Buckle up and get ready to be glued to your seat. ITV is taking us on the ultimate edge-of-your-seat thriller with Red Eye, a six-part drama featuring Jing Lusi, the first British East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) actress to star in an ITV drama as the main lead. The series also stars Richard Armitage (a familiar face from Fool Me Once and the Hobbit films).

What’s the Story? Think Flightplan Meets International Conspiracy

Lusi plays DC Hana Li, a London police officer who finds herself in a real-life nightmare. She’s assigned to escort Dr. Matthew Nolan (Armitage) on a deadly overnight flight from London to Beijing. Nolan, fresh off a medical conference, is accused of the mysterious death of a woman whose body wasn’t found at the scene of his car crash. He claims he was alone, but the authorities don’t believe him.

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Things go from bad to worse as a death occurs on the plane, sending shockwaves through the flight. Driven and determined, DC Li suspects something far more sinister is going on, and she won’t rest until she gets to the bottom of it. This flight is about to get a lot scarier, especially when MI5 steps in and hints at an even deeper, darker conspiracy.

A Triple-Threat Storyline, Each with a Unique Voice

If that wasn’t enough tension, Red Eye doesn’t stop there. While Li is up in the air, her sister Jess (played by Jemma Moore), an intrepid reporter, starts her own dangerous investigation into Nolan’s case. Her digging quickly puts a target on her back as a mysterious assassin enters the picture.

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Inside the shadowy world of MI5, Madeline Delaney (portrayed by the talented Lesley Sharp) breaks the rule book, risking her entire career to help the Li sisters and unravel a shocking international conspiracy that could have connections to the British government itself.

What The Creators Say

“Red Eye is a brilliantly addictive thriller with an international story taking place on the red-eye flight from Heathrow to Beijing. Thanks to Peter’s scripts, the story will have audiences gripped and continually surprised throughout.”

“It’s got a fantastic cast led by Jing Lusi and Richard Armitage, and we are delighted to be working with Bad Wolf on this exciting new show.” – Polly Hill, Head of Drama, ITV.

Breaking Ground with British Representation

Resonate was invited to an exclusive screening where the cast and creators of Red Eye shared their insights, emphasizing the show’s role in pioneering Asian representation in British media. Jingan Young, the show’s writer and cultural consultant, highlighted the groundbreaking nature of Jing Lusi’s lead role, noting, “This is the first show, in god knows how long, that has an Asian lead.”

“It was an absolute honour to see this happening in the UK. You are seeing the story unfold through Hannah and finding out Nolan’s innocence or guilt from her perspective, so she’s not the ‘other’ – and I think that’s very groundbreaking.”

Lusi herself found the character’s depth and identity as an Asian woman to be a rare and exciting challenge, commenting, “Upon encountering the character, I was immediately struck by her remarkable depth… and then, to my astonishment, I realized she was an Asian woman. Such representation is rare. Throughout my career, I rarely encountered scripts offering roles like this.”

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Jemma Moore, expanding on her earlier statements, shared her profound connection with the project and its significance for British Asian representation, “We rarely, if ever, see these characters on British television. Feeling that flutter of excitement, knowing JingYan was also contributing, made it all the more special.”

“What Peter has achieved with these scripts is not just telling a story with Asian characters, but weaving our culture into the fabric of the narrative in a way that’s both organic and impactful. In the U.S., narratives like Beef (2023) are breaking ground with Asian-led projects, and it’s high time British television followed suit. Sitting here, watching our collective work come to life, filled me with emotion. It’s a signal that the tides are changing and this is only the beginning for our community. It’s a thrilling moment, promising to inspire more stories like this in the future.”

Get Ready to Stream or Stay Up Late with Red Eye

Mark your calendars and clear your schedules, because Red Eye is set to land on ITV1 on Sunday 21 April at 9pm. Don’t miss out on this pulse-pounding adventure – you can also catch it on-demand via ITVX for a binge-watching marathon. Six episodes of pure tension and mystery await!