Alibi's Newest Commission Will Be 'The Red King'

As one of the U.K.'s newest start-up streaming services, Alibi is still building a library of original series to work from. So far, the mystery and detective-oriented niche service have done well, with hits like Annika, The Diplomat, Traces, and We Hunt Together, to name a few. These shows have also attracted American streaming services to partner up with the network, with PBS taking Annika, Netflix taking The Diplomat, and so on. It also airs series that quickly catch the attention of American broadcasters, like Miss Scarlet and the Duke. Now it's adding another to the lineup: The Red King. 

The series is described in the press release as "a character-driven mystery-thriller that combines the powerful story of a knotty police investigation with chilling, atmospheric folk-horror through the island's eerie past devotion to a pagan God called the Red King and the cult of the True Way." This mystery, created and written by Toby Whithouse (Being Human), comes to Alibi and parent company UK TV via ITV's Quay Street Productions. Though the series does not have an American distributor yet, with a producing lineup like this, it's only a matter of time before someone snaps it up, especially with the cast.

The Red King features The Lazarus Project's big breakout star, Anjli Mohindra as the leading detective Grace Narayan. She is joined by Bridgerton (and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story) star Adjoa Andoh as Lady Heather Nancarrow and Van der Valk star Marc Warren as Dr. Ian Prideaux.

Here's the new series' synopsis:

Smart, capable, and by-the-book Grace Narayan was flying high as an inner-city police sergeant before being forced into a 'punishment posting' on the small, antiquated island of St. Jory. Confronted by the forgotten and unsolved case of missing teenage boy Cai, Grace quickly discovers that she must overcome scarce evidence, extraordinary local characters, and the island's strange cult history to uncover the truth.

Mohindra's other co-stars include Jill Halfpenny (Everything I Know About Love) as Ann Fletcher, Mark Lewis Jones (Keeping Faith) as Gruffudd Prosser, Oliver Ryan (Steeltown Murders) as Mihangel Pugh, Sam Swainsbury (Mum) as Father Douglas Carrisford, Lu Corfield (Showtrial) as Lowri Bain, James Bamford (Luther: The Fallen Sun) as Owen Parry and Maeve Courtier-Lilley (The Outpost) as Winter Bain.

Whithouse is credited with all six episodes, with director Daniel O'Hara (Stay Close) helming all installments. Whithouse and O'Hara are executive producers on the project, along with Nicola Shindler and Davina Earl for Quay Street Productions and Philippa Collie Cousins for UKTV. 

The Red King has just begun filming in the U.K. with an expected release date in 2024.