Katherine Kelly stars in new Channel 4 crime drama In Flight

Filming Channel 4's new crime drama In flightstarring Katherine Kelly, is underway.

The new six-part series follows Kelly (Mr. Bates versus the Post Office, The long shadow) as Jo, a flight attendant whose life is turned upside down when she is blackmailed into drug smuggling after her son's arrest.

Co-created by Mike Walden (Marcella, Whitstable Pearl) and Adam Randall (Slow horses, iBoy) and directed by Chris Baugh (Wreck, Tin Star) the show will also star Stuart Martin, Ashley Thomas, Bronagh Waugh, Harry Cadby, Corinna Brown and Ambreen Razia.

Filming will take place in Bangkok, Bulgaria, Istanbul and London and will be financially supported by Northern Ireland Screen.

“I’m really excited to take on the role of Jo and I can’t wait to tell her compelling story,” said Kelly. “I’m delighted to be working with Buccaneer Media again and it’s a pleasure filming in Belfast.”

Mike Walden and Adam Randall added: “In flight is our take on the noir genre, a high-risk, stylish romantic thriller with iconic characters and nail-biting action. Channel 4 is the perfect home for our story and we are delighted to be working with such a brilliant team. Jo is a character we care about. She is an ordinary woman faced with extraordinary adversity. We can’t wait for the audience to get to know her.”

In flight is produced by Buccaneer Media and acquired for Channel 4 by Polly Scates, Head of Acquisitions. Executive producers are Anna Burns, Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart for Buccaneer, Rebecca Dundon and Simon Judd for Fremantle, Mike Walden, Adam Randall and Chris Baugh. Brendan Mullin is producer while Gary Davy is the casting director.

ProSieben has pre-purchased the series for Germany, along with SBS for Australia and TVNZ for New Zealand. Fremantle takes care of global sales.