Channel 4 has released the trailer for its upcoming psychological thriller ‘Hunting Alice Bell’, a six-part mystery from David Baddiel and Peter Bradshaw which takes the dangers of online rumours to a rather terrifying extreme. With a cast including Alexandra Roach (Nightsleeper), Simon Pegg (Mission: Impossible) and Amanda Abbington (Sherlock), the drama is heading to screens in November.
The premise is the sort of nightmare that could only get worse once the internet gets involved. Alice Bell is a former nurse who became the lover and accomplice of a notorious anaesthetist turned serial killer. She has since disappeared into Britain, living under a new identity. Nobody knows where she is, but that doesn’t stop people online from deciding they’ve found her.
Unfortunately for Fran Da Silva, played by Roach, she’s the woman they pick.
Fran has a happy family life, but that starts to fall apart when online accusations claim she is secretly Alice Bell. What begins as a rumour rapidly escalates into a wave of public hatred, with strangers apparently convinced they know the truth about someone they’ve never met. As Fran tries to clear her name, she discovers that other women have also been accused of being the missing accomplice.
Rather than face the mob alone, the women join forces to fight back and prove their innocence. There is, however, one fairly significant complication: what if one of them really is Alice Bell? It turns a story about mistaken identity and internet witch hunts into a whodunnit where even the people fighting the accusations might not be telling the truth.
Alongside Alexandra Roach (Nightsleeper) as Fran, the cast includes Amanda Abbington (Sherlock) as Julie, Emily Barber (MobLand) as Vanessa, Toni O’Rourke (God’s Creatures) as Ros and Christina Bennington (Halo) as Charlotte. Rudi Dharmalingam (The Lazarus Project) plays Nick, with Ralf Little (Death in Paradise) appearing as Graham Hunter.
Then there’s Simon Pegg (Mission: Impossible) as Dr Jason Nash, the serial killer at the centre of the mystery. It’s a rather different sort of role for an actor many viewers will associate with comedy and sci-fi, although Pegg is certainly no stranger to darker material. His character’s connection to the missing Alice Bell makes him a particularly important piece of the puzzle.
The series was created by David Baddiel with Peter Bradshaw, and co-written by the pair alongside Polly Buckle and Kate Verghese. Paul Walker directs all six episodes. Baddiel has previously explained that the idea grew out of real cases of women being targeted by communities after rumours suggested they were notorious figures secretly living among them. The drama takes that frightening possibility and adds social media, where an accusation can travel a lot faster than the truth.
That gives ‘Hunting Alice Bell’ a little more to chew on than your average mystery thriller. Alongside the central question of who Alice Bell actually is, the series tackles misogyny, mob mentality and the damage caused when online speculation starts having very real consequences. Of course, there’s also the small matter of whether the audience can trust any of the people claiming to be innocent.
The drama comes from Clapperboard Studios, the production company behind ‘The Ex-Wife’ and ‘The Teacher’, in association with Sphere Abacus, which is handling international sales. Mike Benson and Rachel Gesua executive produce for Clapperboard alongside Baddiel, Bradshaw, Buckle, Jonathan Ford and Will Stapley, with Tamryn Reinecke producing.
We’ve already had a look at the first images from the series, but now there’s a trailer to accompany them. If you fancy a mystery where the internet might be the most dangerous character in the room, this one should be worth keeping an eye on.
‘Hunting Alice Bell’ premieres in November 2026 on Channel 4. An exact premiere date has not yet been announced.
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