“There was a lovely sequence in the book where Strike’s nephew is taken ill and Strike [played by Tom Burke] and Robin [Holliday Grainger] reunite at his bedside. And that was tough to lose,” he said.
“Inevitably one of the challenges is reshaping the book to four hours, and it just didn’t have a home them.
“One of the comforts was that, as we move forward, the things that we haven’t used in previous books, sometimes they are sitting there as the perfect solution to something else you’re trying to do.
“So never feel like everything is lost forever."
However, Edge added that Harry Potter author Rowling – who pens the Strike novels under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith – is used to changes to the source material.
“She’s been adapted so many times and also as a screenwriter herself, I think she has a sort of real confidence when it comes to that process.
“She’s also very generous about those things and very welcome to invention.”
The upcoming Strike: Lethal White series follows the book of the same name, originally published in September 2018.
It will see Burke return as the titular detective, an ex-Royal Military Police investigator who lost part of his right leg in Afghanistan. He’s once again joined by partner-in-crime-solving Robin Ellacott for a case that takes them to the heart of parliament.
Strike originally broadcast in 2017 with adaptations of The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm. The show was last on-screen in 2018 with Career of Evil.
Additional reporting by Huw Fullerton.
Strike: Lethal White starts on Sunday 30th August 2020, BBC One. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide.
