Honestly, if you turn on a TV in 2026 and don't see Richard Armitage's brooding face within twenty minutes, you might actually be watching the wrong channel. He’s basically become the human embodiment of a "Skip Intro" button—because you never want to skip the intro when he’s the lead.
From the soot-covered factories of Victorian England to the high-stakes espionage of modern Berlin, Richard Armitage has carved out a niche that few actors can touch. He doesn't just play characters; he inhabits them with this sort of quiet, vibrating intensity that makes you lean into the screen.
The Harlan Coben Connection
You can't talk about Richard Armitage TV shows without mentioning his unofficial residency at Netflix. It’s kinda wild. He’s become the go-to guy for Harlan Coben adaptations. It started with The Stranger in 2020, where he played Adam Price, a man whose life implodes after a woman in a baseball cap tells him a secret at a kids' soccer game.
Then came Stay Close. Then Fool Me Once. Most recently, we’ve seen him in Missing You (2025), where he stepped into the role of Sergeant Ellis Stagger. People joke that Coben has him on speed dial, but there’s a reason for it. Armitage has this specific "distressed dad" energy that fits the Coben formula perfectly. He looks like a guy who has everything under control until the very second he doesn't.
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- The Stranger (2020): Adam Price. The one that started the obsession.
- Stay Close (2021): Ray Levine. A photographer with a memory gap and a lot of regrets.
- Fool Me Once (2024): Joe Burkett. Technically dead for most of it, but his presence looms large.
- Missing You (2025): Ellis Stagger. A more supporting but pivotal turn in the latest mystery.
Beyond the "Coben-verse"
If you think he's just a Netflix thriller guy, you're missing out on the heavy hitters. Let’s go back. North & South (2004) is the big one. If you haven’t seen him as John Thornton, standing in the "snow" (which was actually cotton mill lint), you haven't lived. It was the role that basically invented the "brooding Northern industrialist" trope for a new generation.
Then there's Spooks (or MI-5 for those in the States). He played Lucas North, an agent who spent eight years in a Russian prison. The character was covered in tattoos and carried a massive amount of trauma. It was a masterclass in "physical acting." You could see the weight of the prison years in the way he moved.
The Red Dragon Transformation
Then, he went to America for Hannibal. Playing Francis Dolarhyde was a total pivot. He had to be terrifying, pathetic, and physically imposing all at once. He reportedly trained like a maniac to get that "Great Red Dragon" physique, and the result was bone-chilling. The mirror scenes? Genuinely hard to watch but impossible to look away from.
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What’s New: Red Eye and Winter
Right now, in early 2026, everyone is talking about his return in Red Eye Season 2. The first season was a massive hit on ITVX, with something like 30 million viewers. Seeing him back as Dr. Matthew Nolan—despite the "jaw-dropping" nature of his return—has been the highlight of the winter TV schedule.
But the real buzz is about Winter.
It’s a new ITV series where he plays Dr. Ethan Winter. Think "unconventional forensic pathologist" with a "reckless maverick" streak. It’s based on the French show Balthazar. He’s starring alongside Annabel Scholey, and they’ve just started filming in Bristol and Belgium. He’s described the character as someone with a "fatalistic self-destruct button," which, let’s be real, is exactly the kind of role he excels at.
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Why We Keep Watching
It’s the voice, mostly. That deep, gravelly baritone that makes even a grocery list sound like a Shakespearean soliloquy. But it's also the nuance. Armitage doesn't do "simple." His heroes are always a bit dark, and his villains are always a bit sympathetic.
Whether he’s voicing Trevor Belmont in Castlevania or playing a CIA officer in Berlin Station, there’s a consistency to his quality. He picks projects that have these sharp, jagged edges.
If you're looking to start a binge-watch today, here is the move:
- For the Romance: North & South. Just do it.
- For the Mystery: The Stranger. It’s the quintessential "what would I do?" thriller.
- For the Horror: Hannibal Season 3. It’s high art and high terror.
- For the Latest Hit: Red Eye. It's fast, claustrophobic, and very "Armitage."
The best part? He isn't slowing down. With his career now spanning into writing (his novels Geneva and The Cut are actually pretty great), he’s becoming a bit of a creative powerhouse. But for most of us, he’ll always be the guy who can say more with a single, silent stare than most actors can with a ten-minute monologue.
Next Steps for Your Binge-Watch:
Check out Red Eye on ITVX if you're in the UK, or look for Missing You on Netflix for your next weekend marathon. Keep an eye out for Winter later this year—it looks like it’s going to be the next big procedural that everyone will be tweeting about.