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Time of India
37 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Netflix's ‘Dept. Q' blends Nordic noir and British mystery in new cold-case crime series
'Dept. Q' adapts Danish crime fiction with international creative team Complex characters drive Netflix's cold-case crime series Nordic noir influences dominate storytelling and visual themes Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Dept. Q, Netflix's latest crime series, is an adaptation of a novel by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen. The nine-episode season is written and directed primarily by American filmmaker Scott Frank and co-developed with British writer Chandni Lakhani. The series is set and filmed in Edinburgh, Scotland, and features a largely British cast led by Matthew plays Carl Morck, a detective tasked with launching a new cold-case unit following a traumatic incident on the job. The series introduces a cross-cultural creative approach, combining elements of Nordic noir, British mystery, and American drama. Frank, whose previous work includes The Queen's Gambit and Out of Sight, continues his genre-spanning trajectory by infusing the procedural with layered character dynamics and psychological read: Netflix TUDUM 2025: Here's global streaming date, time, and what to expect The main narrative in Dept. Q centers on Morck and his reluctant partnership with Akram Salim, played by Alexej Manvelov, a Syrian immigrant with unorthodox investigative methods. Their dynamic, central to the series, is expanded with supporting roles including Kelly Macdonald as Morck's therapist, Jamie Sives as a paralyzed former partner, and Leah Byrne as a new scenes take precedence over action, with extended exchanges often emphasizing backstory, trauma, and interpersonal tension. While the cast delivers capable performances, particularly Macdonald and Sives, some interactions appear overly scripted. Despite this, the series maintains steady pacing and visual cohesion, aided by Frank's directorial Q remains grounded in Nordic noir conventions, especially through its use of psychological trauma and restrained visual storytelling. The show includes hallmark features such as a gruesome, long-term hostage situation and emotionally detached investigative techniques. These elements are balanced with British crime tropes, including extended psychological analysis and slow-building character read: Netflix June 2025 Lineup: See full list of shows and movies arriving this month The central case's complexity involves multiple narrative turns and abrupt psychological links. Themes of guilt, trauma, and emotional repression serve as structural anchors. Morck's character arc involves mandated therapy, emotional isolation, and eventual reconciliation, unfolding across the full season. Other team members are similarly affected by past incidents, further reinforcing the series' psychological portrayal of Morck contrasts with his typical on-screen persona. Styled with disheveled hair and a subdued demeanor, his character is positioned as abrasive and emotionally distant. Despite efforts to depict a deeply flawed personality, the performance leans more restrained than antagonistic, which may reduce the intended dramatic tension.
Business Insider
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
The cast of Netflix's 'Dept. Q' is already lobbying for a season 2
"Dept. Q" is Netflix 's new crime drama set in Edinburgh. It stars Matthew Goode as Carl Morck, a detective who returns to work after a traumatizing incident to run a new cold case department. The series comes from Scott Frank, who is best known for writing and directing the Netflix series "Godless" and "The Queen's Gambit." It's based on the novel of the same name by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, and it is an ideal watch for those waiting for the next Harlan Coben adaptation to land on streamer. "Dept. Q" starts as Morck and Detective Inspector James Hardy (Jamie Sives) investigate a crime scene with a younger officer when a masked man arrives and shoots at the trio. Morck is injured in the attack, Hardy is paralyzed, and the younger officer is killed. When Morck eventually returns to work, he's sent to run a new cold case department in the basement of the Edinburgh station to keep him out of the way. He's joined by Salim (Alexej Manvelov), a Syrian police officer who fled his home and now works in Edinburgh. They start digging into the disappearance of Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie), a prosecutor who went missing four years ago, and discover a sprawling mystery. The nine-episode first season, which was released on May 29, has received mostly positive reviews online. The Guardian called it "a grimy, gothic treat," while Variety described it as "an emotionally fraught crime thriller that never lets up." Here's what to know about "Dept. Q" season two. Netflix hasn't announced "Dept. Q" season two yet, but there are more stories to tell "Dept. Q" has not been renewed for a second season yet. The streamer may be waiting to see how many subscribers watch the series within the first few weeks before deciding whether to bring Goode back to solve more cold cases in Edinburgh. The good news is the cast has already expressed interest in returning for "Dept. Q" season two. In an interview with Yahoo UK, Goode said that he had told the director and writer that they "really need to do" a second season, and that the show could up its fight sequences in season two. His costar Pirrie echoed this, telling the outlet, "I'd love to see more. When I watched the episodes I was just like, these characters are such fun to be with." "I want to see that team do more stuff together," she added. Fortunately, there are already a handful of other stories for Netflix to adapt for the show. There are 10 books in Adler-Olsen's series, which means there are plenty of other mysteries to draw from if "Dept. Q" season two gets the go-ahead. But for any Nordic noir fans, the first six books have already been adapted into movies in Denmark, with the other four set to arrive between 2026 and 2032. "Dept. Q" is now streaming on Netflix.
Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
'You do your homework': Matthew Goode on playing a cop in major new Netflix series Dept. Q
A cold-case mystery like no other is set to unfold in the binge-worthy crime series Dept. Q. The new show from The Queen's Gambit writer-director Scott Frank sees cantankerous English detective Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) setting up a cold-case department in his adopted city of Edinburgh. Shaken by a violent attack that has left one colleague dead and another with serious injuries, Morck wrestles with his own trauma as he unfurls a shocking missing person case. Dept. Q is an adaptation of the novels of the same name by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, with Frank moving the action from Copenhagen to the Scottish city. For Goode, it feels like the second time Frank has given him a role that others may not have considered casting him in, following 2007 US crime thriller The Lookout, in which he co-starred with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels. What was it, does he think, that the filmmaker saw in his leading man for this character? 'That's a question for Scott, really, and I suspect he's full of regret,' smiled the actor. 'A lot of pigeonholing goes on in our business. I've been quite lucky with the range of roles I've had over what is now into my 22nd, 23rd year. "But he's given me the most different and challenging roles. One was a bank robber, which I don't think I scream, and now Morck. And I think some people would have gone for someone who's a bit more grizzled, a bit more... Tom Hardy would have made a very good Morck. Maybe he was busy. I don't know. I don't want to get into it.' Matthew Goode in Dept Q on Netflix. It proves to be an inspired piece of casting - as fans of Adler-Olsen's novels will know, there's a lot more to this detective than meets the eye. An actor who likes to do his research, Goode delved deep into the character of a contrary, unpopular detective harbouring trauma because of recent events in his own life. It helps, he says, that Frank's writing is so nuanced. 'That's a great thing about Scott's writing: how you can balance something that's so dark and so on the nose, for the particular genre, and then it has all this hilarity in it as well. Certainly humour. You're always going to have a great time working with Scott Frank. 'We do an awful lot of homework. There are a lot of secrets that I can put into my brain about his life because of the transposition from Copenhagen to Edinburgh, and then making me an outsider by making me English. I get to mess around with all the socio-political stuff, the history of Carl, because none of it makes sense anymore from the novel, which is why I didn't bother reading it. We've given him a really great backstory. I don't know whether you have to like your character, just have great understanding. 'There was a lot of stuff going on with PTSD that really needed a lot of research - I had friends who worked and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once you've done all your homework, you turn up, and you just see what everyone else's homework looks like. Get it on film, and it's riding by the seat of your pants for six months. It was kind of marvellous. And we've always got Scott to say: 'Why are you doing that?'' he jokes. Goode has enjoyed a steady career since first breaking through in comedy dramas such as Woody Allen's Match Point and an adaptation of Brideshead Revisited. TV roles have included Downton Abbey and The Crown, which got him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for playing Tony Armstrong Jones. Other movie roles include The Imitation Game, Watchmen and opposite young Irish star Alisha Weir in last year's horror hit Abigail. Matthew Goode and Jamie Sives in Dept Q. Mixing up his roles with talented directors remains his goal, he says. 'I mean, it is their medium, effectively. But you know, it's like a river. You're going to get caught in certain eddys, it's not going to be smooth. "And financials, if we're honest, are a part of it, because if you have some money in your bank account, and you get to wait to make a better choice, then that's it. Working with Scott originally, that was my first American role, and I was very lucky to get that.' He is also hopeful that Dept. Q, one of Netflix's big summer series, will resonate with audiences, but he says he tries not to think too much about that side of the business. A series like this, which runs to almost nine hours, gives him a chance to do a deep dive into long-form TV storytelling, an opportunity he embraces, he says. 'I like it. I think it's great for adaptations of books now, that seems to be happening a lot, and it's nicer rather than trying to cram a book into two hours of a movie that it gets to unfurl like the chapters of the book.' Dept Q is now available on Netflix City switch: Copenhagen to Edinburgh The creators of Dept. Q opted to shift the novels' setting of Copenhagen in Denmark to Edinburgh in Scotland, bringing a whole other edge and dimension to the gritty detective story. The combination of the modern and the medieval, Frank has said, felt right - and gives the historic and dramatic city a chance to shine on screen. Leah Byrne, Matthew Goode, Scott Frank and Alexej Manvelov attend a screening of Dept Q. (Photo by StillMoving) 'Edinburgh's such a busy city, but it's a gorgeous city,' says Leah Byrne, who plays Detective Constable Rose Dickson in the show. 'It's beautiful - and I am from Glasgow, so there's a slight rivalry! I only spent a lot of time in Edinburgh via The Fringe, and obviously that's a really different experience to how it is normally. "So it was so nice to just get to spend some time there and really appreciate how beautiful it is and why you should film more there, because it's so scenic and stunning. Everything's within walking distance, but there's just so much variety in terms of what you can do.' Swedish actor Alexej Manvelov, whose previous work includes Chernobyl and who plays Goode's cold-case assistant in the series, the role marked his first time in the Scottish city, which memorably hosted Trainspotting, a massive hit for Danny Boyle and his cast back in 1996. 'It's so ancient, and it's very well preserved. It is a character in and of itself. Everywhere you go, there's just these details and statues, and I really appreciate the architecture of it all.'
Boston Globe
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘Dept. Q' is a little too grim for the sake of being grim
By basement office, of course, Moira means a sort of locker room. Morck is soon sulking amongst sinks and urinals (if you've ever wondered how someone would pronounce 'urinal' in a Scottish accent, the answer is 'your EYE null,' and you'll hear it said plenty). He eventually assembles a team in Rose (Leah Byrne), a young detective who's been sidelined after mental health struggles, and Akram (Alexej Manvelov), a Syrian immigrant who's really not supposed to be more than an office assistant, but who has some kind of mysterious law enforcement (or perhaps just enforcement) background from his life in Syria. Advertisement Despite its origins as a series of mystery novels, the show seems very much designed to appeal to fans of 'Slow Horses,' Apple TV+'s cynical government spook drama, which stars Structurally, these shows are quite similar, given that they're portraits of brilliant men extracting good work from woebegone colleagues who would otherwise be overlooked. But the parallels end there. A bone-deep cynicism is the default tone on 'Slow Horses'; 'Dept. Q' skews more melancholy and dark. Morck and team are swiftly drawn into the case of a missing woman, who has long been given up for dead. They don't know for sure if they're pursuing a missing woman or a dead one, and 'Dept. Q' spends excruciating amounts of time delving into the grimy details of her fate. On some level, they're necessary: the structure of this kind of show means viewers need to be one step ahead of Morck and Co, given that our awareness of the woman's ongoing peril ratchets up the tension of whether Morck can solve this case in time. It's very, very grim. I should say that the woman is not tortured with the fear or reality of sexual assault, but given that she's a woman and powerless, it's hard to avoid this context entirely. Advertisement Beyond that, the show struggles with its angle on Morck. He's filled with rage over what happened to Hardy and keeps lashing out inappropriately, but his hidden depths are all implied. The problem with starting the action after he's been through a traumatic event is that it nullifies whatever his history was prior to this — of course he's angry. His prior misanthropy is mostly revealed through other characters opining about what a jerk he is. Goode is stuck emoting at the tortured end of soulful, but the character is a bit of a trap: we have to find him compelling even as the show is stuck on repeat about how upset he is about the world at large. It's an interesting primer on why this sort of thing works better on 'Slow Horses.' Lamb has a lifetime of misdeeds to look back on with a jaded eye. Morck is much younger, and a singular event is driving him right now— our entire perception of him is molded through that lens. The show fares better with Rose and Akram. Byrne brings an irrepressible energy to Rose, and though the character has also been through a traumatic event, she's still allowed to crack jokes. Moreover, she's still interested in engaging with people and learning how to be a good detective. Akram might be smarter than Morck; one gets the sense that, given the opportunity, he'd have the instincts to get this thing wrapped up swiftly. Morck's consistent rudeness to him runs the risk of moving him from compelling misanthrope territory into antagonist. Advertisement There are signs here that a good procedural lurks in the bones of the show across its nine episode season (critics were given the first eight). Sives brings some vital levity and warmth to the proceedings once Hardy heals enough to start helping out with the case. It's clear he's the better mentor between the two of them, with Morck unnaturally forced into the role. If the show could just turn down the dial on its protagonist grimly shouting at people, this motley crew might actually cohere into a crack squad of crime solvers. DEPT. Q Starring: Matthew Goode, Chloe Pirrie, Alexej Manvelov, Leah Byrne, Jamie Sives. On Netflix Lisa Weidenfeld can be reached at
Daily Mirror
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Netflix's remake of hit Nordic crime drama with Line of Duty star airs tonight
Dept. Q is arriving on Netflix today, with Downton Abbey's Matthew Goode starring as an arrogant detective who must lead a team of misfits in cracking an Edinburgh cold case Brand new crime drama Dept. Q is landing tonight (Thursday 29 May) on Netflix - with Downton Abbey's Matthew Goode starring in this adaptation of a Nordic hit. Based on the book series by Jussi Adler-Olsen, which has been adapted into numerous Danish films, the new series follows a detective as he's tasked with opening a cold case unit after leading an investigation that went horribly wrong. With the likes of Line of Duty's Kelly Macdonald, The Game's Chloe Pirrie and Harry Potter's Shirley Henderson taking on roles in this new Netflix offering, the nine-part thriller will give crime fans something to dig their teeth into this evening. Pick of the Day Dept. Q, Netflix Downton Abbey actor Matthew Goode stars as a bristly detective in this new crime drama, adapted from a successful series of Danish novels. The action has been translated from Copenhagen to Edinburgh, where we meet DCI Carl Morck (Goode), a gifted crime solver, whose arrogance has got the better of him. Morck and his partner made the mistake of visiting a murder scene that wasn't ever assigned to them. After belittling the uniformed officers holding the fort there, they examined the body, without realising that the killer was lurking in the shadows. As a result, a young copper died on the job, and Morck's partner was left paralysed. Morck managed to make a physical recovery, but is haunted by every detail of that day and determined to seek justice. When he returns to the station, his whispering colleagues don't want to talk to him and getting back to work isn't as easy as he'd hoped. His boss is under pressure to improve the public image of the force, and is strongarmed into opening a cold case unit, called Department Q. It's a PR exercise rather than a legitimate new arm of the force, and much like Slough House in Apple TV's hit Slow Horses, this is somewhere to shove employees who have fallen out of favour. It's the perfect assignment for Morck – he may be unpopular, but his intellectual brilliance and unique approach could solve a few impossible cases. Also starring Kelly McDonald as Morck's spiky therapist, Dr Rachel Irving. Best of the Rest Britain Under The Nazis: The Forgotten Occupation, Channel 4, 8pm Marking the 80 th anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands, this documentary tells the story of the Brits who lived under Nazi occupation during World War 2. With actors bringing to life memoirs, diary entries and letters, we hear the voices of Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney residents who were stunned when German soldiers moved onto their islands in 1940. A feather in Hitler's cap, and a source of embarrassment for Churchill, these British territories were left undefended, and nobody quite knew what would happen next. Some anticipated the horrors to come and fled, but for those left behind they needed to decide whether to collaborate with their new neighbours or stage their own acts of resistance. With the local press under censorship, and a thick atmosphere of fear and suspicion, individual acts of courage shone through the darkness. Featuring analysis from historians, this programme is a chance to celebrate forgotten heroes. Interior Design Masters With Alan Carr, BBC1, 8pm It's the final, and either teacher John or visual merchandiser Rita is set to win a fabulous prize – the opportunity to design their own homeware range with John Lewis. The deciding challenge takes them to Portmeirion, the location of classic TV series The Prisoner, and a quirky Welsh village famed for its enigmatic architecture and design. Drawing influence from the colourful local buildings and artwork, John and Rita must each renovate a two-bedroom holiday cottage. They have a budget of £6500, three days to work and the help of former competitors Craig and Briony to get them across the finish line. John is channelling the Mediterranean with lemons on the wall and bold colours, while Rita wants a cosy chocolate box vibe. Guest judge, designer Sophie Robinson is famed for her vibrant maximalist designs, so she'll be looking for a cottage that screams 'more is more'. But who will she name the winner? EastEnders, BBC1, 7.30pm It's been a shocking week in Walford, but there's much more drama in store. The consequences of the car crash are still playing out and the survivors are coming to terms with what has just happened to them. Meanwhile, back in Albert Square, shockwaves continue to ripple in the wake of Vicki's bombshell at No. 1. The impact of her outburst floors Barney, who already has a lot to get his head around after the kiss with Avani. Emmerdale, ITV, 7.30pm Jacob insists that Sarah is selfish for wanting a baby at this point in her life. He's shocked to learn that nobody else knows the reality of her situation. John's mental torture continues, as he panics that the wedding won't go ahead. Moira worries about the truth coming out, and fears that Lewis has too much power over her future freedom. The tension between Dawn and Billy is taking its toll. Joe has a plan to make life easier.
