M-Net and Fremantle’s brand-new series starring Kim Engelbrecht and Iain Glen, premieres Sunday 25 July

Shot on location in KwaZulu Natal and Johannesburg, the captivating African crime-drama thriller Reyka, starts its eight-episode season on M-Net (channel 102 on DStv) at 8pm. The new season will also be made available on DStv App and Catch Up. South African actress Kim Engelbrecht  (The Flash/Dominion) plays Reyka Gama  and  acclaimed British actor Iain Glen (Game of Thrones/Downton Abbey) stars  as  Angus Speelman in this gripping crime series,  which  also  stars South African  and SAFTA award-winning actress Anna-Mart van der Merwe (Poppie Nongena/Kanarie) as  Reyka’s mom, Elsa,  who  struggles to see her daughter’s life spiral into cycles of obsession with her abductor and work. The series will expose the secrets and lies, truth and trust, damage and healing and forgiveness and the future.

On Friday, 18 June Reyka opened the 60^th Monte-Carlo Television Festival with its worldwide first episode screening in Monaco and received rave reviews from guests who attended the festival. Alternating between 1994 and the present day, the series is created and written by award-winning screenwriter Rohan Dickson and directed by Zee Ntuli (Hard to Get) and Catharine Cooke (The Girl from St Agnes).  Reyka is jointly produced by Serena Cullen for Serena Cullen Productions in the UK (Lady Chatterley’s Lover) and Harriet Gavshon (The Girl from St Agnes) for Emmy nominated Quizzical Pictures in South Africa. Executive Producers are Serena Cullen, Harriet Gavshon and Rohan Dickson. Yolisa Phahle, Nkateko Mabaso, Allan Sperling, Jan du Plessis will executive produce for M-Net, and Julie Hodge for Fremantle. Reyka will be distributed globally by Fremantle.

1994:April 27, eleven-year-old Reyka Gama, accompanies her mother Elsa, a photographer who is covering the elections for a local newspaper. It’s a time of huge excitement and hope but then something cataclysmic happens, Elsa is looking the other way and Reyka, her only daughter is abducted.

Present day: Haunted by her disturbing past, a flawed but brilliant Reyka, now a criminal profiler, investigates a string of brutal murders committed by a serial killer amongst the sugarcane fields of KwaZulu Natal.

Reyka features a commendable South African cast: Thando Thabethe is Nandi Cele (Housekeepers/94.7 Radio DJ), Leeanda Reddy is Alia Sewsunker (Legacy/The Dark Tower), Hamilton Dhlamini is Hector Zwane (Isithembiso/Five Fingers for Marseille), Mavuso Simelane is Samuel Zwane(Deutschland 86), Gerald Steyn (Trackers/Lioness/Binnelanders), Nokuthula Mavuso is Portia (Lioness, The River), Kenneth Nkosi (Frank & the Fearless/White Wedding) is Chief Msomi, Rashaan Stackling is Thuli Gama, Gabrielle De Gama is Young Reyka, Fiona Ramsey (Lioness/Vergeet my Nie) is Cathleen Tyrone, Ian Roberts (Mia the White Lion/Cape Town) John Tyrone, and Desmond Dube (Schuks! Pay Back the Money!) is Pastor Zik (Schuks! Pay Back the Money!). 

Watch the African crime-drama Reyka, Sunday 25 July at 8pm on M-Net, DStv channel 102. For updates and more go to the Reyka webpage mnet.tv and join the conversation by using #ReykaSA on Twitter (@MNet)/ Instagram (@mnettv)/ Facebook (@MNet) and DStv Twitter (@DStv)/Instagram (@dstvza)/Facebook (@DStvSouthAfrica).