Dept. Q
Dept. Q is a British crime thriller television series created by Scott Frank and Chandni Lakhani, based on the book series Department Q by Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen. It premiered on Netflix on 29 May 2025. In August 2025, it was renewed for a second season.
Premise
Top-rated detective Carl Morck is returning to police work. He has recently been involved in an ambush shooting, in which he was badly wounded, his colleague and friend James Hardy was paralysed and a young uniformed police officer was killed. Morck receives a muted welcome since his colleagues generally regard him as arrogant and asocial. Morck is also required to attend therapy sessions for the after-effects of the shooting.The Scottish government has decided to temporarily concentrate on unsolved crimes, believing that successful outcomes will generate good headlines that improve public opinion regarding the police force. Morck's hard-pressed and under-resourced commander, Moira Jacobson, is offered a substantial budget to set up a new unsolved crimes unit. Preferring to use most of the budget for her own department and current cases, she assigns Morck as the sole officer dealing with a large number of cold cases. Morck is given a semi-derelict basement office/bathroom to work in, the former Shower Quarters of the police station, thus the Q in the series title.
Civilian employee Akram Salim, a Syrian former policeman looking for more challenging work, quietly insinuates himself into Morck's basement and is tasked with organising case files. While doing that, he suggests investigating the missing Crown Office solicitor Merritt Lingard. Joined by a recovering Hardy and young constable Rose Dickson, the misfit team begin looking into Lingard's disappearancethe main case investigated during the first season of the series.
Cast
Main
- Matthew Goode as DCI Carl Morck, an emotionally scarred detective who becomes the head of cold case unit Department Q
- Chloe Pirrie as Crown solicitor Merritt Lingard, a ruthless and ambitious prosecutor
- * Bobby Rainsbury as teenage Merritt Lingard
- Jamie Sives as DI James Hardy, Morck's paraplegic former partner who provides support to Department Q's investigation
- Alexej Manvelov as Akram Salim, a Syrian ex-policeman forced to flee to Europe, who becomes part of the new department as a civilian employee
- Leah Byrne as DC Rose Dickson, a young woman shaken by a breakdown and looking for a chance to prove herself on Morck's team
- Kelly Macdonald as Dr Rachel Irving, a therapist handling Morck's mandatory post-shooting sessions
- Kate Dickie as Chief Superintendent Moira Jacobson, Morck's commanding officer
- Patrick Kennedy as Liam Taylor, a prosecutor who worked with Merritt
- Mark Bonnar as Stephen Burns, Lord Advocate and Merritt's former supervisor
Recurring
- Angus Yellowlees as Police Constable Anderson, a patrol officer
- Douglas Russell as Graham Finch, a businessman accused of murdering his wife
- Ellen Bannerman as Kirsty Atkins, a witness in the Finch case
- Gordon Brown as former Detective Fergus Dunbar, a detective investigating the Merritt Lingard case
- Tom Bulpett as William Lingard, Merritt's disabled brother
- Clive Russell as Jamie Lingard, father of Merritt and William
- Shirley Henderson as Claire Marsh, a housekeeper and attendant of William
- Michelle Duncan as Dr. Fiona Wallace, the glamorous director of a mental hospital and William's guardian
- Alison Peebles as Ailsa Jennings, mother of Lyle and Harry Jennings
- Steven Miller as Lyle Jennings
- * Kai Alexander as Lyle Jennings
- Fraser Saunders as Harry Jennings, Lyle's brother
- Gilly Gilchrist as Police Constable John Cunningham
- Angus Miller as Colin Cunningham, John's son
- Aaron McVeigh as Jasper Stewart, Morck's stepson
- Sanjeev Kohli as Martin Fleming, Morck's lodger
- Jack Greenlees as Sam Haig, investigative reporter
- Kal Sabir as DCI Logan Bruce
- Aron Dochard as DC Clark
- Catriona Stirling as DC Wilson
- Mark Cox as Duncan Finlay
- James Macnaughton as Dennis Piper, a reporter at the Scottish Telegraph
Episodes
Production
On 27 April 2023, Scott Frank was selected to develop an English language eight-episode TV series adaptation of the first of Jussi Adler-Olsen's Department Q book series, with Frank co-writing with Chandni Lakhani, and Left Bank Pictures producing the series for Netflix. On 6 February 2024, Stephen Greenhorn and Colette Kane were revealed to be writing with Frank and Lakhani, with Frank directing the first two episodes. In August 2025, the series was renewed for a second season.On 27 April 2023, it was announced that the series would be set in Edinburgh, Scotland, as opposed to the Copenhagen, Denmark setting of the source material. Filming took place in Edinburgh between February and June 2024. Scenes for the Jennings property were filmed at Burntisland Docks in Fife, although set on the fictional island of Mhòr. The police station scenes featured Argyle House.
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 87% approval rating based on 49 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "In a sea of generic crime dramas, Dept. Q stakes its claim amongst the thrilling, enthralling, and sublime thanks to a winning cast and veteran creative Scott Frank." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave a score of 69 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable".Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly gave the series an A− and said, "'Broken people healing themselves by providing closure for crime victims' can be an especially effective sub-genre if the writing, directing, and casting align – and in Dept. Q everything gels beautifully." Lucy Mangan reviewed the series for The Guardian, giving it a rating of 4/5 and describing the script as "sharp and lean, and especially good at channelling Morck's spitting sarcasm". Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone wrote, "Goode is an exposed nerve, ready to lash out at anyone around him for the slightest offense, which makes him a good match for Manvelov's understated cool as Akram, who is clearly much more dangerous than his reserved and polite demeanor would suggest." Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter commented, "Solid mystery, great ensemble, ample ongoing potential."