After leaving viewers with a cliffhanger at end of season one, thriller The Gone returns to RTÉ One and RTÉ Player for a second six-part series.
Having solved the case of a missing Irish couple Dublin Detective Theo Richter (Richard Flood) is about to leave Mt Affinity in New Zealand when he discovers that Irish journalist Aileen Ryan (Carolyn Bracken) has gone missing. He pairs up once more with Kiwi Detective Diana Huia (Acushla-Tara Kupe), who leads a desperate search for Aileen. When it appears Aileen went missing while chasing a lead on the town’s historical Mountain Murders, the detectives enter a game of cat and mouse, with the ‘Goatman’ who is back and more dangerous than ever.
The Gone is co-produced by Keeper Pictures and Kingfisher Films, in association with Southern Light Films (New Zealand) for RTÉ and TV New Zealand, with international distribution handled by Red Arrow Studios.
THE GONE is produced by Kingfisher Films, Keeper Pictures and Southern Light Films for RTÉ and TVNZ.
THE GONE is made with support from Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann, RTÉ, TVNZ, NZ On Air and Coimisiún na Meán Sound & Vision Fund. Global distribution is by Seven. One Studios International.
SHORT SERIES SYNOPSIS
Having solved the case of a missing Irish couple, Detective Theo Richter is about to leave Mt Affinity and board a plane back home to Ireland, when he discovers that Irish journalist Aileen Ryan has gone missing. He pairs up once more with Kiwi Detective Diana Huia, who leads a desperate search for Aileen.
When it appears that Aileen went missing while chasing a lead on the town’s historical Mountain Murders, the detectives enter a game of cat and mouse, with the ‘Goatman’ who is back and more dangerous than ever.
LONG SERIES SYNOPSIS
THE GONE Series One began in a small town in rural New Zealand, Mount Affinity, with a dark history of
unexplained murders, nestled below an epic mountain where two young Irish tourists vanished without a trace.
Irish Special Branch Detective Theo Richter and young Māori detective Diana Huia solved the mystery, discovering town mayor Ken was responsible for the death of Ronan and abduction of Sinead, his crimes covered up by his sister, war hero Val. But in the last moments of the series, deep in the bush, Irish journalist Aileen Ryan, in town to investigate the case, discovered a hut with the signature trophies of the Mountain Murderer – the skeleton of a gutted goat and two tiny bird bones tied in the shape of a cross.
Series 2 picks up directly with Richter headed to the airport and Diana packing up to return to the city. But once Richter discovers Aileen is missing, the pair realise they must stay in Mt Affinity, and their desperate search begins.
Their investigation takes a complex turn when they discover the hut Aileen disappeared from. It’s empty, but there is evidence that a shoot-out took place there. Soon it emerges that Aileen may have encountered a familiar face at the hut, none other than Irish gangster Derry Fallon, who is also reported missing by his wife. What happened at that hut? And where are Derry and Aileen?
Alongside the investigation, the police try to hold a simmering town together, with former town mayor Ken imprisoned and a recovering Val released on bail to the home of her formidable mother Michaela and Michaela’s partner, Doctor Ray. Meanwhile Sinead’s mother, Judge Hannah Martin, is still in town, trying to heal her traumatised daughter who is unravelling after her experience of being abducted.
Richter and Diana manage to track down Aileen and Derry, who have been stranded in the bush for days, but during the rescue Derry is shot dead by an unknown assailant. The detectives are now tackling a murder case, with clues forcing them to unbury past trauma in the town. They suspect that the perpetrator of the historical Mountain Murders is back at work.
Diana and Richter are pushed to their limits, both personally and professionally. Diana must accept that solving this case and finding the real Goatman might finally answer the questions she has had about her own mother’s disappearance all those years ago. Was she a victim of the Mountain Murderer? Normally she would rely on her childhood best friend Val at times like this, but Diana struggles to navigate her complex feelings towards her with Val now a criminal awaiting trial. Richter attempts to patch things up with Aileen and possibly rekindle their romance, while considering his options for living with Huntington’s disease.
They close in on a potential and unlikely suspect but just as they are about to apprehend them, said suspect is found dead, gutted like a goat in a terrifyingly eerie murder scene. With a killer on the loose, and a prisoner linked to the case escaped from prison, the town is locked down and Diana and Richter are under huge pressure to catch the killer before someone else gets hurt, leading them to a dramatic and fatal climax to reveal the killer. Someone nobody suspected.
Episode 1
Short:
When Irish journalist Aileen Ryan goes missing, Irish Detective Theo Richter and Kiwi Detective Diana Huia are compelled to remain in the small town of Mt Affinity New Zealand to lead the search.
Long:
With the previous case solved, Irish Detective Theo Richter is about to board a plane home when he discovers Irish journalist Aileen Ryan has gone missing. He immediately returns to Mt Affinity and DS Diana Huia, to pair up and begin the search. They discover Aileen went missing while chasing down a lead on the historic Mountain Murders and wonder if she got too close to the truth, with the eerie place she disappeared from showing signs of a violent struggle.
