Prepare to go on quite the wild ride with new crime drama The Red King, which combines elements of the archetypal police drama format we know with elements of "chilling, atmospheric folk-horror."

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The six-part series is not only positively intriguing, but also boasts quite the cast and behind-the-scenes team.

Led by Anjli Mohindra (The Lazarus Project) as police sergeant Grace Narayan, the show follows her as she's sent to the small island of St Jory, where she's faced with the unsolved case of a missing local boy.

But will she be able to get to the bottom of this case despite some tension from the locals? On top of that, Grace also has to reckon with the town's "eerie past devotion to a pagan God called the Red King and the cult of the True Way".

The new series is penned by Doctor Who's Toby Whithouse and directed by Daniel O'Hara, who is known for his work on Harlan Coben's Stay Close and The Stranger, as well as Brassic.

Keen to know more? Read on for everything you need to know about The Red King.

The Red King release date

Anjli Mohindra as Grace Narayan in The Red King looking stressed as she stands in the middle of a road in her police uniform, looking at something.
Anjli Mohindra as Grace Narayan in The Red King. UKTV/Alibi

The Red King premieres on Wednesday 24th April at 9pm on Alibi. All episodes will then be available to stream on Sky, Virgin and NOW.

While there's been no news of the sort for this series so far, we do know that previous Alibi drama Annika aired its first season on BBC One two years after initially premiering on Alibi.

The Red King cast

Adjoa Andoh as Lady Heather Nancarrow in The Red King sitting on a chair in the middle of an office in the police station, leaning back and looking confused.
Adjoa Andoh as Lady Heather Nancarrow in The Red King. UKTV/Alibi

Led by Anjli Mohindra, known for her roles in The Lazarus Project and Vigil, as Grace, the star is joined by many a familiar face in The Red King.

As well as the likes of Jill Halfpenny (The Cuckoo) as Ann Fletcher and Mark Lewis Jones (Baby Reindeer) as Gruffudd Prosser, the cast for The Red King also includes Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton) as Lady Heather Nancarrow and Marc Warren (Van Der Valk) as Dr Ian Prideaux.

The full cast list for The Red King is as follows.

  • Anjli Mohindra as Grace Narayan
  • Adjoa Andoh as Lady Heather Nancarrow
  • Marc Warren as Dr Ian Prideaux
  • Jill Halfpenny as Ann Fletcher
  • Mark Lewis Jones as Gruffudd Prosser
  • Oliver Ryan as Mihangel Pugh
  • Sam Swainsbury as Father Douglas Carrisford
  • Lu Corfield as Lowri Bain
  • James Bamford as Owen Parry
  • Maeve Courtier-Lilley as Winter Bain
  • Tuyen Do as Minh Prosser
  • Lloyd Meredith as Eric Crowther
  • Dylan Jones as Alun Crowther

What is The Red King about?

Jill Halfpenny as Ann Fletcher in The Red King standing in the middle of a field and having a tense conversation.
Jill Halfpenny as Ann Fletcher in The Red King. UKTV/Alibi

The new series follows Grace as she's placed on a remote "punishment posting" on the island of St Jory in Wales, where she's meet with hostility, a cult nobody seems to talk about and the case of a missing teenager.

According to the official series synopsis: "Smart, capable and by the book Grace Narayan (Mohindra) 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 Red King is a character-driven mystery-thriller that combines the powerful story of a knotty police investigation with chilling, atmospheric folk-horror through the island's eerie past devotion to a pagan God called the Red King and the cult of the True Way."

Is there a trailer for The Red King?

There is! You can get a real sense of the drama and suspense to come in the new series as we see Grace struggle to get to grips with the small town and the case of Cai.

You can watch it below.

The Red King premieres on Wednesday 24th April at 9pm on Alibi, with all episodes available to stream on Sky, Virgin and NOW.

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Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Authors

Morgan Cormack
Morgan CormackDrama Writer

Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.

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