# Dead Hot
**Dead Hot** is a British six-part comedy thriller created and written by Charlotte Coben, produced by Nicola Shindler's Quay Street Productions, and released on Prime Video in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 1 March 2024.[1](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/) • [2](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/dead-hot-cast-plot-and-everything-you-need-to-know) Set in present-day Liverpool, it follows two best friends in their mid-twenties, Elliot and Jess, whose lives are shaped by the unexplained disappearance of Peter, Elliot's first love and Jess's twin brother, five years earlier.[3](https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/entertainment/prime-video-announces-comedy-thriller-dead-hot)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Six episodes of roughly 44 to 49 minutes each, all released on 1 March 2024[4](https://tubitv.com/series/300002669/dead-hot) |
| Creator | Charlotte Coben, who wrote all six episodes and served as executive producer[5](https://www.independenttalent.com/writers/charlotte-coben/) |
| Production | Quay Street Productions (Manchester-based, part of ITV Studios), executive produced by Nicola Shindler[1](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/) |
| Lead cast | Bilal Hasna as Elliot, Vivian Oparah as Jess, with Peter Serafinowicz as DCI Danny and Penelope Wilton as Francine[6](https://epguides.com/DeadHot/) |
| Directors | Sam Arbor (episodes 1–3) and David Sant[1](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/) • [4](https://tubitv.com/series/300002669/dead-hot) |
| Reception | IMDb rating 6.4/10 from 697 user ratings; The Guardian gave it 3 out of 5 stars[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29964473/ratings/) • [8](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/mar/01/dead-hot-review-its-skins-meets-queer-as-folk-but-way-weirder) |
| Status | One season; listed as canceled/ended[6](https://epguides.com/DeadHot/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Five years before the story begins, Elliot came home to find that his boyfriend Peter had vanished, leaving behind only a severed finger in a pool of blood.[9](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/dead-hot) Peter's twin sister Jess has never given up hope that he is alive, and the two friends live together, numbing their grief with a hedonistic lifestyle while holding on to the question of what happened to him.[3](https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/entertainment/prime-video-announces-comedy-thriller-dead-hot)
The plot is set in motion by two events. Elliot begins a new relationship with a man named Will, who turns out to have dark secrets of his own, and Jess is contacted by someone claiming to be Peter.[2](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/dead-hot-cast-plot-and-everything-you-need-to-know) The friends must work out whether Elliot is romantically cursed or being deliberately targeted, and the season builds toward identifying what happened to Peter.[2](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/dead-hot-cast-plot-and-everything-you-need-to-know) The series frames its story around themes of family, class, love, trauma, and identity.[1](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/)
### Cast and characters
- **Bilal Hasna** as Elliot Byrd, Peter's boyfriend, who is trying to move on with his life[6](https://epguides.com/DeadHot/)
- **Vivian Oparah** as Jess Ono, Peter's twin sister, who shares a flat and a grief with Elliot[6](https://epguides.com/DeadHot/)
- **Olisa Odele** as Peter, the missing man, seen in flashbacks[6](https://epguides.com/DeadHot/) • [8](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/mar/01/dead-hot-review-its-skins-meets-queer-as-folk-but-way-weirder)
- **Marcus Hodson** as Will, Elliot's new romantic interest[6](https://epguides.com/DeadHot/)
- **Peter Serafinowicz** as Detective Chief Inspector Danny[1](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/)
- **Penelope Wilton** as Francine, Elliot's wealthy, traditional, and bigoted grandmother[1](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/)
- Recurring roles include [Rosie Cavaliero](https://www.edgepedia.org/rosie-cavaliero) as Bonnie and Brandon Fellows as Charlie[6](https://epguides.com/DeadHot/)
Oparah, a BAFTA-nominated actress known for *Rye Lane*, and Hasna, previously seen in *Extraordinary*, were cast as the leads.[1](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/)
## Production
Charlotte Coben, a screenwriter based in New York City, created and wrote all six episodes. She had previously worked on adaptations of her father [Harlan Coben](https://www.edgepedia.org/harlan-coben)'s novels, writing episodes of *The Stranger* and *Fool Me Once* and story producing *Stay Close* for Netflix.[5](https://www.independenttalent.com/writers/charlotte-coben/) The series was produced by Nicola Shindler's Quay Street Productions for Prime Video, with Laurie Kirkham as series producer.[1](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/) • [10](https://www.independenttalent.com/producers/laurie-kirkham/) It was filmed and set in Liverpool.[1](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/)
Coben described the show's voice in an interview at release: "The series is a little bat sh*t for sure and I hope people enjoy it – it's a lot of fun!"[1](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/) Hasna described it as being about grief, "rendered through a crazy, colourful, camp, hyper poppy world."
## Style and tone
The series mixes comedy, mystery, thriller, romance, and occasional horror elements, a blend reviewers described as deliberately heightened rather than naturalistic.[11](https://www.documentarytube.com/blog/dead-hot-review-should-you-watch-charlotte-cobens-six-part-mystery/) Critics repeatedly compared its visual style to the work of [Edgar Wright](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgar-wright): Kylie Northover of *The Age* noted its "surreal plot diversions," Gen Z soundtrack, rapid camera work, and polychromatic production design, while Emma Loffhagen of the *London Evening Standard* wrote that the Edgar Wright inspiration occasionally "teeter[s] into ham-fisted facsimile" but called the humor razor sharp.[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/dead_hot/s01) The Guardian's Rebecca Nicholson described it as "Skins meets Queer As Folk … but way weirder" and found the over-the-top approach sometimes grating, particularly around the larger emotional themes, while judging the friendship and co-dependence of the two leads as the show's most honest material.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/mar/01/dead-hot-review-its-skins-meets-queer-as-folk-but-way-weirder)
## Reception
The Guardian awarded the series 3 out of 5 stars, praising Vivian Oparah and Bilal Hasna as "great" together and calling the show "hard to dislike" despite finding it overstuffed.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/mar/01/dead-hot-review-its-skins-meets-queer-as-folk-but-way-weirder) On Rotten Tomatoes, the season 1 page displayed four critic reviews and fewer than 50 audience ratings, a small sample; the individual reviews were largely positive, with *The Age* giving 5/5 and the *Daily Telegraph* 4/5.[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/dead_hot/s01) On IMDb the series holds a weighted rating of 6.4/10 from 697 votes, with an unweighted mean of 6.8; per-episode user ratings ranged from 8.1 to 8.7.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29964473/ratings/)
## Distribution
The series launched exclusively to Prime members in the UK and Ireland on 1 March 2024.[3](https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/entertainment/prime-video-announces-comedy-thriller-dead-hot) It later became available in the United States on Tubi, free with ads, where it is rated TV-MA for coarse or crude language and carries an audio-description track.[4](https://tubitv.com/series/300002669/dead-hot) [Availability](https://www.edgepedia.org/availability) varies by territory as licensing agreements change.[11](https://www.documentarytube.com/blog/dead-hot-review-should-you-watch-charlotte-cobens-six-part-mystery/)
## References
1. ["The series is a little bat sh*t for sure" – Dead Hot released today, Prolific North](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/the-series-is-a-little-bat-sht-for-sure-dead-hot-released-today/)
2. [Dead Hot: release date, cast, plot, trailer interviews guide, What to Watch](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/dead-hot-cast-plot-and-everything-you-need-to-know)
3. [Watch the trailer for 'Dead Hot' coming to Prime Video on 1 March, About Amazon UK](https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/entertainment/prime-video-announces-comedy-thriller-dead-hot)
4. [Dead Hot, Tubi](https://tubitv.com/series/300002669/dead-hot)
5. [Charlotte Coben, Independent Talent](https://www.independenttalent.com/writers/charlotte-coben/)
6. [Dead Hot (a Titles & Air Dates Guide), epguides](https://epguides.com/DeadHot/)
7. [Dead Hot (TV Series 2024– ) – Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29964473/ratings/)
8. [Dead Hot review – it's Skins meets Queer As Folk … but way weirder, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/mar/01/dead-hot-review-its-skins-meets-queer-as-folk-but-way-weirder)
9. [Dead Hot - watch tv show streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/dead-hot)
10. [Laurie Kirkham, Independent Talent](https://www.independenttalent.com/producers/laurie-kirkham/)
11. [Dead Hot Review: Should You Watch Charlotte Coben's Six-Part Mystery?, DocumentaryTube](https://www.documentarytube.com/blog/dead-hot-review-should-you-watch-charlotte-cobens-six-part-mystery/)
12. [Dead Hot: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/dead_hot/s01)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Genre web series: horror, thriller, science fiction, and mystery*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license