UKTV orders Toby Whithouse & Quay Street thriller ‘The Red King’ for Alibi

The Red King cast

UKTV has commissioned mystery-thriller The Red King from Being Human creator Toby Whithouse and Nicola Shindler’s Quay Street for its crime drama channel Alibi.

Whithouse has created and written the 6 x 60-minute series, which is produced by Quay Street (Nolly), in association with ITV Studios, which will handle international sales.

The series follows smart, capable and by the book Grace Narayan (Anjli Mohindra), who 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.

The cast also includes Adjoa Andoh, Marc Warren, Jill Halfpenny, Mark Lewis Jones, Oliver Ryan, Sam Swainsbury, Lu Corfield, James Bamford and Maeve Courtier-Lilley.

Shindler and Davina Earl exec produce for Quay Street Productions, alongside Philippa Collie Cousins for UKTV and Whithouse. The series will be directed by Daniel O’Hara, who is also executive producing, and produced by Guy Hescott.

“Working with Quay Street and UKTV has been a genuine joy. This has been a passion project for all of us. A genre bending mystery, combining drama, suspense and horror, starring some of the best actors in television. We’re so excited to share these characters and their stories with you,” said Whithouse.

The Red King is the latest UKTV original for Alibi and will air in 2024. Other original dramas include The Diplomat, produced by World Productions, and Annika, which will return to Alibi for a second series later this year.