# Run Away (TV series)
**Run Away** is a 2026 British limited thriller series on Netflix, created by [Harlan Coben](https://www.edgepedia.org/harlan-coben) and adapted from his 2019 novel of the same name. It follows Simon Greene, a father whose search for his runaway daughter Paige draws him into a murder investigation and a web of family secrets. All eight episodes premiered on Netflix on 1 January 2026, continuing the streamer's [New Year's Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-years-day) tradition of launching a British-made Coben drama.[1](https://app.mediacityuk.co.uk/newsroom/mediacitys-dock10-powers-netflix-global-top-10-hit-series-run-away-with-world-class-post-production/) • [2](https://cstonline.tv/run-away-harlan-coben)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Eight-episode Netflix limited series, TV-MA, episodes roughly 41 to 50 minutes[3](https://www.netflix.com/title/81744420?fromWatch=true&src=tudum) |
| Source | Inspired by Coben's 2019 novel *Run Away*[4](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-harlan-coben-trailer) |
| Premiere | 1 January 2026, all episodes at once[1](https://app.mediacityuk.co.uk/newsroom/mediacitys-dock10-powers-netflix-global-top-10-hit-series-run-away-with-world-class-post-production/) |
| Lead cast | James Nesbitt (Simon Greene), Ruth Jones (Elena Ravenscroft), Minnie Driver (Ingrid Greene), Alfred Enoch (Detective Isaac Fagbenle)[5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-cast-guide?inapp=trueOs) |
| Production | Quay Street Productions (Nicola Shindler) and Final Twist Productions (Harlan Coben); post-production by dock10 at MediaCity[1](https://app.mediacityuk.co.uk/newsroom/mediacitys-dock10-powers-netflix-global-top-10-hit-series-run-away-with-world-class-post-production/) |
| Setting | London and the north west of England, relocated from the novel's US setting[6](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/run-away-review-netflix-harlan-coben-b1262630.html) • [1](https://app.mediacityuk.co.uk/newsroom/mediacitys-dock10-powers-netflix-global-top-10-hit-series-run-away-with-world-class-post-production/) |
| Reception | Rotten Tomatoes 83% from 29 critics, 39% audience score; IMDb 6.9/10 from about 28,000 votes; Metacritic Metascore 59[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/run_away/s01) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9169516/ratings/) • [9](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/run-away/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Simon Greene ([James Nesbitt](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-nesbitt)) appears to have a picture-perfect life until his oldest daughter, Paige ([Ellie de Lange](https://www.edgepedia.org/ellie-de-lange)), runs away. When he finally tracks her down, vulnerable and strung out on drugs in a city park, he tries to bring her home, but an argument with Paige's companion escalates into shocking violence, and he loses her again.[5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-cast-guide?inapp=trueOs) The altercation is recorded, the video goes viral, and when Aaron Corval ([Thomas Flynn](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-flynn-british-actor)), one of the last people seen with Paige, is found murdered soon after, Simon becomes a suspect.[10](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-ending-explained)
In his renewed search, Simon meets Elena Ravenscroft ([Ruth Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruth-jones)), a private investigator and former police firearms officer who is working her own missing persons case that may connect to Aaron's murder and Paige's past.[5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-cast-guide?inapp=trueOs) • [11](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/ruth-jones-netflix-run-away-role/) Other principals include Cornelius Faber ([Lucian Msamati](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucian-msamati)), Paige's former neighbor turned protector; Detectives Isaac Fagbenle ([Alfred Enoch](https://www.edgepedia.org/alfred-enoch)) and Ruby Todd (Amy Gledhill); Simon's wife Ingrid (Minnie Driver), son Sam (Adrian Greensmith), and sister-in-law Yvonne (Ingrid Oliver); and a pair of paid assassins, Ash (Jon Pointing) and Dee Dee (Maeve Courtier-Lilley), killing people with something in common with Aaron.[5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-cast-guide?inapp=trueOs) • [10](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-ending-explained)
Coben, who is creator and executive producer, described the series as being about family: "what we will do to keep our family intact, what secrets we keep within our family, and what secrets we keep as a family."[12](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-harlan-coben-plot-cast-release-date-news?inapp=true%2F) Head writer and executive producer Danny Brocklehurst, a regular Coben collaborator, shares credit for what Coben called a "shared vision" of twists and turns.[10](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-ending-explained)
### Episodes
The eight episodes, all released on 1 January 2026, are:[3](https://www.netflix.com/title/81744420?fromWatch=true&src=tudum)
1. "Seeing Is Believing" (50 min)
2. "Tattoos While U Wait" (41 min)
3. "Breaking Point" (48 min)
4. "A Different Time" (49 min)
5. "Forever Be The Shining Truth" (47 min)
6. "The Man I Knew" (48 min)
7. "Sliding Doors" (43 min)
8. "It Stays With Us" (46 min)
Directors are Nimer Rashed and Isher Sahota; screenwriters include Coben, Brocklehurst, Charlotte Coben, Tom Farrelly, and Amanda Duke.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/run_away/s01)
## Production
The series was produced by Nicola Shindler's Quay Street Productions and Harlan Coben's Final Twist Productions, with dock10 at MediaCity handling post-production on its seventh Coben project, following *Missing You* (2025) and *Fool Me Once* (2024). Filming took place across the north west of England, and the 12-month post-production schedule delivered all eight episodes ahead of the release date.[1](https://app.mediacityuk.co.uk/newsroom/mediacitys-dock10-powers-netflix-global-top-10-hit-series-run-away-with-world-class-post-production/) As with Netflix's other Coben adaptations, the setting moved from the United States of the novel to the UK, this time London.[6](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/run-away-review-netflix-harlan-coben-b1262630.html)
The adaptation makes changes from the book. The character Lou, a tech expert who helps Elena, is a minor male character in the novel but becomes a woman, Elena's mother-in-law, played by [Annette Badland](https://www.edgepedia.org/annette-badland). The character Maria, whose secret connection to Elena's late husband Joel drives a subplot, does not exist in the book at all.[13](https://www.tvguide.co.uk/articles/run-away-all-the-changes-in-the-netflix-series-from-the-harlan-coben-book/)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed to positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, season 1 holds an 83% Tomatometer score from 29 reviews, with a critics consensus crediting "James Nesbitt's committed performance," while the audience Popcornmeter sits at 39%.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/run_away/s01) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 59, indicating mixed or average reviews; Variety gave 80, praising the "stellar cast, taut pacing and inventive storylines," while The Independent at 60 criticized "lazy shortcuts to characterisation."[9](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/run-away/critic-reviews/) IMDb users rate the series 6.9/10 from about 28,000 votes.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9169516/ratings/)
Reviewers repeatedly noted the formula: dense, fast-paced plotting with a hook ending every episode, and a plot that leans heavily on coincidences. The *Los Angeles Times* singled out Ruth Jones's "no-nonsense shamus" and Amy Gledhill's cheeriness as highlights, while *The Wall Street Journal* wrote that the show "shortchanges its audience on the one quality essential to every great mystery. Logic."[9](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/run-away/critic-reviews/) Netflix's Tudum site named the series a global top 10 hit.[1](https://app.mediacityuk.co.uk/newsroom/mediacitys-dock10-powers-netflix-global-top-10-hit-series-run-away-with-world-class-post-production/)
## References
1. [MediaCity's dock10 powers Netflix global top 10 hit series 'Run Away' with world class post-production](https://app.mediacityuk.co.uk/newsroom/mediacitys-dock10-powers-netflix-global-top-10-hit-series-run-away-with-world-class-post-production/)
2. [Run Away: Harlan Coben's Next Mystery Series Release Date, Locations, and News, Netflix Tudum](https://cstonline.tv/run-away-harlan-coben)
3. [Run Away, Netflix official site](https://www.netflix.com/title/81744420?fromWatch=true&src=tudum)
4. [Watch the 'Run Away' Trailer: Harlan Coben Teases New Thriller Series, Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-harlan-coben-trailer)
5. ['Run Away' Cast Guide: Who's in Harlan Coben's New Mystery Series, Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-cast-guide?inapp=trueOs)
6. [Run Away on Netflix review, The Standard](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/run-away-review-netflix-harlan-coben-b1262630.html)
7. [Run Away: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/run_away/s01)
8. [Run Away (TV Mini Series 2026) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9169516/ratings/)
9. [Run Away critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/run-away/critic-reviews/)
10. ['Run Away' Ending Explained, Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-ending-explained)
11. [Ruth Jones reveals the Run Away scene that left her 'gobsmacked', Woman & Home](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/ruth-jones-netflix-run-away-role/)
12. [Harlan Coben's Run Away Is Streaming Now on Netflix, Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/run-away-harlan-coben-plot-cast-release-date-news?inapp=true%2F)
13. [Run Away: All the changes from the Netflix series versus the book, TV Guide UK](https://www.tvguide.co.uk/articles/run-away-all-the-changes-in-the-netflix-series-from-the-harlan-coben-book/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Adapted and franchise screen series › Literary and classic serial adaptations › Thriller and crime adaptations › Premiered 2024 to 2026*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 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