Hijack series creator explains "important" decision to bring back season 1 villain

*Warning: This article contains spoilers for Hijack season 2, episode 5 – Outage.*

So, who saw that coming?

Hijack fans were likely united in their gasps in episode 5 when Neil Maskell's Stuart made an appearance, as Daniel (Max Beesley) continued to try to find out more about how Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) has found himself caught up in the U-Bahn hijacking situation.

It has all the workings of season 1's deceptive OCG, but Stuart initially makes out as though he doesn't know anything about what's going on in Berlin. But when Daniel mentions Stuart's younger brother, father and mother – who were all killed by The Cheapside Firm – it clearly strikes a nerve in Stuart and underlines that his loyalties may not be best placed. Even so, Stuart vows that he doesn't know anything – but is he telling the whole truth?

Seeing as Maskell wasn't revealed to be rejoining the cast for season 2, Stuart's return has been expertly (and covertly) pulled off. But what is it always the plan to bring him back for season 2?

After posing that exact question to series co-creator Jim Field Smith, he told RadioTimes.com in an exclusive chat: "Yeah, I think we couldn’t make season 2 and not have it be this – for me, it had to be this yin and yang thing with season 1. It had to sit together as two seasons because you can’t have Sam having gone through all of this stuff and then just forget about it like 'Oh here he is in a new problem'.

"That’s a deliberate trick that we’re playing, to make you think 'How has he got into this situation?'."

He continues: "What you realise is that well, of course he's in this situation because it's connected directly to what has already happened and all of the events of this season are connected back to what happened in season 1. There is no luck, there is no chance, these are all deliberate things that have happened.

"So, it was really important to bring Stuart back because at the end of season 1, there's a lot of unanswered questions, there's a lot of unfinished business and Stuart probably represents the pinnacle of that unfinished business. This guy hurt [Sam's] family and chose to hurt his family and vice versa, Stuart was thrown under the bus by his higher-ups in season 1 and he feels like he's got unfinished business too.

"That, to me, is just a really powerful dynamic to have these two guys who both have unfinished business both with each other and other people. He's a great actor, he's someone that we love to work with so it was a no brainer to ask him to come back."

As for whether we'll be seeing more of Stuart in the episodes to come, we'll just have to hold tight and see, but his reappearance certainly does strike an eerie chord for the series. There are mystery powers-that-be that are pulling the strings once again – and this time, Sam is caught up in it.

With only three more episodes to go, there's certainly more to dig into — will Sam and the passengers make it out of the train alive?

Read more:

• Idris Elba reveals how Hijack character Sam Nelson is "shell of a man" in season 2
• Idris Elba gives verdict on whether he would return for more Hijack – teases its potential future

What we do know is that although the series has continued to be a success for Apple TV, series star and executive producer Idris Elba has said that "I don’t think we’ll ever come back" for more after season 2. However, he did admit that there's potential to explore a wider story here.

Elba revealed: "But actually, I do think that there is another layer of storytelling that it wouldn't necessarily involve hijacking. At this junction, if you like this series and this story, the hijacks, the hijacking is part of something else, isn't it?"

He added: "There's definitely the man Sam Nelson and what trauma looks like post-something like that and what the residue is. I would be interested in exploring that because it's another thing but it wouldn’t necessarily be hijacking."

Hijack season 2 will premiere on Apple TV on Wednesday 14th January 2026. Hijack season 1 is available to stream on Apple TV, sign up now with a 7-day free trial.

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