ITV’s Red Eye returned for series two on New Year’s Day with Jing Lusi and Martin Compston, but viewers issued the same complaint minutes into the show

ITV viewers said the same thing as the second series of Red Eye made its New Year’s Day comeback. Jing Lusi has returned to her role as DS Hana Li for a fresh investigation, joined by guest star Martin Compston.

The new series also sees Lesley Sharp and Jemma Moore reprise their roles as Madeline Delaney, Head of MI5, and journalist Jess Li, respectively. The plot picks up eighteen months after Russia is accused of shooting down a new cargo plane over the Atlantic, with DS Hana Li (Jing Lusi) called in to investigate the murder of an American diplomatic courier at Heathrow.

Her investigation takes her to London’s US Embassy, where the new American Ambassador, Ronald Tillman, is throwing a party. Upon realising that the killer has infiltrated the building, Hana and US Embassy security chief Clay Brody set out to track them down.

Meanwhile, a Russian threat is received on board a UK Government jet.

However, not all viewers were impressed with the new series. One viewer took to social media just minutes into the first episode, writing, “The biggest pile of s*** I’ve ever seen,” reports the Mirror.

Richard Armitage made a return to Red Eye

Richard Armitage made a return to Red Eye (Image: undefined)

Another complained, “Loved Red Eye s1. Now on Red Eye s2 ep 3 & not enjoying it quite so much. Barely believable characters who can’t see/understand the bleeding obvious.”

Pointing out a blunder from the episode, one fan said, “Hmm, Ryanair at Heathrow?”

“Glad I’m not the only one who spotted that,” another viewer replied, while one agreed, “Did anyone else just spot Ryanair on #redeye at Heathrow? That’s not accurate, they don’t operate there!”

Others defended the ITV drama, with one writing, “First episode of new series wasn’t bad. Run of the mill so far.”

“Definitely one worth watching,” another agreed.

“Love the addition of Martin Compston,” one added.

Red Eye series two stars Jing Lusi as DS Hanah Li and Martin Compson as RSO Brody

Red Eye series two stars Jing Lusi as DS Hanah Li and Martin Compson as RSO Brody (Image: ITV)

 

In an unexpected twist, ITV has also revealed that Richard Armitage will make a surprise appearance in the second series as Dr Matthew Nolan. Speaking about his unexpected return to Red Eye, Richard said, “I loved the idea of Jess’ instinctual gravitation to Nolan’s door.

“In season one, he’d been through the mill and also later learned what had happened to her with Sir George Chapman, his boss, so of course, he was going to help her, albeit under the radar. We decided that the surprise might add to the adrenaline of the ‘who’s next’ scenario.”

When asked where viewers will find Dr Nolan, the actor explained: “We find him at home, and like season one, forced to perform outside of the box. He was just about to open a bottle of red when the doorbell rang, and he was interrupted to deal with a near-fatal bullet wound and perform an emergency blood transfusion on his dining table, cobbling together equipment.

“He’s basically able to improvise major trauma surgery, with a bag of saline from his fridge and a leftover suturing kit from his bag. It says a lot about him!”

The synopsis for tomorrow night’s second episode of the new series, available to watch on ITVX, reveals: “When Fox threatens to blow up the jet if anyone leaves the US Embassy, it becomes clear that Delaney and Hana are looking for the same Russian assassin.

“Compelled to lock down the embassy but refusing to worry about his important guests, Ambassador Tillman secretly traps them inside with a killer. As a Russian laptop is located onboard the jet and leaves Delaney and Peterson to carefully determine if it’s the actual bomb, Fox kills his first unsuspecting victim from a hit list.”

Red Eye is available to watch on ITVX.