BritBox's 'Passenger' Trailer Promises a Spooky October Tale

Cozy crime series have been the bread and butter of niche streaming services like BritBox and Acorn TV since they launched in the 2010s. But BritBox, which began as a joint project between ITV and the BBC to keep Americans from pirating iPlayer, has changed course since the BBC bought out ITV's share of the international service. This summer, we will see the debut of far rougher stuff in the police procedural series, with the returns of Blue Lights and The Responder for Season 2. September will follow it up with the debut of the second season of Trigger Point. But it's ITV's Passenger, which is slated to arrive just in time for Halloween, that fully highlights the divergence.

Passenger was billed by ITV as a "dark comedy," an odd choice considering the initial commission emphasized the project's creepy, supernatural thriller elements. The first trailer also made the show seem like it had a real horror bent. However, the reviews, mainly positive from U.K. critics, explained the discrepancy. Passenger pokes fun at the cozy crime cliches even as the actual story hovers somewhere between X-Files meets Happy Valley. That sort of self-aware series puts BritBox on a higher plane than it otherwise might be; after all, it takes real confidence to laugh at your own programming, something the niche streamers at AMC Networks cannot really afford.

Written by debut screenwriter Andrew Buchan, who is best known for his acting role on Broadchurch, the series stars Wunmi Mosaku (Loki) as the classic "Recently Retired Met Police Detective" Riya Ajunwa, who in this case has moved to the small town of Chadder Vale, only to find that nothing about the small town is what it seems.

Here’s the series synopsis:

Set in the fictional small Northern town of Chadder Vale, Former Met Police Detective Riya Ajunwa investigates a series of strange and inexplicable crimes that have the townsfolk spinning on an axis. Riya arrived in decaying Chadder Vale five years ago when one night, local girl Katie Wells mysteriously disappears. The town barely has time to register her absence before she reappears the next day, apparently safe and sound. The townsfolk ask few questions, and normal life resumes. 

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 shocking crimes start unfolding within the town, the residents resort to short-sighted theories and blame outside influences such as the fracking site and its manager Jim Bracknell. As things become stranger, so the people push back on Riya’s absurd notion that something is not right with this town. But what are they so afraid of? 

Mosaku and Robinson will co-star with Rowan Robinson (So Awkward), David Threlfall (Dodger), Jo Hartley (After Life), Sean Gilder (The Gold), and Debbie Rush (Brassic). The rest of the supporting cast includes Daniel Ryan (The Bay), Barry Sloane (Litvinenko), Natalie Gavin (Gentleman Jack), Nico Mirallegro (We Hunt Together), Hubert Hanowicz (This Is Going To Hurt), Jack James Ryan (Vera), Shervin Alenabi (Gangs of London), Ella Bruccoleri (Call The Midwife), Arian Nik (Van der Valk), and Matilda Freeman (Alma’s Not Normal).

Buchan penned all six episodes of Passenger with directors Lee Haven-Jones (The Long Call) and Nicole Charles (The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies) splitting helming duties. Buchan is also an associate producer via Northern Sister, part of Sister group, with executive producers Lucy Dyke and Simon Maloney for Northern Sister, Jane Featherstone for SISTER, and Reemah Sakaan and Stephen Nye for BritBox International.

Passenger will debut on BritBox in October 2024 with all episodes.