Yahoo News Is ITV's Red Eye a true story? Richard Armitage leads cast in gripping thriller
While its plot certainly has plenty of twists and turns, there were plenty of viewers left wondering if Red Eye was in fact a true story, as it made its eagerly awaited debut last Sunday night.
One of the big highlights of the spring new arrivals on ITV and with real potential of being a ratings winner, Red Eye stars Richard Armitage, the actor known to millions the world over, thanks to his roles in Netflix smashes The Stranger, Stay Close and, most recently, alongside Michelle Keegan in Fool Me Once.
And now Richard is in the primetime spotlight in Red Eye as Dr Matthew Nolan, who arrives home and is immediately arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport after attending a medical conference in Beijing and coming frighteningly close to dying in a car crash - a dead woman was discovered in his crashed car, and despite his protests that he was driving alone and is entirely innocent Nolan is immediately arrested at Heathrow on his return to the UK and extradited to China to face charges.
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The Red Eye cast also includes Jing Lusi, Jemma Moore, Lesley Sharp, as other characters involved in Dr Nolan's plight have their own pasts exposed. And, even just from seeing the trailers for the new drama, which have been on heavy rotation on ITV for the last few weeks, some viewers were left asking one major question - is the show based on real life events.
Is ITV's Red Eye a true story?
While there have been some well documented miscarriages of justice over the years, Red Eye, not to be confused with the Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy film of the same name, isn't a true story and is instead the work of screenwriter Peter A Dowling, who is the man responsible for gripping Josie Foster aeroplane thriller Flight Plan.
Talking about it earlier this year, Polly Hill, ITV's Head of Drama, said: "Red Eye is a brilliantly addictive thriller with an international story taking place on the red eye flight from Heathrow to Beijing.
"Thanks to Peter’s scripts, the story will have the audience gripped and continually surprised throughout. It’s got a fantastic cast and we are delighted to have worked with Bad Wolf (production company) on this exciting new show.”
