali painting from an Art Museum in Spain. It included some magic segments and she was wondering if I could see if the things they had included in the storyline were possible using magician’s techniques as one of the characters in the show who assists them with the robbery is a magician’s assistant."

After being involved with the original episode - the script used to get the programme commissioned - Stuart spent more than a year and a half reading through the scripts and suggested magic and illusion ideas that could be included in the plot.

Stuart said: "The main one was how they steal the original painting and replace it with a fake."

Stuart, who is married to Libby, also Producer & Director at Magic Light Productions, and who became a member of The Magic Circle in late November 2024, received visits from one of the cast members, Lee Boardman, who played Craig the magician in the programme, during their pantomime rehearsals.

"He was researching and trying to get a feel on how magicians present illusions and magic in a stage setting as this was something he had to do on the series," Stuart said.

Stuart worked directly with Suranne Jones and writer Anne-Marie O’Connor.

Stuart said: "They are both lovely and just down to earth and we get on really well with plenty of laughs. I also worked with the script researchers and editors.

"All of the script meetings in the writers room were on Zoom and many phone calls, emails and texts took place over the preparation period. I actually got a call from Spain from a script consultant and director when I was in the middle of my Panto rehearsal for Pinocchio wanting to know some of the technical details for the heist episode.

"They filmed in Tenerife and Madrid, over the period when we were rehearsing and performing in pantomime.

"The heist scene was actually filmed in Reina Sofia Museum where the original painting actually is."

The dad-of-one "thoroughly enjoyed the challenge" and "thinking outside the box."

He said: "It was something different to get my teeth into after performing my illusion act for over 30 years on stages all over the world, including Las Vegas, and spending 12 years on UK theatre tours with BBC’s Chuckle Brothers."

Frauds started on ITV1 on Sunday, October 5 at 9pm. There are six episodes in the new ITV series.