Riviera 3: cast, plot, start date and everything you need to know

Riviera season three Julia Stiles and Rupert Graves

Julia Stiles returns for the third series of Sky Atlantic drama Riviera

Riviera season three sees Julia Stiles star once more as a troubled art expert in the South of France in the glossy Sky Atlantic drama.

Here’s everything we know about Riviera season three

When will Riviera season three start on Sky Atlantic?

Riviera is back for a third series on Thursday 15 October on Sky Atlantic at 9pm. The whole eight-part series is available the same day on Sky Box Sets and Now TV.

What’s it about?

The new series picks up as Georgina Ryland, played by Hollywood star Julia Stiles, has fled her dangerous life in the South of France for a quieter role as a lecturer on the recovery of stolen art. But a deadly threat beckons when she is asked to investigate a dubious Picasso in Venice. She soon becomes embroiled with sinister political machinations.

“She’s trying to distance herself from her past. But she quickly gets wrapped up in a conspiracy involving a corrupt Argentinian political family. She also uncovers secrets about people she already knows,” says Julia. “This series is broader in scope because we go to South America and see the criminality of characters outside the tight-knit South of France world.”

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Who’s in the cast of Riviera?

Riviera Julia Stiles and Rupert Graves

Julia Stiles and Rupert Graves find danger in Venice as Georgina and Gabriel in Riviera

Sherlock’s Rupert Graves joins the cast as charismatic Gabriel Hirsch who also works in art restitution. He asks Georgina to come to Venice to look at the Picasso and they both find themselves in peril.

“Gabriel’s charming, capable and committed to the art world. But he's got an interesting mystery at the centre of him. He doesn't shy away from adventure,” says Rupert. “He’s attracted to Georgina’s ability not to play everything by the book. That’s useful to him.”

The new series of Riviera also sees Doctor Foster’s Clare-Hope Asey as ruthless Ellen Swann, the Chief of Staff to no-nonsense digital guru Alex Harewood (Ragnarok’s Synnove Macody Lund). Franco Masini is ambitious Cesar Alsina-Suarez, the son of an shady Argentinian politician, and Eliseo Barrionuevo is his brother Dario Alsina-Suarez.

Meanwhile Jack Fox and Poppy Delevingne return as wealthy brother and sister Nico and Daphne Eltham. They cross paths with Georgina once more as she is drawn back to the South of France.

Is there a trailer for Riviera 3?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKP8tC1oSbw

Yes! The thrilling, action-packed teaser sees Georgina and Gabriel against the stunning backdrop of Venice, Buenos Aires and the South of France. They are shown being chased, while Georgina points a gun and also comes across a body, before ominously declaring, “I’m in the middle of a political cover-up”…

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What else do we know?

There’s plenty of action in the new series and Rupert suffered for his art when he filmed a fight sequence in a Venetian canal.

“It’s not the cleanest body of water. He was fearless but at four in the morning, after doing it over and over again, I saw him wince and regret his decision!,” says Julia.

Riviera returns on Thursday 15 October on Sky Atlantic at 9pm. The whole eight-part series is available the same day on Sky Box Sets and Now TV.

Caren Clark

Caren has been a journalist specializing in TV for almost two decades and is a Senior Features Writer for TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and What’s On TV magazines and she also writes for What to Watch.


Over the years, she has spent many a day in a muddy field or an on-set catering bus chatting to numerous stars on location including the likes of Olivia Colman, David Tennant, Suranne Jones, Jamie Dornan, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Derek Jacobi as well as Hollywood actors such as Glenn Close and Kiefer Sutherland.


Caren will happily sit down and watch any kind of telly (well, maybe not sci-fi!), but she particularly loves period dramas like Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey and The Crown and she’s also a big fan of juicy crime thrillers from Line of Duty to Poirot.


In her spare time, Caren enjoys going to the cinema and theatre or curling up with a good book.