The Missing star Tcheky Karyo will reprise his role of Julien Baptiste in a new spin-off show about the investigator, the BBC has said.
Baptiste will be penned by The Missing creators Harry and Jack Williams and will follow the dogged detective and his wife on a visit to Amsterdam, where the chief of police – who is an old girlfriend – seeks out his help in solving a crime.
Julien lives! @TchekyKaryo reprises his role as #TheMissing's Julien Baptiste in gripping new @BBCOne drama #Baptiste: https://t.co/jiDnv2mwiI pic.twitter.com/Z7kxiP6ki0
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) April 1, 2018
Baptiste is rapidly embroiled in a case that looks beyond the beautiful streets, canals and houses of Amsterdam to the seamy underworld beneath.
Karyo said: “Julien Baptiste is very dear to me, so I’m really excited to be following his journey to the streets of Amsterdam and seeing what dark secrets he unveils this time.
“No doubt he’ll continue to take great risks all in the name of justice.”
The Williams brothers said: “Julien Baptiste lives! It’s an absolute pleasure to be writing the character of Baptiste again, and working with the utterly brilliant Tcheky Karyo, who brings such depth and individuality to Julien.”
The two series of The Missing saw Baptiste investigate two different complex cases.
❤️Psst, we have a message for you from #TheMissing's @tchekykaryo! pic.twitter.com/hEWFjzy7su
— BBC One (@BBCOne) November 23, 2016
Piers Wenger, controller of BBC drama, said: “Julien Baptiste – played by the exceptional Tcheky Karyo – is one of the Williams brothers’ greatest creations and utterly deserving of his own show.
“This first series of Baptiste will allow us to discover more about Julien than ever before as he is parachuted into the centre of a shocking and wide-ranging crime story.”
Filming on the show will start later this year in Amsterdam and Belgium.