A selection of first-look images have been released for Dept Q, the new Netflix crime thriller from Scott Frank, the writer and director of The Queen's Gambit.
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The images introduce us to DCI Carl Morck, as played by The Crown's Matthew Goode, who has been described as a brash but brilliant detective leading a cold case unit in Edinburgh.
The official synopsis for the series says: "DCI Carl Morck is a brilliant cop but a terrible colleague. His razor-sharp sarcasm has made him no friends in Edinburgh Police."
Kelly Macdonald in Dept Q. Netflix
The synopsis continues: "After a shooting that leaves a young PC dead, and his partner paralysed, he finds himself exiled to the basement and the sole member of Dept Q; a newly formed cold case unit.
"The department is a PR stunt, there to distract the public from the failures of an under-resourced, failing police force that is glad to see the back of him.
"But more by accident than design, Carl starts to build a gang of waifs and strays who have everything to prove.
"So, when the stone-cold trail of a prominent civil servant who disappeared several years ago starts to heat up, Carl is back doing what he does best - rattling cages and refusing to take no for an answer."
Mark Bonnar in Dept Q. Netflix
The release date for the series has also been confirmed, with all of the episodes arriving on Netflix on 29th May 2025.
Chloe Pirrie in Dept Q. Netflix
The show is based on a series of noir crime novels from Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, and Frank has told Tudum he has been hoping to adapt them for over two decades.
He said: "There was just something about it. The title, this notion of something called Department Q, stayed with me.
"And so I met with the author while I was shooting A Walk Among the Tombstones in New York, and I’d actually had the books for a couple of years by then."
Leah Byrne in Dept Q. Netflix
Frank said that Adler-Olsen trusted him and was happy to wait for his adaptation until the writer/director was ready.
Frank has now written all nine episodes of the series and directed six of them.
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
