Hostage: Netflix thriller about a UK prime minister in crisis

Netflix's five episode political thriller Hostage, starring Suranne Jones as British prime minister Abigail Dalton, debuted on Aug. 21 and quickly became a global streaming hit as it unspools a high‑stakes crisis that pits national duty against family loyalty. Dalton's husband, Dr. Alex Anderson, played by Ashley Thomas, is abducted while working with Médecins Sans Frontières in French Guiana, and the kidnappers demand the prime minister's resignation. At the same time the visiting French president, Vivienne Toussaint, portrayed by Julie Delpy, is blackmailed, forcing the two leaders into an uneasy alliance as they race to unravel a conspiracy.

Across five taut episodes written by Matt Charman, the plot traces the kidnapping to a group of former soldiers led by John Shagan, played by Martin McCann, who harbors a personal vendetta against Dalton. Shagan is aided by Saskia, an ex‑soldier who infiltrates the French inner circle, and by a senior military figure, General Livingston, whose political motive is to reverse Dalton's cuts to defence spending. The rescue of Alex involves French military intervention and intelligence cooperation, but the crisis escalates when a bomb...