Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Netflix's 'Missing You' Lands in Time for New Year Binge Watch
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 months ago on
December 29, 2024

Ashley Walters, left, and Rosalind Eleazar pose for photographers at a photo call for the television series Missing You, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in London. (AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LONDON — It’s Netflix’s resolution every new year to give viewers a headscratcher in January.

Since 2020, the streamer has released a U.K. miniseries based on thriller book by Harlan Coben over the holidays. It seems to have paid off: “Fool Me Once,” starring Michelle Keegan, Adeel Akhtar and Joanna Lumley, launched this past January and became what Netflix says was one of their most watched shows of the year, amassing 108 million views.

2025’s seasonal suspense series is “Missing You,” based on Coben’s 2014 New York Times bestseller. It stars Rosalind Eleazar (“Slow Horses”) as Detective Inspector Kat Donovan, a police officer who specializes in finding missing people — apart from the fiance that vanished 11 years earlier.

A New Year’s Tradition

“They know Jan. 1 is the sweet spot for them,” says actor Richard Armitage, who has appeared in each winter Coben adaptation, which relocates the stories from the books’ America to the north of England. “People have ownership over the show now, so like, ‘I want my Harlan Coben show on New Year’s Day. Give me my Harlan Coben fix.'”

“It’s perfect timing for the release, to be honest,” says co-star Ashley Walters. “Most people are going to be hung over or, you know, just not have anything to do with the day.”

The show opens with the shock of Donovan’s ex-fiance (Walters) popping up on a dating app, over a decade after she came home one day to find him gone.

“I’ve ghosted people before,” laughs Armitage. “Just people you don’t want to talk to anymore. Not digitally though.”

Another star, Jessica Plummer, isn’t a fan of those who disappear without saying goodbye, though.

“I’d just feel too guilty,” she admits, calling it “cowardly and lazy — sorry Richard!”

Twists and Turns

Eleazar promises twists and turns along the way, adding that the actors weren’t initially given the final two scripts and had to turn to the book to find out what happens.

Coben “really is a genius at taking you up the wrong track,” says Eleazar. “You’re so sure that this time you’ve got it right and it’s this person or this thing, but you are inevitably always wrong.”

“I would love to know, actually, how he starts a book, you know? Does it start with an idea or does he think of the most inconceivable idea and go, ‘That’s how it’s going to end’?” she adds.

Armitage agrees that “Missing You” does justice to the “hair-raising” shock ending of the book; “It’s like the rug is pulled away at the last minute.”

New Year’s Celebrations

And while audiences at home can binge-watch the whole five-part series as 2025 is still finding its feet, the cast will be busy with a variety of pastimes.

Lenny Henry, who portrays Kat’s father, jokes that he usually wakes up to a new year surrounded by roast potatoes, while wearing pajamas.

Armitage likes to be outside and start fresh by skiing down a mountain, while Eleazar has plans to celebrate in style: She and a group of friends have a tradition where they rent a castle and dress up in themed costumes.

Past New Year’s Eve parties have included donning 18th century garb in France and last year’s Versace-themed fete.

“I will be celebrating and really hoping that everyone loves this show on the 1st,” she says.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California’s Stubborn Problems Keep Thwarting Its Ballooning Budget

DON'T MISS

Sights & Sounds: The 2025 Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade and Festival

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Musk Relationship Over, Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ if He Funds Democrats

DON'T MISS

Iran Says It Obtained Sensitive Israeli Nuclear Documents

DON'T MISS

Trump Has Options to Punish Musk Even if His Federal Contracts Continue

DON'T MISS

Ukrainian Attack Damaged 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, Germany Says

DON'T MISS

Riot Police, Anti-ICE Protesters Square Off in Los Angeles After Raids

DON'T MISS

Why Reforming California’s Bedrock Environmental Law Is Good for the Environment

DON'T MISS

Sinner Bids for His First French Open Title Against Defending Champion Alcaraz

DON'T MISS

Coco Gauff Defeats Top-Ranked Aryna Sabalenka in 3 Sets to Win Her First French Open Title

UP NEXT

Sights & Sounds: The 2025 Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade and Festival

UP NEXT

Trump Says Musk Relationship Over, Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ if He Funds Democrats

UP NEXT

Iran Says It Obtained Sensitive Israeli Nuclear Documents

UP NEXT

Trump Has Options to Punish Musk Even if His Federal Contracts Continue

UP NEXT

Ukrainian Attack Damaged 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, Germany Says

UP NEXT

Riot Police, Anti-ICE Protesters Square Off in Los Angeles After Raids

UP NEXT

Sinner Bids for His First French Open Title Against Defending Champion Alcaraz

UP NEXT

Coco Gauff Defeats Top-Ranked Aryna Sabalenka in 3 Sets to Win Her First French Open Title

UP NEXT

Texas Beats Texas Tech in 3rd Game of WCWS to Win Its 1st National Championship

UP NEXT

Conforto Comes Through, Dodgers Rally in 8th for Victory Abetted by Mets Mishap

Iran Says It Obtained Sensitive Israeli Nuclear Documents

1 day ago

Trump Has Options to Punish Musk Even if His Federal Contracts Continue

1 day ago

Ukrainian Attack Damaged 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, Germany Says

1 day ago

Riot Police, Anti-ICE Protesters Square Off in Los Angeles After Raids

1 day ago

Why Reforming California’s Bedrock Environmental Law Is Good for the Environment

2 days ago

Sinner Bids for His First French Open Title Against Defending Champion Alcaraz

2 days ago

Coco Gauff Defeats Top-Ranked Aryna Sabalenka in 3 Sets to Win Her First French Open Title

2 days ago

Texas Beats Texas Tech in 3rd Game of WCWS to Win Its 1st National Championship

2 days ago

Conforto Comes Through, Dodgers Rally in 8th for Victory Abetted by Mets Mishap

2 days ago

Giants Beat the Slumping Braves in 10 Innings on a Wild Pitch

2 days ago

California’s Stubborn Problems Keep Thwarting Its Ballooning Budget

This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The first quarter of the 21st century has been, in a ...

18 hours ago

19 hours ago

California’s Stubborn Problems Keep Thwarting Its Ballooning Budget

1 day ago

Sights & Sounds: The 2025 Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade and Festival

1 day ago

Trump Says Musk Relationship Over, Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ if He Funds Democrats

1 day ago

Iran Says It Obtained Sensitive Israeli Nuclear Documents

1 day ago

Trump Has Options to Punish Musk Even if His Federal Contracts Continue

1 day ago

Ukrainian Attack Damaged 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, Germany Says

1 day ago

Riot Police, Anti-ICE Protesters Square Off in Los Angeles After Raids

2 days ago

Why Reforming California’s Bedrock Environmental Law Is Good for the Environment

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend