Disney+ Will Abscond with 'The Stolen Girl'

It's been a rough decade for the entertainment industry. It first shut down in 2020 due to the pandemic, then was hobbled by the streaming wars as it tried to recover, only to have the twin writer and actor strikes derail most of 2023. At this point, the number of shows announced only to get canceled (or disappear into the ether) is starting to rival those that get made. That certainly seemed to be the fate of Playdate, initially announced in 2023 for Disney+ U.K. However, the series didn't actually disappear; the production just changed the series title to The Stolen Girl.

Changing the names of shows mid-production is nothing new; usually, there's a good reason for it. Until I Kill You, for example, changed from Delia Balmer when producers realized Americans had no idea who she was. Sally Wainwright changed her series from Hot Flush to Riot Women for much the same reason — Americans call them Hot Flashes, not Hot Flushes. 

In the case of Playdate, the initial title was taken from the source material, Alex Dahl's 2018 novel of the same name. But while Americans also use the word "playdate" when talking about young children visiting each other's houses, in the U.S., it connotes toddlers or infants where plans are made well in advance. That is the opposite of the situation at the story's heart, which begins when two elementary school-aged girls who become BFFs at school beg their mothers to let them have a sleepover one evening. 

Here’s the series synopsis:

A seemingly ordinary decision turns the world of Elisa, mum to two young kids, upside down in this tense thriller. When her 9-year-old daughter Lucia excitedly asks to go on an overnight playdate with her new best friend Josie, Elisa agrees. After meeting Josie’s mother, Rebecca, she’s put at ease by her charming nature and their impressive house. But when she says goodnight to her daughter, she has no idea that she is about to be thrust into every parent’s worst nightmare.

The next day, when Elisa picks up Lucia, she discovers the beautiful house is a holiday rental. Lucia is missing. Rebecca and Josie have vanished. What started as her daughter’s first sleepover has turned into an abduction. As an urgent manhunt unfolds across Europe, Elisa and her husband, Fred, find themselves the object of police and public scrutiny. Elisa’s perfect family begins to unravel under the pressure, and long-buried secrets come to light. Rebecca took Lucia for a reason. And as viewers learn more about the tangled lives of these women, we will wonder if Rebecca was justified in kidnapping the little girl – and whether she might be better off staying hidden. 

Denise Gough (Too Close) and Jim Sturgess (One Day) star as Elisa and Fred Blix, with Holliday Grainger  (The Capture) as Rebecca. The series co-stars Ambika Mod (This Is Going To Hurt) as investigative journalist Selma,  Bronagh Waugh (Ridley) as DI Shona Sinclair, and Michael Workeye (My Lady Jane) as Kaleb Negasi. 

The series was adapted by Catherine Moulton (Baptiste) from Alex Dahl’s best-selling novel Playdate; all five episodes were helmed by director Eva Husson (Mothering Sunday), with James Dean producing. Dahl, Moulton, and Husson are all credited as executive producers alongside Tanya Seghatchian & John Woodward for Brightstar, Nicola Shindler for Quay Street Productions, and Hannah Scott for Disney+.

The Stolen Girl does not yet have a release date on either side of the pond, but it is expected to debut on Disney+ in the U.K. and follow in the U.S. on Hulu (or under the Hulu tile on Disney+).