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
Onboard the flight, Hana is contacted by Thames House, the headquarters of MI5, about the death of the passenger who ate Nolan's meal. Hana is suspicious about the authenticity of the call. Nolan tries to convince Hana that the death of the man is not natural and that the food was poisoned to give the impression of a heart attack. Hana does not believe him. Nolan then tries to convince Captain Chen to turn the plane around or land at the nearest airport to try and get an investigation going, but Chen refuses, expressing doubt that Nolan isn't just trying to escape his arrest. Meanwhile, Hana's estranged sister Jess sees the viral video of Nolan at the airport being arrested by Hana and realises her sister is at the centre of events. She heads to the office of London Police to speak to Hana's boss. On the plane, Hana does not need to wait long to get proof of Nolan's claims: a fellow passenger's dog has eaten some of Nolan's meal, and has died, revealing Nolan may be correct. Suddenly, the plane starts to shake violently, causing Chen to turn on the seatbelt sign, and all the passengers return to their seats. Dr. Ward, one of Nolan's colleagues, is one of the last to return to her seat, but soon expresses concern when another of their colleagues, Dr. Steven Hurst, does not return to his seat. Chen sends copilot Wu down into the hold to check the circuit boards for the flaps, where he finds they have been deliberately disabled. Restoring them returns the plane to normal, but Chen refuses to believe it is sabotage. Events continue to take a turn for the worse when one of the flight attendants find Steven dead at the bottom of the stairs with a broken neck, supposedly having fell in the turbulence. Hana is aghast when Chen orders the body moved because it destroys evidence, but Chen silences her, and locks the body in the crew area, and orders her to return to her seat. Nolan meanwhile notices a man staring at him from the row behind him. Meanwhile at the police station, Jess interviews Hana's boss on the events, though he only gives her limited information. Hana messages him at the same time with a message about the third death, but her boss is called away before he has chance to read it, asking Jess to find her own way out. Jess uses the distraction to take a photo of Hana's message before leaving. With no response from her boss, Hana contacts MI5 again, and is put through to Madeline Delaney, a senior domestic security officer. Delaney is initially skeptical, but when thanks to Nolan they find ligature marks on Steven's body, proving he was restrained before he fell down the stairs, Delaney orders an investigation into every passenger on the plane. Hana and Nolan attack the mysterious man that Nolan caught staring at him when he is caught with the dead body, and overpower him. The man reveals himself to be Air Marshall Zhang. The three work together to try and find out what happened to Steven, but are interrupted when Steven's wife, Dr. Amber Hurst, attacks Dr. Ward for having an affair with her late husband. Nolan uses the distraction to rummage through Steven's belongings, surreptitiously taking his phone. Nolan briefly pauses when he thinks he hears someone else in the crew area with him and Steven's body, but he convinces himself otherwise. Amber demands to see her husband, and against the advice of the flight attendants, Zhang lets her go. Meanwhile, in the cabin, Wu attempts to convince Chen that these deaths are not accidental, but Chen angrily threatens him and convinces him to lie on the death forms so they can keep their jobs. In the crew area beneath the cabin, Amber falls asleep watching her late husband, where a man slowly forces open a cupboard in the crew cabin and steps out from it, heading towards her.
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 is at the conference bar having a drink, where he is joined first by his colleagues, and then Shen Zhao, the woman he is accused of murdering. Nolan is introduced to Shen, who seems nervous and constantly looks over her shoulder. Nolan leaves early to prepare for the lecture he is presenting the following morning, summoning a car from outside the conference to take him back to the hotel. Dismissing the driver, Nolan takes control of the car, but Shen asks for a lift before he departs, which he accepts. He asks her where she would like to be taken, but she convinces him to let her buy him a drink to say thank you. She directs him to a nightclub, where through use of cocktails, she gets him drunk enough to seduce him. They kiss but whilst he is distracted, she drugs him via his drink, and apologies for what she has done. Nolan demands to know why but she cannot answer, and he is attacked by the bar security. One of them stabs him in the side, though he knocks another of his attackers out before fleeing. He climbs into the car as seen in the first episode and crashes it whilst fleeing. Returning the hotel, he barely makes it into his room, where he is forced to staple his wound shut to stop the bleeding. Onboard the plane, a timer reveals only 3 hours have passed since takeoff. On the plane, Amber is found dead in the crew area, having apparently overdosed. Hana summons Nolan again to examine her, where he discovers identical fractures and breakages in the hands as with her husband Steven. Tempers flare between Hana and Zhang when Zhang arrests and ties up Dr. Ward as the only person on the plane other than Nolan who knew all the victims; Hana argues but Zhang dismisses her. Hana updates Madeline on the events, who goes back to the Chinese government in a heated conference call in an attempt to recall the plane, though that is unsuccessful. 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 the office locked, but discreetly videos unidentified government workers raiding the building, removing computers and documents. She is seen by security, who pursue her, though she evades them by hiding at a bus stop. She sends the video to Hana, who urges her to stop so she isn’t in danger, but Jess refuses. On the plane, Nolan, Hana, and Zhang discover Dr. Ward has gone missing, despite the latter tying her to a chair in the aisle. A search of the plane reveals nothing and Hana reveals the only place they haven’t looked is the hold, which can only be accessed from a trapdoor inside the cockpit. Chen is reluctant to let anyone down there, but eventually allows Zhang to go. When he does not return or answer, Hana goes instead. In London, having evaded government security, Jess looks up the CEO of General Pacific Medicine, Sir George Chapman, and travels to his address. He answers the door and invites her in, but as he closes it, it is revealed he has a gun hidden behind his back.
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)	N/A

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.

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