If your weeknights are looking a little dull, 5 is about to fix that! Enter Number One Fan, a glossy, gasp-worthy new four-part thriller landing on Monday 4 May 2026 at 9pm, and airing nightly through to Thursday in that deliciously addictive ‘strip drama’ style that the channel does so well.
Front and centre are two bona fide British TV favourites – Jill Halfpenny and Sally Lindsay – who are both former Coronation Street luminaries, but sharing the screen together for the first time.
Number One Fan promises thrills and shocks - telling a story of what happens when fame and fandom collide in the most destructive of ways. We’ll be clearing our diaries!
Who stars in Number One Fan?
Jill Halfpenny as Lucy Logan
Lucy Logan seems to have it all – the perfect marriage, a loving family, and a dream job, hosting her own TV show. But Lucy hides a secret, and if it comes out, she could find that all parts of her life will come crashing down around her.
Jill Halfpenny has been appearing on our screens since she was a teenager, when she played Nicola Dobson in children’s drama Byker Grove (1989-1992). Since then, she’s become something of a soap superstar, playing Rebecca Hopkins in Coronation Street (1999-2000) and Kate Mitchell in EastEnders (2002-2005).
In 2004, she won the second-ever series of Strictly Come Dancing, and she went on to have lead roles in (prepare yourself) Waterloo Road (2006-2007), Mount Pleasant (2011), Wild At Heart (2012), Lightfields (2013), Babylon (2014), Humans (2015), Three Girls (2017), Dark Money (2019), The Drowning (2021), The Holiday (2022), Everything I Know About Love (2022), The Long Shadow (2023), The Cuckoo (2024), The Feud (2025), Girl Taken (2026) and After The Flood (2026).
She’s also made guest appearances in The Bill (1997), Birds Of A Feather (1997), Heartbeat (1998), Dangerfield (1999), Dalziel And Pascoe (2001), Shameless (2006), Inspector George Gently (2009), Vera (2013), Death In Paradise (2016), Inside No 9 (2020) and Daddy Issues (2025). What a very busy woman!
Sally Lindsay as Donna Hughes
Donna Hughes is a self-confessed super-fan of Lucy Logan (Jill Halfpenny), and comes to her rescue when the TV host is mugged in a car park. However, Donna’s behaviour soon starts to become more sinister. Does she have an ulterior motive for following Lucy everywhere she goes?
Like Jill Halfpenny, Sally Lindsay had a regular role on Coronation Street, although the pair just missed appearing on screen together, as Sally played barmaid Shelley Unwin from 2001-2006. Since her time on the cobbles, Sally has become well known for her roles of Lisa Johnson in comedy-drama Mount Pleasant (2011-2017), Alison Bailey in crime drama Scott & Bailey (2011-2016) and Kath Agnew in BBC sitcom Still Open All Hours (2013-2019).
Her current main role is as Jean White in The Madame Blanc Mysteries (2021-present), which she co-created and produces. Over the years, you might also have seen her in The Royle Family (2000), Phoenix Nights (2001), Reggie Perrin (2010), Loose Women (2011-2014), Citizen Khan (2014), Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators (2020), Midsomer Murders (2023), and Murdoch Mysteries (2025).
Dean Andrews as Stewart Jones
Stewart Jones is a former talk show host, whose career came to an abrupt end after a scandal connected with his show. Stewart is still harbouring a lot of bitterness over how he was treated, but how is he connected to Lucy (Jill Halfpenny)?
Dean Andrews is best known for playing Will Taylor in soap opera Emmerdale from 2019 to 2025. Before that, he played the role of DS Ray Carling in the BBC’s time-travel drama Life On Mars (2006-2007) and its sequel Ashes To Ashes (2008-2010). He was also a regular cast member in the first four seasons of Last Tango In Halifax (2012-2016), in which he played Robbie.
You might also have spotted Dean in No Angels (2004), Missing (2006), Waterloo Road (2010), Marchlands (2011), Being Eileen (2013), Vera (2013), Midsomer Murders (2015), New Tricks (2015), Silent Witness (2016), Father Brown (2016) and The Moorside (2017).
Sharlene Whyte as Mel
Mel is Lucy’s (Jill Halfpenny) PA, who has her work cut out when Lucy is dragged into a potentially career-ending scandal!
Sharlene Whyte came to prominence playing Jenny Edwards in The Story Of Tracy Beaker (2002-2003), before landing the regular role of Adanna Lawal in Waterloo Road (2010-2011). She also had main roles in We Hunt Together (2020-2022), The Doll Factory (2023), Sherwood (2024) and Mr Loverman (2024). You may also remember seeing her in Silent Witness (2007 and 2024), Spooks (2011), Jonathan Creek (2013), Casualty (2015 and 2021) and Sanditon (2023).
Daniel Adegboyega as Shawn Logan
Shawn Logan is Lucy’s (Jill Halfpenny) husband. But although he is seemingly loyal to his wife, does he have a secret of his own that he’s hiding?
Daniel Adegboyega is best known for playing the recurring role of Pierre Martineau in the supernatural drama series Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale (2024-2026). He also played Shakiel Oliver in the 2024 drama The Tower.
Over the years, you might also have seen him pop up in Spooks (2010), Torchwood: Miracle Day (2011), Atlantis (2013), Episodes (2014), Casualty (2017), Father Brown (2017), Save Me (2018), Doctor Who (2019), Sex Education (2019), Holby City (2019) and Grace (2022).
What is Number One Fan about?
Lucy Logan is the nation’s sweetheart, and host of glossy morning show ‘Lucy Live’. Lucy is all immaculate blow-dries and carefully managed charm. Donna Hughes, meanwhile, is the woman who gallantly saves Lucy from a car park mugging, and then doesn’t quite go away…
What begins as gratitude curdles into something far more unsettling, as Donna pops up in the studio audience, at events, and even near Lucy’s home, armed with unsettling knowledge about Lucy’s past.
But what dark secret is Lucy hiding? And how is it connected to disgraced former TV host Stewart Jones? Over the course of the story, some very disturbing truths are set to be revealed…
Who created Number One Fan?
The brain behind this series is Rachel Kilfeather, who is also the lead writer. Rachel is known for her work on season three of Vikings: Valhalla (2024) and the comedy-drama Small Town, Big Story (2025). Rachel co-created Number One Fan with Marcus Fleming, who wrote the eight-part gold rush serial Dominion Creek (also known as An Klondike) (2015-2017).
When can I watch Number One Fan?
The first episode of Number One Fan will air on 5 on Bank Holiday Monday, 4 May, with the remaining three episodes airing on consecutive nights. But if you can’t wait, and want to binge the whole thing in one go, all four episodes will be available as a box set on My 5 from Monday!
Tom Spilsbury has been a writer for TV Choice and its sister publication Total TV Guide since 2021. He was previously the longest-serving editor of the official Doctor Who Magazine (from 2007 to 2017), where he won an Eagle Award in 2012, and the ACE award for Circulation Excellence by a monthly magazine (2014).