It’s summer. The sun is shining, barbecues are burning and picnics are packed. Naturally, you don’t want to be stuck inside, watching the telly. And yet there is one show that is keeping curtains drawn and bums on sofas. Hijack, Apple TV+’s new seven-part plane thriller, may have achieved lift-off without much fanfare, but it has now reached cruising altitude and is set to become the hit of the summer.
The premise is simple: Idris Elba is Sam Nelson, an ordinary man on an ordinary flight from Dubai to London. Passengers must contend with all the normal frustrations of long-haul flying, from children playing noisy games consoles to queues for the loos. Everything changes, however, when a group of armed criminals perform the hijack. They now have seven hours until the plane is due to land at Heathrow; meaning Sam has seven hours to unravel the mysterious events and save the passengers from fiery oblivion. Back in London, Sam’s ex-wife Marsha (Christine Adams) says ominous things such as “Sam’s the best at handling it”. “Handling what?” her new man (Max Beesley) replies, for the benefit of the audience. “The negotiation,” Sam’s teenage son Kai (Jude Cudjoe) answers, cryptically. So viewers get a hint that Sam has a very particular set of skills, and is quite capable of entering Taken mode.
