Series synopsis
River is a British documentary action & adventure reality television series that premiered on BBC One on October 13, 2015. It ended on November 17, 2015. It was created by Abi Morgan. It stars Stellan Skarsgård, Nicola Walker, Franz Drameh and Adeel Akhtar.
Respected police officer John River, a gifted cop with a troubled mind, struggles to come to terms with the recent loss of a colleague, and chases a suspect across London - with tragic consequences. Now at odds with the authorities, River ends up in a precarious position as he seeks to bring closure to the mother of murdered teenager, who blames him for failing to keep his promise.
Premise
Respected police officer John River, a gifted cop with a troubled mind, struggles to come to terms with the recent loss of a colleague, and chases a suspect across London - with tragic consequences. Now at odds with the authorities, River ends up in a precarious position as he seeks to bring closure to the mother of murdered teenager, who blames him for failing to keep his promise.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Stellan Skarsgård as John River
- Nicola Walker as Jackie 'Stevie' Stevenson
- Franz Drameh as Bruno Marconi
- Adeel Akhtar as Ira King
- Lesley Manville as Chrissie Read
- Owen Teale as Marcus McDonald
- Georgina Rich as Rosa Fallows
- Eddie Marsan as Thomas Cream
Supporting cast
- Turlough Convery as Frankie Stevenson
- Sorcha Cusack as Bridie Stevenson
- Steve Nicolson as Jimmy Stevenson
- Michael Maloney as Tom Read
- Scott Hunt as Fast Food Server
- Josef Altin as Christopher Riley
- Pippa Bennett-Warner as Tia Edwards
- Shannon Tarbet as Erin Fielding
- Fady Elsayed as Aten Olama
- Jacqueline Boatswain as Ursula
- Cathy Murphy as Marlena Fielding
- Nina Carey as Young Erin
Guest cast
- Scott Hunt as Fast Food Server
- Josef Altin as Christopher Riley
- Pippa Bennett-Warner as Tia Edwards
- Shannon Tarbet as Erin Fielding
- Fady Elsayed as Aten Olama
- Jacqueline Boatswain as Ursula
- Cathy Murphy as Marlena Fielding
- Nina Carey as Young Erin
- Mouna Albakry as Journalist 1
- Dominic Hecht as Journalist 2
- Mieke Dockley as Karaoke Till Girl
- Lee Nicholas Harris as Prison Officer (uncredited)
Episodes
This series spans 10 seasons with 82 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 24 | May 31, 2009 | April 30, 2017 |
| Season 1 | 6 | October 13, 2015 | November 17, 2015 |
| Season 2 | 7 | April 25, 2010 | May 31, 2010 |
| Season 3 | 7 | April 10, 2011 | May 30, 2011 |
| Season 4 | 8 | April 1, 2012 | May 28, 2012 |
| Season 5 | 6 | May 19, 2013 | April 27, 2014 |
| Season 6 | 6 | April 6, 2014 | May 26, 2014 |
| Season 7 | 6 | April 5, 2015 | May 17, 2015 |
| Season 8 | 6 | April 7, 2016 | May 26, 2016 |
| Season 9 | 6 | April 23, 2017 | May 28, 2017 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Killer Catfish - Extended Cut Two years ago, on the treacherous Kali River, high in the mountains of Northern India, Jeremy Wade unearthed the mother of all fisherman's tales and the ultimate freshwater horror: a super-sized freshwater fish turned man-eater. Jeremy takes on the biggest, toughest challenge he's ever faced as he heads back to the Himalayas to separate fact from fiction and track down the monstrous beast. |
May 31, 2009 |
| 2 |
The Giants Biologist and extreme fisherman Jeremy Wade offers a retrospective of his harrowing attempts to reel in some of the largest freshwater fish in the world, including a man-eating catfish and a massive stingray in Thailand. |
March 6, 2011 |
| 3 |
The Deadliest Jeremy re-lives his most heart-stopping encounters with the world's deadliest fish. |
April 3, 2011 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode 1 Under intense scrutiny, River must battle to keep his fragile mental state in check. |
October 13, 2015 |
| 2 |
Episode 2 River begins to suspect that the man he chased to his death was innocent. |
October 20, 2015 |
| 3 |
Episode 3 Unlocking her voicemails throws suspicion on somebody close to Stevie. |
October 27, 2015 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Death Ray Jeremy Wade heads to the Mekong River in search of one of the world's largest, most terrifying river fish, the giant freshwater stingray. Armed with a venomous 10-inch barbed tail, this 700-pound monster pushes Jeremy to his limit. |
April 25, 2010 |
| 2 |
Killer Snakehead Angler Jeremy Wade sets his sights on an aggressive Far Eastern predator that's now invading America's backyards. Accused of homicide, and said to breathe air and crawl on land, the Snakehead is a monster that sounds more like a gangster than a fish. |
May 2, 2010 |
| 3 |
Congo Killer Jeremy Wade travels to one of the few rivers left on earth that will still test a fisherman. The Congo, a river steeped in legends... and soaked in violence. One spirit in particular is said to lure fishermen from their boats to their death. |
May 9, 2010 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Mutilator Jeremy Wade travels to Papua New Guinea to investigate a spate of bizarre deaths on the Sepik River. An island renowned for cannibalism, macabre rituals, and head hunters, Wade is on the trail of a creature reported to devour certain male body parts. |
April 10, 2011 |
| 2 |
Flesh Ripper Jeremy Wade is on the trail of a mysterious man-eater described over 200 years ago by a famous explorer. Is the 8-ft beast in question a mere legend, or could it be the same, flesh & blood creature that has attacked divers & children? |
April 17, 2011 |
| 3 |
Silent Assassin Jeremy Wade travels to the Paraná River in the remote corner of Argentina to investigate the death of a young girl. This creature is not armed with bone-crunching jaws or razor sharp teeth, but a razor-sharp blade tipped with tissue-destroying venom. |
April 24, 2011 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
American Killers In the suspense-filled two-hour premiere, Jeremy Wade treks across the United States in search of deadly river monsters living in the nation's waterways. Wade ventures from the popular Indian River Lagoon in Florida where unsuspecting water enthusiasts are faced with what could become a modern day Jaws, to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, where underwater hunters have reached man-eating proportions. |
April 1, 2012 |
| 2 |
Pack of Teeth In Southern Africa there are rumors of a terrifying river monster lurking in the eerie waters of the Okavango Delta. Witnesses say the fish have shark-like teeth and hunt in frenzied packs on schools of fish — and maybe even on human bodies. It sounds mysteriously like the work of giant piranhas, but there's nothing like that here. Or is there? Jeremy Wade sets out to uncover the truth. |
April 8, 2012 |
| 3 |
Invisible Executioner It's common knowledge that crocodiles and hippos are deadly predators in Zambian waterways, but it seems there's another monstrous beast stalking the treacherous Zambezi River. The locals call this river monster "the Mazunda" but Jeremy Wade is unfamiliar with any fish by that name. Will he uncover what the sinister creature — said to be able to swallow a child — really is? |
April 15, 2012 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Face Ripper Jeremy investigates his most disturbing case yet: the story of a man who had his face ripped off in a remote Bolivian river. The journey through dangerous jungle ends with a confrontation with one of his oldest adversaries. |
May 19, 2013 |
| 2 |
Atomic Assassin Jeremy Wade searches for a monster that leads him to the site of the worst nuclear accident in history, Chernobyl. In a nerve-shredding race against radiation & time, he searches for the perpetrator of a series of grizzly attacks. |
April 14, 2013 |
| 3 |
Killer Torpedo Angler Jeremy Wade ventures deep into the heart of Central America in search of a man-sized killer said to leap into boats and cause fatal injuries as it knocks fishermen unconscious and smashes their bones. |
April 21, 2013 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Amazon Apocalypse Hundreds died when the Sobral Santos sank on the Amazon, many rumored to have been eaten alive. Jeremy Wade retraces the doomed boat's last voyage & faces adversaries, old & new, as he tries to uncover what happened. |
April 6, 2014 |
| 2 |
Jungle Terminator Jeremy Wade investigates three mysterious deaths in three South American countries on his most remote mission to date. Will living with a secretive jungle tribe help him discover the terrifying creature responsible? |
April 13, 2014 |
| 3 |
River of Blood Investigating reports of a brutal riverside mutilation, Jeremy Wade heads to the wetlands, where he comes face-to-face with one of South America’s greatest freshwater fighters & finds the slasher stalking Argentina’s River of Blood. |
April 20, 2014 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Canadian Horror Jeremy journeys through Canada's backwaters to track down a 20-foot lake monster that attacks humans - a predator with a mouth said to resemble a bear-trap. |
April 5, 2015 |
| 2 |
Mekong Mutilator A disturbing report from Southeast Asia, of something in the water that's sliced cleanly through a young man's testicle, is enough to lure freshwater detective Jeremy Wade to the shores of the Mekong - a river long renowned for its monstrous fish. |
April 12, 2015 |
| 3 |
Prehistoric Terror Jeremy Wade is on the trail of horrifying killers from the depths of time. Fearsome, prehistoric beasts are brought back to life using cutting edge technology and recently unearthed fossils in a quest to find the greatest river monster of all time. |
April 19, 2015 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Deep Sea Demon Jeremy Wade is in search of the real creature behind the enduring legend of the sea serpent - starting with a violent attack in the English Channel, and culminating in the dark depths of the Mediterranean Sea. |
April 7, 2016 |
| 2 |
Death Down Under When six men vanish in the remote waters of northern Australia, extreme angler Jeremy Wade travels to the scene and embarks on one of his toughest investigations yet, taking on some of the deadliest animals on the planet in his search for a suspect. |
April 14, 2016 |
| 3 |
Razorhead Something is terrorizing the Florida Keys. It's attacking both visitors and locals alike, striking its victims so violently that it is slicing open flesh, even smashing bones. Jeremy Wade is determined to identity the assailant. |
April 21, 2016 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Killers From the Abyss Wade takes on the biggest investigation of his career -- to unravel what happened to over 1,000 passengers of the RMS Laconia, torpedoed in the mid-Atlantic; he travels the globe, battling giant fish, massive sharks and a deep-sea monster. |
April 23, 2017 |
| 2 |
Ice Cold Killer Traveling from London to Greenland and on to Norway, Wade follows the trail of an unknown sea monster; fishing through ice to extreme depths, he attempts to reel in this monster before the full fury of an Arctic storm hits. |
April 30, 2017 |
| 3 |
Coral Reef Killer When a snorkeler is impaled & killed by an unseen underwater assailant in the waters surrounding the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, Jeremy Wade travels to the islands to investigate a spate of similar attacks across the region. |
May 7, 2017 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | BBC One |
|---|---|
| First aired | October 13, 2015 |
| Last aired | November 17, 2015 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Tuesday at 21:00:00 |