The Red King: release date, cast, plot, interview, trailer, first looks and everything you need to know

The Red King is a suspenseful thriller series on Alibi which has overtones of both Shetland and classic 1973 movie The Wicker Man. 

The drama stars Anjli Mohindra, Adjoa Andoh, Marc Warren and Jill Halfpenny and focuses on the unsolved disappearance of a teenage boy on an island with an eerie past. The Lazarus Project star Anjli Mohindra plays police sergeant Grace Narayan, who was once a high flyer but is forced into a ‘punishment posting’ on the small, antiquated island of St. Jory. And to get to the bottom of the cold-case disappearance of youngster Cai, she must battle scarce evidence, strange locals and the island’s past devotion to a pagan god called The Red King and the cult of the True Way. 

The Red King was created by Being Human writer Toby Whitehouse, who says, “Working with Quay Street and UKTV has been a genuine joy. This has been a passion project for all of us. A genre-bending mystery, combining drama, suspense and horror, starring some of the best actors in television. We're so excited to share these characters and their stories with you.” 

Here’s everything you need to know about the Alibi series The Red King, including these first-look pictures (see above and below).... 

The Red King release date

The Red King is a six-part series that will launch on the UKTV channel Alibi on Wednesday, April 24 2024 at 9 pm. All episodes of this thriller will also become available on Sky TV and Now TV from that date.

Previous Alibi series such as Annika has eventually arrived on BBC One, so it may be the same for The Red King, so do watch out for a channel change later down the line.

The Red King plot 

Sergeant Grace Narayan (Anjli Mohindra) is a smart and capable police officer but when she falls from grace, she’s sent to the tiny island of St. Jory. There, she digs into the long-forgotten unsolved case of teenage Cai. But Grace must navigate difficult and dangerous territory to get to the truth behind Cai’s disappearance, not least the islanders’ connection to a pagan called The Red King. 

She’s unsettled by the welcome she receives from the off-beat St Jory community, however, as although local landowner Lady Heather Nancarrow (Adjoa Andoh) appears genial, other residents including retired cop Gruffudd Prosser (Mark Lewis Jones), are hostile. And when Grace re-opens the unsolved case of missing teenager Cai, the son of troubled doctor Ian Prideaux (Marc Warren), the islanders close ranks.

As the series progresses, no-nonsense DCI Ann Fletcher (Jill Halfpenny) also arrives to carry out further inquiries, but can Grace’s discoveries about the island’s mysterious devotion to strange pagan religion The True Way and powerful deity The Red King shed light on the investigation? 

The Red King cast — Anjli Mohindra interview on playing Grace Naraya

In The Red King Anjli plays exiled cop Grace Naraya who's sent to the mysterious island St Jory to lead an investigation. 

She says: "I found this hybrid of a knotty police mystery with folk horror elements exciting, and the script took me by surprise. It's twisty with so many red herrings that the rug is pulled out from under you. 

"Grace is a by-the-book officer who thrives on the rigidity of the police system. Her principles get her into trouble when she whistleblows on two corrupt colleagues, but she believes in doing justice the right way, she's like a dog with a bone who doesn’t give up. But she had a turbulent upbringing, so she finds human interaction difficult.

"Grace knows this ‘punishment posting’ is an attempt at making her leave the force and she's determined not to let that be the case. But she rubs people up the wrong way. And this island has become a perfect breeding ground for a cult to take hold and the locals don't like outsiders. Whenever there’s pagan horror, our brains go to things like [classic 1973 film] The Wicker Man but there are similarities with [2022 movie] Men too.

"It becomes a classic whodunnit. Lots of people are keeping secrets. We kept talking about The Traitors because it feels like they are hiding things, and you're not sure if that’s to do with the case, or the cult. There's distrust and fear. Grace is gaslit, ostracised and pushed to the limit. But is her reality skewed? 

"It was a joy to work with such a great cast. Adjoa Andoh sparkles, and Grace and Lady Heather become unlikely allies. Marc Warren made us all raise our game and Mark Lewis Jones is incredible, he has this emotional undercurrent bubbling away and Gruffudd and Grace are each other’s kryptonite. And Jill Halfpenny as DCI Ann Fletcher is so funny! When Ann arrives, Grace is delighted to have somebody normal to interact with, but Ann minimises her, like everybody else does."

The Red King star Anjli Mohindra: ‘It's twisty with red herrings!’

* Anjili Mohindra has previously starred as Archie in the hugely successful Sky sci-fi series The Lazarus Project and she played Tiffany Docherty in BBC1 thriller Vigil. She’s also starred in Bodyguard, Munich: The Edge of War, The Suspect, Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures. 

Who else is starring in The Red King?

The impressive cast of The Red King includes Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh who plays Lady Heather Nancarrow, Jill Halfpenny (The Cuckoo) as DCI Ann Fletcher, Mark Lewis Jones (Men Up, Outlander) plays retired cop Gruffudd Prosser and Marc Warren (Safe, Van der Valk) is GP Ian Prideaux. Mum's Sam Swainsbury is playing Father Douglas Carrisford and Lu Corfield plays Lowri Bain, Oliver Ryan is Mihangel, James Bamford is Owen Parry, Maeve Courtier-Lilley plays Winter Bain, Tuyen Do is Minh Prosser, Lloyd Meredith as Eric Crowther and Dylan Jones as Alun Crowther,

Is there a trailer for The Red King?

There's a trailer for The Red King which has been posted by Alibi on social media. Take a look below... 

Behind the scenes and more on The Red King

The red King is a six-part series is created and written by Toby Whithouse (Being Human, The Game) and produced by Quay Street Productions, in association with ITV Studios, which will handle international distribution, and supported by North East Screen.