A new 6x60-minute Channel 4 show, titled In Flight and toplined by actress Katherine Kelly, is in the works. The crime-thriller is penned and co-created by Mike Walden (Marcella, Whitstable Pearl) and Adam Randall (Slow Horses, iBoy), with Chris Baugh (Wreck, Tin Star) attached to direct.

Filming is now under way in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Set all across the globe in locations such as Bangkok, Bulgaria, Istanbul and London, the story zooms in on Jo Conran (Kelly), a single mum working as a flight attendant. Her son is serving a 15-year sentence in a Bulgarian prison for a murder he swears he did not commit. Jo is approached by a gang who know all about her son and is blackmailed into using her job to smuggle drugs. She soon finds herself pulled into a murky underworld of corrupt cops and hired killers, forced to carry out their orders with no escape in sight. However, no matter how far Jo finds herself from her old life, her mission remains the same: to keep her son alive.

The main cast is rounded off by Stuart Martin, starring as Cormac, a key member of the criminal gang, and Ashley Thomas as Dom, a customs officer at a major London airport. In addition, the show features Bronagh Waugh as Melanie, Harry Cadby as Sonny, Corinna Brown as Kayla and Ambreen Razia as Zara.

In Flight is being produced by UK firm Buccaneer Media, with backing from Northern Ireland Screen, and has been acquired for Channel 4 by Polly Scates, head of Acquisitions. The executive producers are Anna Burns, Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart for Buccaneer Media, Rebecca Dundon and Simon Judd for Fremantle, alongside the aforementioned Walden, Randall and Baugh. Brendan Mullin is producing, whilst Gary Davy is serving as the project’s casting director.

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

Walden and Randall commented: “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. Jo is a character close to our hearts. She is an ordinary woman facing extraordinary odds. We can’t wait for audiences to meet her.”