Dept Q: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Matthew Goode stars in an Edinburgh-set cold-case show that's like a Scottish Slow Horses
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
The ten books of the Department Q detective thriller novels by Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen have already been translated into dozens of languages (including English) and have spawned Danish film adaptations. (You can find those on Viaplay via Amazon, here.)
This first English-language crack at adapting them for the screen moves the action to Scotland, with Matthew Goode of Downton Abbey and The Crown fame playing disgraced detective Carl Morck, demoted to running the dead-end cold-case unit Department Q after an operation he was running went spectacularly awry.
As he and his team of misfits stumble upon an unexpected crime, this nine-episode first series offers up smart, gritty thrills shot through with hints of Slow Horses wit. Brought to us by The Queen's Gambit's creator Scott Frank, and starring the likes of Kelly Macdonald and Mark Bonnar alongside Goode, don't be surprised if this is successful enough for the other nine books to be adapted too. Goode, in particular, is a delight - balancing playing a deeply damaged soul with a terrific sense of on-screen mischief. Improvisation was encouraged on set and the Downton star took to it with gusto, something you can clearly feel in his performance.
Read more about the making of the series here and, if you enjoy watching it, then there's good news - a second series has been ordered. (Nine episodes)
