David Farnor | On 31, Oct 2017

ITV and Amazon are teaming up for a new series, White Dragon, starring John Simm and Emilia Fox.

The conspiracy thriller, created and written by screenwriting newcomers Mark Denton and Jonny Stockwood, is produced in conjunction with Amazon Prime Video. It was commissioned by ITV’s Head of Drama, Polly Hill, from Two Brothers Pictures, the drama indie established by award winning writers and producers, Harry Williams and Jack Williams (Liar, The Missing, Fleabag).

Simm takes the role of Professor Jonah Mulray who receives a devastating international phone call about the death of his wife, Megan (Dervla Kirwan), who has been working in Hong Kong. He’s poleaxed with grief, but has to galvanise himself to board a plane for Asia to identify his beloved wife’s body. Megan has died in a car accident on the beautiful mountain roads at the top of Tai Po overlooking Hong Kong, and although a notorious black-spot, Jonah feels he must unravel the circumstances of her death following an emotional voicemail left by his wife just seconds before her death. With the help of Sally Porter (Emilia Fox) from the British Consulate, Jonah is taken to the mortuary and in the saddest of surroundings he realises his wife has gone forever.

Heartbroken, Jonah is interviewed by Hong Kong detectives Daniel Tsang, Felix Chang and Wilfred Chow about Megan’s death, but frustratingly they appear to be going through the motions. Is there more to the police investigation than the officers are revealing?

The show is directed by Paul Andrew Williams (Broadchurch, The Eichmann Show, Murdered by My Boyfriend), who also executive produces the eight-part series, alongside the Williams brothers. Matthew Bird (Decline and Fall, The Musketeers, Fortitude) produces the series, with Marston Bloom (Marcella, New Tricks, Vera), Adam Gyngell and Fred Armesto penning episodes four, five and six respectively.

Shooting has now commenced in Hong Kong and will move to London later this year. Filming alongside Simm are Anthony Wong, Tim McInnerny, Anthony Hayes, Raquel Cassidy and Katie Leung. The series will premiere on ITV before airing as an Amazon Prime Video exclusive in the US.

Add to Watchlist