Netflix Harlan Coben Show Missing You Will Stir Hearts, Producers Say

On By Littum

What makes a series based on a Harlan Coben novel so appealing to audiences? The producers behind the streaming giant Netflix’s hit show Fool me oncewhich they follow up with miss youwhich hit the streamer on January 1st, shared their message with The Hollywood Reporter.

“It comes from the very twisted brain of Harlan Coben. I mean twisted as in telling stories that are twisted and twisted,” said executive producer Nicola Shindler, whose Quay Street Productions, part of ITV Studios, is behind both shows. “And you always know from the get-go that Harlan’s got a great ending, and then you know there’s just going to be so many surprises along the way.”

“They’re also likable people in the shows and in the books,” Shindler emphasizes.

“Tonally, there’s a warmth, a heart and a human (touch) to the way Harlan writes,” echoes fellow executive producer Richard Fee of Quay Street Productions. “We’re not dark, gloomy through and through. There’s always fun to be had.”

“I like those answers,” Coben says with a smile. “I think there is something special about wanting warmth. Yes, we have the excitement. We can touch your pulse, we can even touch your mind. But the key, I think, is to touch the heart.”

What does this mean in case of miss you specifically? “Hopefully, even in the first few moments, you care about (protagonist) Kat,” Coben tells us THR. “And that’s what makes the engine really go.”

miss you stars Rosalind Eleazar (Slow horses) as Kat Donovan, a missing persons detective whose fiancé Josh (Ashley Walters) disappeared 11 years ago. Now she stumbles across his face while swiping through profiles on a dating app, forcing her to reconsider the murder of her father (Lenny Henry). Armitage plays Kat’s boss, while Jessica Plummer portrays one of her best friends. Steve Pemberton, Mary Malone, Lisa Faulkner and James Nesbitt are among the other cast members. Author Victoria Asare-Archer adapted the novel for the screen.

Shindler concludes by promising escapist entertainment. “It is always our responsibility,” she says THR. “It’s to take people out of their lives and have fun. You can still say something important, but you can also make it funny.”