Ride or Die (2026 TV series)
American television series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ride or Die is an American action adventure comedy television series created by Tessa Coates, starring Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham and Bill Nighy. The series premiered on July 15, 2026 on Amazon Prime Video.[1]
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Created byTessa Coates
ShowrunnerMatt Miller
| Ride or Die | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Tessa Coates |
| Showrunner | Matt Miller |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Isabella Summers |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producer | Holger Reibiger |
| Cinematography |
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| Editors |
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| Running time | 48–55 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | July 15, 2026 |
Premise
Two friends have to go on the run from a mysterious enemy. One of the friends is secretly a highly trained assassin.[2]
Cast
- Hannah Waddingham as Judith Burton, an elite assassin and Debbie's best friend
- Octavia Spencer as Deborah "Debbie" Claybourne, an American wife of a member of Parliament (MP) and Judith's best friend
- Ed Skrein as Billy Donovan, a member of a crime syndicate
- Calam Lynch as Sam, Judith's handler
- Savannah Steyn as Queenie, Judith's tech and weapons specialist
- Jamie Parker as David, Debbie's husband and an MP
- Sylvia Hoeks as Ana, a fellow assassin and former friend of Judith's
- Bill Nighy as The Director, Judith's employer
- Jacky Ido as Jacques, an Interpol agent
Recurring cast
- Cathy Tyson as Diane Williams, Queenie’s mother who is training her daughter to take over the assassin support “shop”
- Kathryn Drysdale as Amanda, The Director's assistant
- Camille Chamoux as Colette, French police officer
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Book of Judith" | Peyton Reed | Tessa Coates | July 15, 2026 | |
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Judith Burton, a veteran British assassin codenamed Whiptail, is urged by her employer, The Agency, to retire due to her actions in recent missions. Judith spends her free time with her American best friend Debbie Claybourne, who works tirelessly to uphold the career of her British MP husband David. Before a charity gala, David informs Debbie of his intention to get a divorce, causing Debbie to get heavily drunk. At the same gala, Judith is sent to kill crime boss Billy Donovan, but instead finds David and multiple bodyguards dead in Billy’s room, with the assassin leaving behind a postcard. Judith realises the danger to Debbie and helps her escape. At a graveyard pictured on the postcard, Judith finds a page of the Book of Judith with a black mark on her own grave, signalling her coming death. Consequently, Debbie discovers Judith’s assassin identity. Later, an assassin kills a graveyard attendant who assisted Judith. | |||||
| 2 | "The Yellow Wood" | Peyton Reed | Tessa Coates | July 15, 2026 | |
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In 2001, Debbie and Judith meet for the first time when Judith takes Debbie home after her car breaks down, although as cover after a mission. In the present, Debbie discovers a cover-up of the gala murders, while Judith confronts the Director of her Agency about the black mark and hunts down Billy. Debbie searches her home and discovers David’s links to Billy and an Albanian crime syndicate, led by Ergon Kreshnik. Debbie interrupts a meeting between Billy and the Albanians, learning that David stole £24 million from Kreshnik. Debbie is kidnapped by the Albanians, sparking a car chase in which she incapacitates her captors and is saved by Judith. Judith enlists the help of her handler, Sam, assassin supplier Mrs. Williams and her daughter, Queenie, to create new identities and track Billy. Sam is seduced by the graveyard assassin, and the Director orders Debbie’s death after uncovering her discovery of the Agency. | |||||
| 3 | "Strangers on a Train" | DeMane Davis | Matt Miller & Katherine Kearns | July 15, 2026 | |
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In 1997, Debbie meets David while Interrailing in London, deciding against her plan to become a public defender in the United States. In the present, Debbie and Judith enter France and mistake a generous motorist for a pursuer when their car gains a flat tyre. They board a luxury train from Calais to northern Spain, while arguing over Judith’s deception. The graveyard assassin, Ana, bugs Sam’s phone to gain Debbie and Judith’s location, which she shares with Kreshnik. On the train, Judith kills an assassin sent by The Agency to kill Debbie, and they are forced to jump off the moving train. After accidentally leaving their supplies on the train and agreeing to a no-kill rule, Debbie and Judith hitchhike towards Spain. Sam and Queenie discover that David had been secretly transported out of Billy’s room by Ana. Debbie learns that her children have been receiving texts from David, who is being held captive by Ana. | |||||
| 4 | "The Spanish Prisoner" | DeMane Davis | Liz Friedman | July 15, 2026 | |
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Judith convinces the Director to cancel the hit on Debbie if she can kill Billy within 24 hours. Ana tortures David into discussing Debbie and Judith’s relationship and the stolen money. Kreshnik’s son Spiro and Interpol agent Jacques Boucher search the train and discover Debbie and Judith’s fake passports. In Spain, with help from travellers, Debbie and Judith track Billy to a nightclub, where Judith fights off Billy’s rival drug gang. Debbie and Judith kidnap and interrogate Billy, who reveals that David was paid £24 million by Kreshnik to prevent a transport bill that hindered their interests from passing through Parliament. Debbie becomes upset that David tried to stop a bill she was highly involved in, and sleeps with a traveller, who later helps her escape Spiro. Sam and Queenie break into the Director’s office and find out Ana, codenamed Redback, apparently died 5 years ago. Judith decides against killing Billy and leaves the Agency, escaping Spain together with Debbie. | |||||
| 5 | "The Count of Monte Carlo" | Allison Liddi-Brown | Laura Jacqmin | July 15, 2026 | |
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Debbie, Judith and Billy travel to Monaco to track David’s money with the help of former allies Brian and Elijah. The Director and Mrs. Williams investigate Ana, who had been held in a Turkish prison for the last 5 years. The Director prevents anyone from informing Judith of Ana’s return, given Judith’s departure. Debbie, Judith and Billy plot to rob antiques during a party hosted by arms dealer Arnand, one of Judith’s previous targets, to repay Kreshnik. Jacques tracks Debbie on the orders of his Interpol superior Colette, who is also his ex-wife, while Spiro tracks Debbie to Monaco. At Arnand’s party, Judith seduces Arnand, allowing Debbie and Billy to rob the antiques. Jacques arrives at the party and urges Debbie to assist Interpol. Spiro exposes Judith to Arnand, causing her to be tortured. Debbie starts a fire to distract the Albanians, allowing Judith to fight them, but Spiro severely wounds her. | |||||
| 6 | "Moonlight on the Bosphorus" | Allison Liddi-Brown | Alison Barton & Bonnie Dennison and Katherine Kearns | July 15, 2026 | |
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Debbie, Judith and Billy escape the party and are saved from the Albanians from an assassin sent by Sam, who informs them of Ana’s return. Ana kills Mrs. Williams, devastating Queenie and the Director. Brian operates on Judith, and the group retreat outside of Monaco to recover. Judith reveals that Ana had previously been her friend. Ana opted to silence Debbie after meeting her together with Judith before a mission in Turkey, forcing Judith to kill Ana. In the present, Debbie tricks Jacques into delivering medical supplies for Judith, and Ana and Kreshnik exchange information on David and Debbie’s locations. Sam and Queenie find and free David before the Albanians arrive. Jacques, Spiro and Interpol find the group, creating a confrontation in which Judith kills Spiro, and Debbie hands herself in to allow Judith and Billy’s escape. Ana publicly murders an assassin sent by the Agency. | |||||
| 7 | "The Geneva Convention" | Lauren Wolkstein | Tessa Coates & Matt Miller | July 15, 2026 | |
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Debbie negotiates legal immunity with Interpol if she recovers David’s money from a bank in Geneva to draw out Kreshnik. Concurrently, Judith, Billy, Sam and Queenie plan to make David withdraw his money in Geneva, and Ana learns of the account from Elijah. Debbie and Judith share intimate moments with Jacques and Billy, respectively. Debbie and David incidentally arrive at the bank at the same time. Ana activates hidden smoke bombs around the bank, causing a shootout between Interpol agents and Kreshnik’s gang, leaving Judith injured and Kreshnik dead. Ana kills Billy and kidnaps Debbie during the commotion. Instead of killing Debbie, Ana makes her watch Judith’s debriefing tapes, in which Judith describes using Debbie as a cover and deleting a significant job offer for Debbie. As Ana escapes, Sam refuses to shoot her, enraging Queenie. Judith watches as Debbie is left heartbroken, leading Debbie to reveal Judith’s identity to Interpol, and Judith to rejoin the Agency. | |||||
| 8 | "The Song of Deborah" | Allison Liddi-Brown | Tessa Coates & Matt Miller | July 15, 2026 | |
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David and other MPs are prosecuted for the transport bill scandal. Queenie discovers notes from her mother, revealing that the Director is her missing father. Judith attempts to convince Debbie that their friendship was genuine, but Debbie scolds Judith for her betrayal. Judith searches an Agency training facility, where she discovers that all of the Agency’s assassins were orphans who were systematically adopted, returned and recruited as children. Ana incapacitates Judith, and forces the Director to choose between exposing the Agency or killing Judith, of which he chooses the latter. Ana drugs Judith and keeps her alive and isolated inside a furnace, but Judith slowly dies when she purposely breaks her oxygen supply. Debbie and Sam search Judith’s apartment and find the training facility. Debbie rescues Judith, and they kill Ana by dragging her off a cliff during a car chase. The Director forces Sam to stay at the Agency, with Queenie as his new operative, although she secretly works with Jacques and Colette to investigate the Agency. Debbie divorces David and pursues a career as a barrister. Debbie and Judith travel together on a Eurostar towards their new destinations, followed by multiple foreign agents. | |||||
Production
The series was created by Tessa Coates, who began developing it in 2023.[3]
In February 2025, it was announced that Matt Miller would serve as showrunner and Peyton Reed would direct the first two episodes of the series. In addition to starring, Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham serve as executive producers with Coates, Miller and Reed, with Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, Irene Yeung, Ben Spencer, Brian Clisham, and Stephanie Kluft.[4] Alongside Spencer and Waddingham, the cast is led by Bill Nighy, Ed Skrein, Sylvia Hoeks, Jamie Parker, Calam Lynch and Savannah Steyn. Filming began in February 2025.[4] Production took place in Prague, Czech Republic, and Ischgl, Austria, and wrapped in June 2025.[5]
The series was produced by Skydance Television, Amazon MGM Studios, Spring Tide, Double Dream, and Orit Entertainment.[4] By August 2025, Paramount Television Studios had taken over production of the series following the merger of Skydance Television's parent company Skydance Media with Paramount Global into Paramount Skydance.[6]
Release
The series premiered with all eight episodes on July 15, 2026.[7]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 96%, based on 26 reviews, with an average of rated reviews of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Reveling in the dynamic friendship between Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham, this Ride or Die spy caper maximizes its entertainment, humor, and fun through genuine performances and breezy writing."[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[9]
