Rosalind Eleazar & Lenny Henry to star in Netflix’s Harlan Coben 'Missing You'

Netflix's dive into adaptations of Harlan Coben thriller novels, resetting them in the U.K. and starring British actors, has been a slam dunk in terms of viewership, especially the English-language ones. The last two releases, Stay Close and Fool Me Once, released on New Year's Eve 2021 and New Year's Day 2024, respectively, were major events in the U.K. Unsurprisingly, Netflix has already re-upped its deal with Coben to adapt two more novels, and filming is already underway for the first one, Missing You, with Slow Horses' Rosalind Eleazar in the lead role as Detective Kat Donovan.

Netflix seems to have found a winning team in Nicola Shindler's Quay Street Productions, the same producers behind the latest Coben adaptation, Fool Me Once. As usual, Coben will serve as executive producer through his company, Final Twist Productions. And, as seems to be a thing now, Richard Armitage will be part of the cast, though he's not the leading man this go round. (Armitage has starred in every English language Coben adaptation Netflix has produced so far.) Though his role was not revealed, one assumes he will be the missing/estranged fiancé/boyfriend/husband. Eleazar's character has been believed to be dead and gone for years.

Instead, the co-starring role this time goes to a higher-profile English actor, Sir Lenny Henry. The announcement comes just as Henry steps down from his long-time role as the host of the BBC's Red Nose Day, declaring it's time to retire from the long-running charity fundraiser he co-founded nearly 40 years ago.

Here's the synopsis for the new series:

Eleven years ago, Detective Kat Donovan’s fiancé Josh – the love of her life – disappeared, and she’s never heard from him since. Now, swiping profiles on a dating app, she suddenly sees his face, and her world explodes all over again. Josh’s reappearance will force her to dive back into the mystery surrounding her father’s murder and uncover long-buried secrets from her past.

Along with Elezar, Henry, and Armitage, Netflix's new series will feature Jessica Plummer (The Girl Before), Steve Pemberton (Happy Valley), Paul Kaye (Sexy Beast), Samantha Spiro (Sex Education), Lisa Faulkner (Archie), Mary Malone (Doctor Who), Charlie Hamblett (Killing Eve), Oscar Kennedy (The White Queen), Brigid Zengeni (Totally Completely Fine), Catherine Ayers (Who Is Erin Carter), Felix Garcia Guyer (D.I. Ray), and Jo Martin (The Marlow Murder Club).

Victoria Asare-Archer penned all episodes with directors Sean Spencer and Isher Sahota splitting helming duties on the five-episode series and Guy Hescott producing. Coben, Shindler, Asare-Archer, Richard Fee, and Danny Brocklehurst executive produce.

Missing You is expected out around or on New Year's Day 2025. It will be followed by Netflix's subsequent adaptation of a Coben novel, Run Away.