Netflix’s ‘Missing You’ Arrives in Time for Binge-Watching on New Year’s Eve | Entertainment

LONDON (AP) — Netflix’s resolution every new year is give to viewers a scratch on the head in January.

Since 2020, the streamer has released a miniseries in the United Kingdom based on the thriller book by Harlan Coben during the holidays. It appears to have paid off: “Fool Me Once,” starring Michelle Keegan, Adeel Akhtar and Joanna Lumley, was released last January and became what Netflix says was one of its most-watched shows of the year, racking up $108 million. of visits.

The 2025 season thriller series is “Missing You,” based on Coben’s 2014 New York Times bestseller. It stars Rosalind Eleazar. (“Slow horses”) as Detective Inspector Kat Donovan, a police officer who specializes in finding missing people, as well as the fiancé who disappeared 11 years earlier.

“They know that January 1 is the ideal time for them,” says the actor Richard Armitage who has appeared in every Coben winter adaptation, which transfers the stories from the America of the books to the north of England. “People now own the show, so they say, ‘I want my Harlan Coben show on New Year’s Day.’ Give me my dose of Harlan Coben.’”

“To be honest, it’s the perfect time for the premiere,” says co-star Ashley Walters. “Most people will be hungover or, you know, just have nothing to do with the day.”

The show begins with the surprise of Donovan’s ex-fiancé (Walters) showing up on a dating app, more than a decade after she returned home one day to discover he was gone.

“I’ve fooled people before,” Armitage laughs. “Just people you don’t want to talk to anymore. Although not digitally.”

However, another star, Jessica Plummer, is not a fan of those who disappear without saying goodbye.

“I would feel too guilty,” he admits, calling him “cowardly and lazy, sorry Richard!”

Eleazar promises twists and turns along the way, adding that the actors were initially not given the final two scripts and had to turn to the book to find out what happens.

Coben “really is a genius at leading you down the wrong path,” Eleazar says. “You’re so sure that this time you got it right and it’s this person or this thing, but inevitably you always get it wrong.”

“Actually, I’d love to know how a book starts, you know? Do you start with an idea or do you think of the most inconceivable idea and say, ‘This is how it’s going to end’? she adds.

Armitage agrees that “Missing You” does justice to the book’s shocking “creepy” ending; “It’s like the rug was pulled out from under us at the last minute.”

And while audiences at home can watch the entire five-part series while 2025 is still finding its feet, the cast will be busy with a variety of hobbies.

Lenny Henry who plays Kat’s father, jokes that he usually wakes up on New Year’s Eve surrounded by roast potatoes and in his pajamas.

Armitage likes to be outdoors and start over by skiing a mountain, while Eleazar plans to celebrate in style: she and a group of friends have a tradition of renting a castle and dressing up in themed costumes.

Past New Year’s Eve parties have included wearing costumes from 18th century France and last year’s Versace-themed party.

“I’ll be celebrating and I really hope everyone likes this show on day 1,” he says.