Ride or Die is an American financed and produced but British and European flavoured 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.
Contents
Premise
Two friends have to go on the run from a mysterious enemy. One of the friends is secretly a highly trained assassin.
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
Production
The series was created by Tessa Coates, who began developing it in 2023.
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. 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. Production took place in Prague, Czech Republic, and Ischgl, Austria, and wrapped in June 2025.
The series was produced by Skydance Television, Amazon MGM Studios, Spring Tide, Double Dream, and Orit Entertainment. 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.
Release
The series premiered with all eight episodes on July 15, 2026.
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." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.