'The Missing' To Return To BBC One

Filming has started on the second series of The Missing. The eight-part thriller will return to BBC One later this year, and is being produced by New Pictures, in association with Two Brothers Pictures for BBC One and Starz. Harry and Jack Williams have returned as writers, with Ben Chanan directing the latest series.

The Missing sees Tchéky Karyo reprise his role as detective Julien Baptiste but with a new case, new characters and a new location. It will follow Sam (David Morrissey) and Gemma (Keeley Hawes), whose daughter Alice went missing in 2003. In 2014, a young British woman stumbles through the streets of her German hometown and collapses. She is called Alice Webster (played by Abigail Hardingham) and she has been missing for 11 years.

The story is told in dual timelines, jumping between 2014 and the present day, and will see Alice's family as they thrown into turmoil. As detective Julien Baptiste races across Europe to pursue a 12-year-old case that he never go of, the complexities of morality and emotions of what happens when the missing child you've been wishing to return actually comes back.

Tchéky Karyo, David Morrissey and Keeley Hawes will be joined in the series by Roger Allam, Laura Fraser, Anastasia Hille, Lia Williams, Abigail Hardingham, Florian Bartholomäi, and Daniel Ezra.

Writers Harry and Jack Williams said: "While we were writing the first series, we began talking about what the show would have been had Oliver Hughes been found. This story grew out of that discussion. It's the other side of the coin to series one – an exploration of loss, of freedom, of how the past can shape the present in myriad ways that we cannot fully understand. It's bigger, more ambitious, and we're delighted to have such a brilliantly talented cast joining Julien Baptiste for a new case."

Willow Grylls, Executive Producer for New Pictures, added: "I am so proud to have such a high calibre of cast attached to this project and, with the genius of Harry and Jack Williams' scripts, I know the audience will be gripped to this series just as much as they were to the first. And the beloved Julien Baptiste is back! I am also thrilled to have the wonderful Ben Chanan as director leading the charge, telling the story as it twists and turns over two time frames. The Missing series two will be just as thrilling, heart-wrenching and character driven as you'd hope it to be."

Polly Hill, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, commented: "The success of series one and response from the audience was incredible, and I am extremely excited for what the second series holds. Harry and Jack Williams have delivered compelling original scripts yet again, this time with a completely new case from a different perspective. David Morrissey and Keeley Hawes are two of the finest actors in the country, and we are thrilled to have them on board."

Carmi Zlotnik, Starz Managing Director, said: "The talented Williams brothers take us on a thrilling journey in this next instalment with a new story, characters and locations that ultimately explores what happens when the missing child you've been searching for comes home. We are thrilled to continue this limited series and collaboration with the BBC, New Pictures and Playground."

The executive producers for The Missing are Willow Grylls, Charlie Pattinson and Elaine Pyke for New Pictures; Harry and Jack Williams for Two Brothers Pictures; Polly Hill for the BBC; Eurydice Gysel for Czar TV, and Jan Vrints and Colin Callender. Julian Stevens is the producer.

Series two has been commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller of BBC TV Channels and iPlayer, and Polly Hill, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning.

www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre

(JP)