Katherine Kelly plays drug smuggling stewardess in drama from Marcella writer

Channel 4 has acquired Buccaneer’s drama In Flight, co-created by Marcella writer Mike Walden and and Slow Horses director Adam Randall.  

The Long Shadow actor Katherine Kelly will play a flight attendant being blackmailed by a criminal gang into drug smuggling after her son is arrested for murder. Joining the ensemble cast are Stuart Martin, Ashley Thomas, Bronagh Waugh, Harry Cadby, Corinna Brown and Ambreen Razia. 

Katherine Kelly - Landscape

Katherine Kelly

The 6 x 60-minute series will be set across Bangkok, Bulgaria, Istanbul and London, with filming to take place in Belfast with funding support from Northern Ireland Screen.

It has been picked up for Channel 4 by head of acquisitions Polly Scates. The executive producers at Marcella indie Buccaneer are Anna Burns and joint chief executives Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart, while exec producers at Fremantle are Rebecca Dundon and Simon Judd.  

Walden and Randall will also exec produce alongside director Chris Baugh (Wreck). The producer is Brendan Mullin and the casting director is Gary Davy.   

Walden and Randall said: “In Flight is our spin on the noir genre, a high stakes, stylish, romantic thriller with iconic characters and nerve shredding action. Channel 4 is the perfect home for our story and we’re so excited to be collaborating with such a brilliant team.” 

Scates said: “This unique crime drama will take our audience on a thrilling journey through terrifying worlds, but at the real heart of this story is just how far a parent will go to keep their child safe. We’re excited to be working with the team at Buccaneer to bring this story to screen.” 

Tulk-Hart said: “At a difficult time for the industry In Flight shows the power of bringing a number of partners together to make something happen. So a big thank you to SBS, TVNZ, ProSieben and Fremantle for also seeing the potential in these scripts at such an early stage.” 

ProSieben has pre-bought the series for Germany along with SBS for Australia and TVNZ for New Zealand. Fremantle is handling global sales. 

Other recent Buccaneer productions include The Doll Factory for Paramount+ and Irvine Welsh’s ‘Crime’ for ITVX.