Red Eye (British TV series)

Red Eye
Genre	Crime thriller Political thriller
Created by	Peter A Dowling
Written by	Peter A Dowling Jingan Young
Screenplay by	Peter A Dowling
Directed by	Kieron Hawkes
Starring	Jing Lusi Richard Armitage Lesley Sharp Jemma Moore
Composer	Ian Arber
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producers	Peter A Dowling Julie Gardner Lachlan Mackinnon
Producers	Kristian Dench Letitia Knight
Cinematography	Oli Russell
Editors	Josh Cunliffe Emma Marie Cramb
Production companies	Bad Wolf Sony Pictures Television
Original release
Network	ITV ITVX
Release	21 April 2024 (2024-04-21)

Red Eye is a six-part British thriller television series, created by Peter A Dowling and starring Jing Lusi, Richard Armitage and Lesley Sharp. It premiered on ITV1 and ITVX on 21 April 2024.

Premise

The series takes place during an all-night flight between London and Beijing after a British man is extradited to China on suspicion of murder.

Cast

• Jing Lusi as DC Hana Li
• Richard Armitage as Dr Matthew Nolan
• Lesley Sharp as Madeline Delaney
• Jemma Moore as Jess Li, journalist

• Dan Li as Toni Zhang
• Cash Holland as Ruth Banks
• Tai Yin Chan as Rén Yúnxi
• Thomas Chaanhing as Captain Chén
• Mido Hamada as Mike Maxwell
• Aidan Cheng as Wú
• Lucianne McEvoy as Dr Kate Ward
• Jonathan Aris as John Tennant
• Xiangyi Tan as Tiffany Songyun
• Steph Lacey as Megan Campbell
• Parker Sawyers as Eric Jones
• Daphne Cheung as Mrs Ruan Yue
• Elaine Tan as Shen Zhào

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
1	"Episode 1"	Kieron Hawkes	Peter A Dowling	21 April 2024 (2024-04-21)	6.06
Dr. Matthew Nolan goes to a medical conference in Beijing, where he narrowly escapes a life-threatening situation at a nightclub before crashing his car on the central reservation. Back in London, he is arrested by the UK Border Force and denied basic necessities while strip-searched, revealing a stab wound from the nightclub incident. Accused of killing a woman in Beijing, Nolan is pressured to provide a list of his contacts there. His colleagues who arrive back in London are requested to return to Beijing by the Home Office following China's request, with one colleague abducted by unidentified men when he refuses. Despite Nolan's denial of the murder allegation, he is extradited to China under the escort of DI Hana Li, though not before he makes a scene in the departure lounge, which causes him to become a viral video. On the flight, a passenger dies after consuming a vegan meal intended for Nolan, raising suspicions that someone onboard wants Nolan dead.
2	"Episode 2"	Kieron Hawkes	Peter A Dowling	21 April 2024 (2024-04-21)	6.45
Despite the passenger's death, Chen refuses to turn around the plane and insists on flying to Beijing. Hana comes to accept Nolan's story after a fellow passenger's dog dies after eating some of Nolan's meal. Following clear air turbulence, co-pilot Wu discovers the circuit boards for the plane's flaps have been disabled but Chen hushes up the incident. One of Nolan's colleagues, Dr Steven Hurst, is subsequently found dead with a broken neck. With Nolan's help, Hana ascertain that Steven was murdered. They also join forces with Air Marshall Zhang to investigate Steven's death. Chen forces a reluctant Wu to report the recent deaths as accidents. To complicate matters, Steven's wife, Dr. Amber Hurst, assaults Dr. Ward for having an affair with her late husband. A grieving Amber convinces Zhang to allow her to spend time with her late husband but is confronted by a stranger. Back in London, Hana's estranged sister Jess sees the viral video of Nolan at the airport being arrested by Hana and launches her own investigation, seeking to publish a news story. She interviews Hana's police superior and learns that Hana is travelling to Beijing.
3	"Episode 3"	Kieron Hawkes	Peter A Dowling	21 April 2024 (2024-04-21)	6.34
Hana and Zhang both ask Nolan to recount the events of the conference. In a flashback, Nolan meets Shen Zhao, the woman he is accused of murdering, at the conference bar. While at a night club, she drugs him. Nolan is attacked by bar security, sustaining a stab wound. Following a car accident, he flees to his hotel, where he staples his wound to stop the bleeding. Back in the present, Amber is found dead in the crew area. While examining Amber's body, Nolan discovers that she sustained similar injuries to Steven. Zhang arrests Dr Ward as a suspect in Steven and Amber's murders. Hana updates Madeline, who fails to convince the Chinese trade minister to recall the plane. After Dr Ward disappears, Hana, Zhang and the crew conduct an extensive search of the passenger compartments. When the search is unsuccessful, Hana and Zhang convince a reluctant Chen to let them search the hold. In London, Jess secretly visits the office of General Pacific Medicine, the company that organised the conference Nolan and the other doctors attended. She finds unidentified government workers raiding the building and flees when discovered. Despite Hana's attempts to convince Jess to discontinue her investigation, she visits the London residence of Sir George Chapman, the CEO of General Pacific Medicine.
4	"Episode 4"	Kieron Hawkes	Jingan Young	21 April 2024 (2024-04-21)	6.40
5	"Episode 5"	Kieron Hawkes	Peter A Dowling	21 April 2024 (2024-04-21)	6.66
6	"Episode 6"	Kieron Hawkes	Peter A Dowling	21 April 2024 (2024-04-21)	6.87

Production

The six-part series was commissioned by ITVX in June 2023. It is from production company Bad Wolf and created and written by Peter A. Dowling, with episode 4 written by Jingan Young. The series has been directed by Kieron Hawkes. It stars Jing Lusi, Richard Armitage, Lesley Sharp and Jemma Moore.

Filming on the aeroplane took place on a static aeroplane in a sound studio. Scenes were also filmed at Stansted Airport. All scenes were shot in and around London, including scenes set in Beijing.

Broadcast

The series premiered on ITV1 and ITVX on 21 April 2024.

In New Zealand, the series premiered on Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand's streaming platform ThreeNow and its Three TV channel on 12 June 2024.

Reception

The show has received a 45% grade on Rotten Tomatoes.

Lucy Mangan of The Guardian awarded the first episode three stars out of five, dubbing it 'serviceable' and remarking, 'If you watch the first episode you will very likely watch them all and they will slip down a treat. And then you will forget about it until the next time Armitage pops up'. Nick Hilton in The Independent awarded it two out of five stars, finding it 'derivative' and criticizing Armitage's performance. Anita Singh in The Telegraph gave the series three out of five stars.

External links

• Red Eye at IMDb