Benedict Cumberbatch searches for his kidnapped son with the help of a 7ft blue monster in the trailer for Eric

Set in 1980s New York, Eric is a new emotional thriller from Abi Morgan following the desperate search of a father when his nine year old son disappears one morning on the way to school. Vincent, one of New York’s leading puppeteers and creator of the hugely popular children’s television show, ‘Good Day Sunshine,’ struggles to cope with the loss of his son, Edgar, becoming increasingly distressed and volatile. Full of self-loathing and guilt around Edgar’s disappearance, he clings to his son’s drawings of a blue monster puppet, ERIC, convinced that if he can get ERIC on TV then Edgar will come home. As Vincent’s progressively destructive behaviour alienates his family, his work colleagues, and the detectives trying to help him, it’s Eric, a delusion of necessity, who becomes his only ally in the pursuit to bring his son home.

Created and written by Abi Morgan, the series stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Gaby Hoffmann, McKinley Belcher III, Dan Fogler and Clarke Peters.

Creator Abi Morgan said, “When I pitched the idea of a New York puppeteer on a quest to find his missing son, with a 7ft blue monster in tow, it’s to Netflix’s eternal credit that they jumped on board. Eric is a deep dive into the 1980’s big apple, grappling with rising crime rates, internal corruption, endemic racism, a forgotten underclass and the AIDS epidemic, exposing the divisions rife between parents searching for their child, a detective battling with a system that is broken, and a lost boy who may never come home, and asks where the real monsters lie. With puppets…lots of puppets.”

Directed by Lucy Forbes, the six episode series hits Netflix on 20th May 2024.