ITVX has announced that filming has begun in Cornholme, North of Manchester, on the brand new darkly comic thriller, Passenger. The series is produced by the award-winning SISTER (This Is Going To Hurt, Chernobyl, Landscapers) in association with Northern Sister for ITVX and ITV1, and commissioned by ITV’s Head of Drama, Polly Hill.
Written by debut screenwriter Andrew Buchan, who is best known for his acting roles on Broadchurch, The Honourable Woman, and Better, Passenger will be an ITVX premiere and will also air on ITV1. The drama will be available in BritBox international markets at a later date.
Bafta-winning actress Wunmi Mosaku (Loki, Damilola, Our Loved Boy) will take the role of Former Met Police Detective Riya Ajunwa whilst David Threlfall (Shameless, Funny Woman) stars as Jim Bracknell.
Further cast includes Daniel Ryan (The Bay) as Derek Jackson, Rowan Robinson (So Awkward) as Katie Wells, Barry Sloane (Six) as Eddie Wells, Natalie Gavin (Gentleman Jack) as Joanne Wells, Nico Mirallegro (My Mad Fat Diary, Rillington Place) as Kane Jackson, Hubert Hanowicz (This Is Going To Hurt) as Jakub Makowski, Jack James Ryan (Coronation Street) as John Trowbridge, Matilda Freeman (Alma’s Not Normal) as Lilly Wells, Shervin Alenabi (Baghdad In My Shadow) as Mehmet Shah, Ella Bruccoleri (Call The Midwife) as Ali Day and Arian Nik (The Bay) as Nish Chowdry – all of whom form the close-knit community that is sent spinning on its axis following a series of strange and unnatural crimes, in the small Northern village of Chadder Vale.
After arriving there five years ago, Former Met Police Detective Riya Ajunwa has been searching for that ‘one big crime’, that one challenge that will make her feel alive again.
Then one-night local girl, Katie Wells is mysteriously abducted. Her car is found abandoned and there are traces of blood on the seats. But the village barely has time to register Katie’s disappearance before she reappears the next day, safe and sound.
The rest of the villagers ask few questions and life resumes as normal. 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 horrific crimes start unfolding within the village, the residents start resorting to short-sighted theories and blaming outside influences. Riya fights hard to convince the villagers that all is not as it seems. And before long she is drawn into a universe unlike anything she has ever seen.
Passenger is executive produced by Lucy Dyke (The Split, Eric) and Simon Maloney (Time, I May Destroy You) for Northern Sister and Jane Featherstone (This is Going to Hurt, Chernobyl) for SISTER. Andrew Buchan is creator, writer and associate producer for SISTER in association with Northern Sister. The series is produced by Sumrah Mohammed (The Split 3) and directed by Lee Haven-Jones (The Bay, The Feast) and Nicole Charles (The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies). BritBox International are co-production partners.
