Martin Compston Boards 'Red Eye' Season 2 as Filming Commences

Though most Americans think of the BBC when they think of British television, the truth is a lot (and I mean a LOT) of British favorites that cross the pond actually come from the BBC's main rival, ITV. Some of Masterpiece's most popular shows are from ITV, Unforgotten, Downton Abbey, Grantchester, Morse, Lewis, Endeavour, even Agatha Christie's Poirot, are all productions from Independent Television. However, ITV is a bit of feast and famine: the shows that come over are either critically heralded darlings, like Mr Bates vs the Post Office, or barely watchable. So I think people can forgive us when we initially looked a bit askance at the six-part thriller Red Eye.

Season 1 of Red Eye sported a pretty high-end cast, including Richard Armitage (Obsession), Jing Lusi (Crazy Rich Asians), and Lesley Sharp (Before We Die) when it debuted in 2024. However, the series featured an overnight flight from London to Beijing on which a U.K. prisoner (Armitage) is being transferred to China for a crime he may not have committed, which seemed like a bad rerun of Apple TV+'s Hijack. When the series showed no signs of crossing the pond, we tabled it.

But despite critics' tepid-at-best reviews, ITV has renewed the series for a second season, and upped the ante by bringing a new prisoner from Jing Lusi's character, DS Hana Li, to take the red eye around the globe, casting Martin Compston (Line of Duty) as Season 2's main guest star.