Today, BritBox, the premiere streaming destination for British television offering the biggest and best collection of unmissable British television, announced a dynamic slate of upcoming Original series.
Sharing a suspenseful teaser, BritBox announced that the thrilling new mystery Passenger, led by Wunmi Mosaku (Loki), will premiere in October. In the captivating screenwriting debut of actor Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch), inexplicable crimes haunt the fictional village of Chadder Vale, where perhaps more is afoot than meets the eye.
Barry Sloane (Revenge), David Threlfall (Shameless), and Rowan Robinson (A Haunting in Venice) also star in the atmospheric crime drama.
Summer will see the powerful return of gritty, impactful crime dramas, starting with the June 13 return of Blue Lights. A breakout hit in the UK, the Belfast-based series delves into complex local politics through the lens of a police drama.
Multi-BAFTA-nominated The Responder returns July 11 for a new season, once again led by Martin Freeman (Black Panther), who won an International Emmy for his performance in the first season and penned by former first responder Tony Schumacher. Told with brutal realism, season two follows Chris Carson (Freeman) and Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo, Timewasters) as they cope with the trauma of the night officer beat and try to rebuild their lives in their own ways.
Jed Mercurio’s twisty thriller Trigger Point will join BritBox for an explosive second season in September. Line of Duty‘s Vicky McClure stars as bomb disposal expert Lana Washington, who works with MI5 and Counter-Terrorism to uncover a wide but loosely connected terrorist cell led by an anonymous leader and bound by their belief in anti-state conspiracy theories.
BLUE LIGHTS SEASON 2
Premiering: June 13 (U.S.); Season 1 is available now; Format: 6 x 60′ – 2 episodes dropping weekly
It’s “bigger, bolder and more dramatic.” Blue Lights is an authentic, gripping, and darkly funny drama about ordinary people doing an extraordinary job in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Grace, Annie and Tommy are growing up fast as police officers, but nothing can prepare them for the turmoil they face every day.
It’s a year since the fall of the McIntyre crime gang, and the vacuum has been filled by rival gangs, all competing for dominance. Constable Shane Bradley is drafted in to help, but his motivations are unclear.
Tommy is dangerously seduced by the world of intelligence policing, while Grace struggles to deal with her son’s absence, and growing feelings for fellow officer Stevie. As a young military veteran turned gang leader threatens to take over the city, the officers face a major gangland feud – culminating in a violent and devastating confrontation.
Cast: Nathan Braniff, Sian Brooke, Martin McCann, Katherine Devlin
Creatives: Declan Lawn (Head Co-Writer/Co-Creator/EP/ Director), Adam Patterson (Head Co-Writer/Co-Creator/EP/Director), Jack Casey (Director, eps 4-6)
Executive Producers: Adam Patterson, Declan Lawn, Stephen Wright (Two Cities Television), Louise Gallagher (Gallagher Films), Nick Lambon & Heather Larmour (BBC)
Producer: Amanda Black
Production & Distribution Partners: BBC, BBC Studios with support from Northern Ireland Screen
THE RESPONDER SEASON 2
Premiering July 11 (U.S.); Format: 6 x 60′ – 2 episodes dropping weekly
The Responder season 2 sees Martin Freeman return to his dark, gritty best. The new series picks up six months after the last one left off. Carson is busy trying to better himself as a police officer and as a father to his daughter, Tilly (Romi Hyland-Rylands). However, the recurrent trauma of the night officer beat continues.
And, in an effort to finally free himself, he seeks a day job. Meanwhile, having been dragged into the mud by her partner, Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo) is attempting to rebuild her life. She begins the season furious with Chris, but, after going on to work with a sequence of ‘normal’ coppers, finds that she has more in common with her former partner than she’s perhaps willing to admit.
Cast: Martin Freeman, Adelayo Adedayo, MyAnna Buring, Ian Hart
Creatives: Tony Schumacher (Writer), Jeanette Nordahl, Mounia Akl, Charlotte Regan (Directors), Barrington Robinson and Nadia Jaynes (Producers)
Executive Producers: Chris Carey, Laurence Bowen, Toby Bruce (Dancing Ledge Productions). Rebecca Ferguson (BBC)
Production & Distribution Partners: Fremantle, Dancing Ledge Productions
TRIGGER POINT SEASON 2
Premiering September (U.S.); Format 6x 45′ – All at Once
From Jed Mercurio’s HTM Television, this high octane, critically-acclaimed, ratings-winning thriller returns.The second series starts a year on from the Crusader’s attacks.
Lana Washington has returned to EXPO after helping train bomb disposal teams in Ukraine. While she’s back and giving a corporate talk on bomb disposal, a series of devices are used to attack a power station causing widespread chaos, signaling the start of a new and active threat.
Lana works with MI5 and Counter Terrorism to uncover a wide but loosely connected terrorist cell, led by an anonymous leader and bound by their belief in anti- state conspiracy theories. Lana is pushed to her limits as she goes undercover, attempting to unmask the figurehead of the paranoid, delusional cell before they cause total devastation.
Cast: Vicky McClure, Eric Shango, Nabil Elouahabi, Kerry Godliman, Mark Stanley
Creatives: Daniel Brierley (Creator), Gilles Bannier (Director), Jennie Darnell (Director)
Executive Producers: Jed Mercurio, Mark Redhead, Jessica Sharkey
PASSENGER
Premiering October (North America, Australia, Nordics); Format: 6 x 60′
Written by debut screenwriter Andrew Buchan, who is best known for his acting roles on Broadchurch, The Honourable Woman and Better, Passenger explores a close-knit community who are unwilling to face their fears of change, of outsiders and of the unknown.
Set in the fictional small Northern town of Chadder Vale, Former Met Police Detective Riya Ajunwa (Wunmi Mosaku) investigates a series of strange and inexplicable crimes that have the townsfolk spinning on an axis. Riya arrived in decaying Chadder Vale five years ago and has since been searching for that ‘one big crime’, the challenge that will make her feel alive again.
Then one night local girl Katie Wells (Rowan Robinson) mysteriously disappears. The town barely has time to register her absence before she reappears the next day, apparently safe and sound. The townsfolk ask few questions and normal life resumes. But for Riya, a relative outsider to the Chadder Vale way of life, none of this sits right.
As a series of strange happenings and increasingly shocking crimes start unfolding within the town, the residents resort to short-sighted theories and blame outside influences such as the fracking site and its manager Jim Bracknell (David Threlfall). As things become stranger, the people push back on Riya’s absurd notion that something is not right with this town. But what are they so afraid of?
Cast: Wunmi Mosaku, Rowan Robinson, David Threlfall, Barry Sloane
Creatives: Andrew Buchan (Writer) Nicole Charles (Director), Lee Haven Jones (Director)
Production & Distribution Partners: ITV, ITV Studios, Sister, All3 Media International, ARD Degeto.
Executive Producers: Lucy Dyke, Simon Maloney, Jane Featherstone
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills to provide the latest news on streaming, movies, and TV shows. He previously created the websites ComingSoon, SuperHeroHype, and ShockTillYouDrop.