When is Strike: Lethal White's release date? Everything you need to know about BBC thriller
Tom Burke will return as the private detective Cormoran Strike in a new BBC One four-part thriller.
Private investigator Cormoran Strike is returning to television sooner than you might think, as the BBC recently revealed a premiere date for the next series.
Based on the bestselling novels by JK Rowling, published under her alternate pseudonym Robert Galbraith, the series stars Tom Burke in the title role.
Opposite him, Holliday Grainger plays professional partner Robin Ellacott, who joins him on complex criminal cases that the police have been unable to crack. We'll also learn more about Robin and Cormoran's will-they-won't-they relationship, which Burke has described as the "heart of the show".
The fourth series, subtitled Lethal White, will continue on from past outings The Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm and Career of Evil, when it premieres later this month.
Here's everything you need to know about Strike: Lethal White.
When is Strike: Lethal White on BBC One?
CONFIRMED: The brand new series will premiere on BBC One on Sunday 30th August 2020 and continuing on Monday 31st August - perfect Bank Holiday viewing.
In a treat for fans, this is the longest series of Strike to date, weighing in at four episodes in total.
Filming began back in September 2019, meaning that the shoot was able to finish prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread filming delays that lockdown has caused.
Lethal White follows three previous adaptations of the Strike novels shown on BBC One: The Cuckoo’s Calling, The Silkworm and Career of Evil.
What is Strike: Lethal White about?
Based on the fourth book in the Cormoran Strike series by JK Rowling, Lethal White sees Strike and Robin on a case that takes them from the backstreets of London to the heart of Parliament and a sinister manor house in the country.
Strike receives a visit from Billy, a troubled young man asking the private eye to investigate a heinous crime he believes he witnessed as a child. Billy struggles to remember more concrete details as he is clearly in a state of mental distress, Strike believes that he is sincere and promises to help — but the detective's newfound fame has made covert operations difficult.
Meanwhile, Robin’s private life is unravelling as her relationship feels the strain of her commitment to her job. At the same time, Strike has his own issues.
"Lethal White is the fourth book. It picks up pretty much where Career Of Evil left off, some months on. It’s an interesting point in their [Strike and Robin's] relationship," Tom Burke, who plays Strike, said. He continued, "The relationship, Robin and Strike’s, seems to me to be the heart of the show."
Burke's co-star Holliday Grainger agrees. "I think we’re all just rooting for her and Strike, aren’t we? She and Matthew [Robin's now-husband] have to end. And maybe that’s because she’s growing into the person she’s meant to become, doing the work she was meant to."
Robin also gets to go undercover in the series, first as the goddaughter of an MP in the House of Commons, and secondly "working in a jewellery shop in the hope of infiltrating a left-wing protest group", according to Grainger.
Tom Edge, who previously adapted The Silkworm and Career of Evil, is back as screenwriter, with Sue Tully as director.
Strike: Lethal White cast
Leading the Strike: Lethal White cast, Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger both reprise their roles as the will-they-won't-they investigative double act.
Burke (The Musketeers) plays Cormoran Strike, an ex-Royal Military Police investigator who lost part of his right leg in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile Grainger (Great Expectations) plays Strike's professional partner, the clever and competent Robin Ellacott, who was first hired as his temporary secretary.
Natasha O’Keeffe (Peaky Blinders) and Kerr Logan (Alias Grace) will also return as Strike’s ex-girlfriend and Robin’s fiancé respectively.
Is there a trailer for Strike: Lethal White?
Yes, you can watch it here.
In the trailer, we see Strike ask Robin to come back to the agency - with a baleful Matthew watching on - before introducing us to some of the book's characters, including a disturbed young man named Billy who comes knocking on Strike's door looking for answers.
We also get to see Strike putting his hand-to-hand combat skills to good use - by seeing off a man armed with a butter knife.
Check out what else is on with our TV Guide.
