# The Missing (2014)

> A British anthological thriller in which a child's abduction tears apart a family and a community across two time frames.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/54870

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 59 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery, thriller
- Created by: Harry Williams, Jack Williams
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: David Morrissey, James Nesbitt, Keeley Hawes, Abigail Hardingham, Frances O'Connor, Tchéky Karyo, Anastasia Hille, Joséphine de la Baume
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3877200/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gripping, bleak, emotionally raw, unsettling, tense, melancholic

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series positively, praising its gripping relationship-driven thriller construction and emotional weight around a child's abduction.

## Synopsis

The Missing (2014-2016) is a British-French-Belgian co-produced anthological crime thriller created by Harry Williams and Jack Williams for BBC One. Its engine is a single disappearance: a small boy vanishes and the search splits the people around him into suspects, accusers and wounded parents. David Morrissey plays Sam Webster and Keeley Hawes plays Gemma Webster, a couple whose marriage fractures under grief and scrutiny, while James Nesbitt plays Tony Hughes, a figure whose connection to the case slowly unsettles the viewer. Tchéky Karyo and Anastasia Hille appear as the Baptiste couple, adding a French investigative thread. The story moves between two time frames, so each episode peels back another layer of what happened and who knew. Episodes are built around interviews, quiet domestic confrontations, and the slow pressure of a community turning on itself. The show spans two seasons of eight episodes each, with season two resetting to a new case and new characters in the same anthological format. Its tone is gripping, bleak, and emotionally raw, with a patient, unsettling atmosphere that rewards full attention. Fans of Broadchurch, The Killing and True Detective will find resonance in its grief-heavy mysteries and fractured families.

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