What we know about BBC drama Kidnapped
The true story of Chloe Ayling’s abduction comes to BBC Three
New BBC drama Kidnapped tells the terrifying true story of the abduction of Chloe Ayling, a British model who was lured to Milan for a fake photoshoot before being snatched by a sinister criminal organisation.
The series is penned by Georgia Lester, who worked on Skins and Killing Eve, and has been informed by extensive interviews with key figures from the incident and legal documentation from the post-kidnapping case.
The show has also been made with the full blessing and co-operating of Ayling, taking its cues from her first-hand account of these harrowing events detailed in her book of the same name. Keep scrolling to find out when you can watch Kidnapped, alongside more details of its plot and cast.
When will Kidnapped air on TV?
Kidnapping will air on BBC Three later this year but we don’t have details of exactly when it’ll arrive just yet. When it does, you’ll also be able to find it on BBC iPlayer where you can watch it on-demand.
The show is directed by COBRA’s Al Mackay and will consist of six, half-hour episodes.
What is Kidnapped about?
Kidnapped recounts the story of Ayling’s real-life kidnapping which took place in 2017 when the then-20-year-old model travelled to Milan to take part in what she thought was a photoshoot.
Upon arrival, she was abducted by two people who claimed to be from a criminal organisation known as The Black Death Group. Shortly after Ayling failed to return home from the trip, her family received a ransom email from her kidnappers demanding €300,000 (about £250,000) or they would sell her into human slavery on the dark web.
Thankfully, this did not take place and Ayling’s abductors were apprehended and arrested six days after her disappearance. Despite this positive outcome, media coverage of the incident insisted on suggesting that Ayling may have fabricated the event as part of a media stunt to further her career.
Kidnapped aims to look at each of these aspects, inviting viewers to inspect the way incidents such as these are digested by the media and the public.
As per the show’s official synopsis: “Kidnapped asks why Chloe was blamed for her kidnappers’ crimes. How do we relate to survivors of crime who make the front pages? And how does it feel to be an ordinary person, caught up in events so extraordinary that you aren’t believed?”
Who is in the cast of Kidnapped?
While Ayling helped the show’s creators behind the scenes, the model will be played on-screen by Nadia Parkes, best known for her roles in Sky Atlantic’s Domina and the Netflix series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself.
Parkes will be joined by an ensemble cast playing as-yet-undisclosed roles. Her co-stars include Bottom’s Adrian Edmondson, The Capture’s Nigel Lindsay, Halo’s Rose Gray, The White Lotus’s Eleonora Romandini, The Passing Bell’s Julian Swiezewski and The Responder’s Christine Tremarco.
Kidnapped is coming soon to BBC Three and iPlayer.
