On 19 February 2026, a high-stakes thriller takes off on Universal TV (DStv 117), promising six weeks of tension, moral compromise and nerve-shredding drama. In Flight premieres at 20:00, with new episodes every Thursday until its season finale on 26 March 2026.
At the heart of this 6×60’ drama is Jo Conran — a flight attendant and single mother thrust into an unthinkable choice. When her imprisoned son’s safety is threatened, Jo is coerced into smuggling heroin across international borders. Her handler: Cormac Kelleher, a calculating figure who offers protection for her son — at a price.
What follows is a breathless descent into a criminal underworld where trust is currency and betrayal is inevitable.
An ordinary woman in an extraordinary trap
Jo Conran is not a career criminal. She is not trained for the violent calculus of gangsters, corrupt cops and hired killers. She is a mother trying to save her child.
As she becomes entangled in Cormac’s network, Jo turns to the one person who might help her dismantle it from the inside — her ex, Dom Delaney, a customs officer. Together, they begin to pull at the threads of a syndicate operating in the shadows of international air travel.
But nothing in In Flight is simple. Loyalties blur. A dangerous love triangle complicates already impossible stakes. And the claustrophobic pressure of airports, security checks and border control becomes the backdrop for a game of survival played at altitude.
Terrified, isolated and dangerously out of her depth, Jo adapts. What begins as desperation evolves into strategy. Over the course of the series, she hatches a daring plan to turn the tables on the very organisation that believes it controls her.
A powerhouse cast
Leading the series is Katherine Kelly as Jo Conran, known for her acclaimed roles in Mr Bates vs. The Post Office, The Long Shadow and Happy Valley.
She is joined by Ashley Thomas (Them, Top Boy), Stuart Martin (Rebel Moon, Miss Scarlet and The Duke), and Harry Cadby (Everything Now, Red Rose).
The ensemble further includes Tony Pitts (All Creatures Great & Small), Corinna Brown (Heartstopper, The Summer I Turned Pretty), Emma Higginbottom (Ted Lasso), Bronagh Waugh (Ridley, The Stolen Girl), and Ambreen Razia (Hounslow Diaries, Ted Lasso).
Behind the turbulence
In Flight is produced by Buccaneer Media, the creative force behind The Crow Girl, Marcella and The Burning Girls.
The series is written and co-created by Mike Walden (Marcella, Whitstable Pearl) and Adam Randall (Slow Horses, iBoy).
Produced by Brendan Mullin (Wreck, Dalgliesh) and directed by Chris Baugh (Wreck, Tin Star), the drama also counts Anna Burns, Richard Tulk-Hart and Tony Wood for Buccaneer Media, Rebecca Dundon and Simon Judd for Fremantle, alongside Walden, Randall, Kelly and Baugh as executive producers. Fremantle is handling global sales.
Appointment viewing for thriller fans
With its tightly wound premise, international backdrop and moral stakes rooted in family, In Flight positions itself as one of the must-watch thrillers of early 2026. The series explores how far a parent will go when every system meant to protect them becomes part of the threat.
In Flight premieres on Universal TV on 19 February at 20:00, with new episodes every Thursday until 26 March. Universal TV is available on DStv Channel 117 across Africa.
