The Missing (British TV series)

The Missing is a British anthology drama television series written by brothers Harry and Jack Williams. It was first broadcast in the UK on BBC One on 28 October 2014, and in the United States on Starz on 15 November 2014. "The Missing" is an international co-production between the BBC and Starz. The first eight-part series, about the search for a missing boy in France, was directed by Tom Shankland. It stars Tchéky Karyo as Julien Baptiste, the French detective who leads the case, with James Nesbitt and Frances O'Connor as the boy's parents.
The second eight-part series, about a missing girl in Germany, was directed by Ben Chanan. It was broadcast in the UK, on BBC One, from 12 October 2016 and in the United States, on Starz, on 12 February 2017. Tchéky Karyo returns as Julien Baptiste, with David Morrissey and Keeley Hawes as the girl's parents.
Both series received positive reviews, with critics praising the cast, especially Tchéky Karyo's performance, and the storytelling. In February 2019, a spin-off series titled "Baptiste" was broadcast on BBC One, again starring Karyo and written by Jack and Harry Williams.
Series one.
Production.
Filming began in February 2014 with help from the Belgian government's tax shelter scheme. The series was co-produced by New Pictures, Company Pictures, Two Brothers Pictures and Playground Entertainment with Fortis Film Fund, Czar TV Productions and Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie. The distributor was All3Media who sold the series at MIPCOM. The series producer was Chris Clough and the executive producers were Charlie Pattinson, Willow Grylls and Elaine Pyke for New Pictures, John Yorke for Company Pictures, Harry and Jack Williams for Two Brothers Pictures, Polly Hill for the BBC, Colin Callender for Playground Entertainment and Eurydice Gysel for Czar TV Productions. "The Missing" was commissioned by Charlotte Moore and Ben Stephenson for BBC One.
Although the first story is set in France and the United Kingdom, most of the scenes were filmed in Huy, Halle, Charleroi and Brussels, Belgium, taking advantage of the Belgian Tax Shelter for film funding. Only a few scenes were shot in Paris and London.
Synopsis.
Tony Hughes, his wife Emily and their five-year-old son Oliver, are travelling from the United Kingdom to northern France for a holiday. It is the summer of 2006, during the FIFA World Cup. Soon after entering France, their car breaks down. They are forced to spend the night in the fictional small town of Châlons du Bois. That evening, Tony and Oliver visit a crowded outdoor bar, where a quarter-finals football match is being watched. Tony loses sight of his son, who goes missing. Businessman Ian Garrett offers a reward for information leading to Oliver's capture, but it later emerges that, on discovering that Garrett is a paedophile, Tony beat Garrett to death and concealed the evidence.
Eight years later, Oliver has not been found; the police have closed their investigation. Now divorced, Tony has continued to search for his son after seeing a recent photograph in which a little boy is wearing a scarf identical to the one Oliver was wearing on the day he disappeared and made for him with a unique insignia. Tony contacts Julien Baptiste, the retired detective who led the original investigation, and they discover where Oliver was kept prisoner after his initial disappearance. The police are persuaded by Baptiste to reopen the case, but the investigation is hampered by the disappearance of a piece of evidence, given by a corrupt police officer to a journalist. Baptiste recovers the evidence of Garrett's murder but gives it to Tony, who he feels has already suffered enough. Eventually the pair discover that Oliver was killed shortly after his disappearance, but no one survives who can tell them what happened to his body. Emily makes a fresh start by remarrying, but Tony cannot accept that Oliver is dead, and continues to search.
Series two.
Production.
The second series was confirmed in December 2014 and production began in February 2016. Again written by Harry and Jack Williams, this series was directed by Ben Chanan. The filming locations were Morocco, Belgium (Malmedy, Brussels &amp; Ghent) and Germany. Episode four shows a Hanover hospital (which was filmed in Az Sint-Lucas Ghent) and episode five shows soldiers marching over the Vesdre dam in eastern Belgium, and the fictional "Vaaren" in Switzerland is Monschau, in Germany.
Synopsis.
The story is paralleled by flashbacks to 2014 and is set near a British army garrison in Eckhausen, Germany. In 2014 police tell Sam and Gemma Webster, whose daughter Alice went missing in 2003, that Alice has reappeared and claims she had been held captive with Sophie Giroux, a French girl who disappeared about the same time. Retired French detective Julien Baptiste, who was in charge of the Giroux investigation, cannot resist becoming involved again and travels to Germany and Iraq to find answers.
Reception.
The first series of "The Missing" earned a "Certified Fresh" score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 8.4/10 out of 28 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Missing turns a common premise into a standout thriller with heartfelt, affecting performances." On Metacritic, the series has a score of 85 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". "The Guardian" called it "hauntingly brilliant television". "The Daily Telegraph" described it as "supremely compelling". "The Independent" said it was "tense [...] absorbing [...] mercilessly believable". "The New York Times" wrote ""The Missing" is imaginatively written, well cast, chillingly believable and quite addictive. This kind of story has been told this way before, but somehow that doesn’t make this telling any less compelling."
Gerard O'Donovan, in "The Telegraph" referred to the final episode as "... a manipulation too far... I mostly felt that sinking feeling you get when a book or series you've loved goes wrong in the final stretch".
In January 2015, at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards, the series was nominated for Best Miniseries or Television Film and Frances O'Connor was nominated for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. For the 5th Critics' Choice Television Awards, James Nesbitt was nominated for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries. At the 2015 British Academy Television Awards, the series received four nominations — Best Drama Series, Radio Times Audience Award, Nesbitt for Best Actor and Ken Stott for Best Supporting Actor. For the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards, Tom Shankland received a nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second series has earned a "Certified Fresh" score of 100%, with an average rating of 8.55/10 out of 15 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, ""The Missing"'s astute narrative and intense perplexity allow for more thrills and exciting guesswork in season 2." On Metacritic, the series has a score of 76 out of 100 based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".