Tense thriller or feminist comedy? Frauds has a real identity crisis

Kate Wobschall on Frauds

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There seems to be a bit of a fad in TV circles at the moment for fusing different genres together. First there was Coldwater, that couldn't decide whether it was a thriller or a comedy.

Now we have Frauds, which in one breath is a Thelma and Louise type story of friendship, in the next is a crime drama and in another a farce.

It stars Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker as Roberta (Bert) and Sam, two con women whose toxic friendship is rekindled for one last heist.

After Bert is released from jail on compassionate grounds, she's met by Sam, who is now living the quiet life on a finca in the Spanish countryside. She has embraced the simple life - she even has a donkey, for pity's sake.

But Bert - dying from cancer and with nothing to lose - wants her to help pull off an audacious art swindle that will land them the biggest payday of their lives.

Sam, meanwhile, feels guilty that Bert did time for a crime they both committed and from which she walked away but she wants to leave her dodgy past behind her.

We're led to believe it's going to be like Thelma and Louise from the first few scenes where they drive off together; but it's not that simple.