Passenger spoilers, pictures and cast list: Episode One - Sunday 24 March 2024

Published March 24, 2024 12:43 pm

Sunday, March 24th, 2024 on ITV1 at 9:00pm

Tired of being lumped with petty crimes, D.I. Riya Ajunwa (Wunmi Mosaku) begins to draw connections between an apparently solved missing person’s case, a mysteriously obliterated stag and the eco protestors at the fracking site. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing at the bread factory. While Katie has a frightening encounter in the forest, a monster from the past rears its head: her father, whom Riya arrested for committing a violent crime five years ago, is released from prison early.

Welcome to Chadder Vale, a close-knit town where nothing seems to perforate the mundane. D.I. Riya Ajunwa is bored of solving petty crimes by day and looking after her batty mother-in-law by night. So, when Katie Wells goes missing one night in the forest, Riya thinks this could be the case that changes everything. The only problem is, Katie Wells shows up at home, safe and sound, 24 hours after she disappeared.

But Riya’s not convinced. Something doesn’t add up. Where did Katie go, and why won’t she tell Riya what happened in the forest? What about the reports of other young people who are disappearing – all seemingly with a connection to the fracking site and the old tree on the town’s outskirts? And then there’s the dead stag on the forest road, which has been obliterated into a thousand pieces by someone. Or something.

Does it all have something to do with Katie’s dad Eddie Wells, who has just been released from prison? One drunken night 5 years ago he committed a monstrous crime, and Riya was the one who locked him up. Or does her nouveau-riche mate Derek – who runs the local bread factory – have something to do with it? He and his anxious brother are certainly hiding something.