Tchéky Karyo will reprise his role as Julien Baptiste in new BBC One drama Baptiste, a spin-off of The Missing.

Tchéky starred as the detective in both series of The Missing's original run, which aired from 2014 to 2016.

While the first series saw Baptiste take on the case of missing children in France and the second series took him to Germany, new spin-off series Baptiste will take place in Amsterdam and follows Baptiste and his wife on a visit to The Netherlands.

While there, the couple's trip is interrupted when the Chief of Police (an old girlfriend, coincidentally) seeks out Baptiste's help on a case and the detective finds himself quickly sucked into a case that exposes the seedy underworld of Amsterdam beneath the pretty streets and canals.

Julien Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo) in 'The Missing' series 2pinterest
BBC/New Pictures/Julian Broad

"Julien Baptiste is very dear to me, so I'm really excited to be following his journey to the streets of Amsterdam and seeing what dark secrets he unveils this time," actor Karyo said.

"No doubt he'll continue to take great risks all in the name of justice."

Creators and writers Jack and Harry Williams also shared their excitement at the spin-off announcement, saying: "Julien Baptiste lives! It's an absolute pleasure to be writing the character of Baptiste again, and working with the utterly brilliant Tchéky Karyo, who brings such depth and individuality to Julien."

Julien Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo) in The Missing series 2pinterest
BBC/New Pictures/Robert Viglasky

Last year, the writing duo told Digital Spy that a spin-off of The Missing was looking more likely than a traditional third series.

"I'd be leaning towards a spin-off, personally. But God knows what any of the channels think," Harry said.

Jack added: "This is totally just us talking – but we'd like to see Baptiste again, we'd like to revisit the tone and the feel of that world.

"We don't want to do it, like, 'More missing children!' – but revisiting him, and the feel of The Missing, is something we have started talking about in the last couple of months. So hopefully there may be news on that soon."

Filming for Baptiste starts later this year in Amsterdam and Belgium, with no release date confirmed yet.


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