James Norton hits back at criticism of his controversial new ITV drama
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To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. James Norton has pushed back against critics of his new ITV series, Playing Nice, who have called the premise ‘far-fetched’.
![[James Norton in Playing Nice posing by the railing at the seaside in a red checked shirt over a blue T-shirt]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235056870-3576.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
The four-part drama, also featuring Niamh Algar, James McArdle, and Jessica Brown Findlay, follows two couples whose worlds are torn apart when they find out their toddlers were unknowingly swapped at birth. As the parents reckon with the devastating truth, tensions soon begin to brew as the families start turning against one another.
![[James Norton as Pete and Niamh Algar as Maddie in Playing Nice in court]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235056976-a801.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
The largely-praised show, based on the Cornish coast, landed on ITV and ITVX earlier this month with some fans complaining they had to ‘suspend their belief’ and that the story is ‘far-fetched’ and simply ‘unrealistic’. ‘Not sure what to think about Playing Nice. There are a lot of ridiculous scenarios,’ @see75 wrote on X. And user @beckywatts echoed that the show was ‘taking ridiculous to the next level’.
However, the 39-year-old actor, who also served as executive producer on the project, has issued his rebuttal to the social media naysayers. ‘Now that I’m producing, you’re looking for stakes and there are no higher stakes than kids,’ he said on Virgin Radio’s Chris Evans Breakfast Show.
