Department Q

Department Q follows a detective in Edinburgh assigned to a new cold case whilst wracked with guilt following an attack that left his partner paralysed and another policeman dead.

Year: 2025

Director: Scott Frank

Executive Producer: Rob Bullock, Scott Frank, Chandni Lakhani and Andy Harries

Writer: Scott Frank, Chandni Lakhani, Stephen Greenhorn and Colette Kane

Cast: Matthew Goode, Chloe Pirrie, Alexej Manvelov, Kelly Macdonald, Mark Bonnar, Shirley Henderson, Jamie Sives, KateDickie and Leah Byrne

Production Company: Left Bank Pictures

Broadcaster: Netflix

Screen Scotland support: The ambitious production received funding to support filming on location in Edinburgh and at FirstStage Studios, utilising facilities and offering opportunities for Scotland-based crew and talent.

Synopsis

Department Q is an adaptation of the novels of the same name from Danish author, Jussi Adler-Olsen. Written by Scott Frank, Chandni Lakhani, Stephen Greenhorn and Colette Kane, the series revolves around a former top-rated detective in Edinburgh assigned to a new cold case whilst wracked with guilt following an attack that left his partner paralysed and another policeman dead.

Detective, Carl Morck - brilliant but impossible - has his life turned upside down after a violent incident leaves his partner paralysed and an officer dead. Upon his return to work, he is tasked with setting up Department Q – a new cold case department, which is little more than a PR exercise.

At first, being sidelined suits Carl; he’s happy to waste his days playing solitaire and skiving. Yet over the course of the series, Carl’s detective instincts are reawakened, and his new department down in the basement becomes an unlikely magnet for the misfits and mavericks of Chief Super, Moira’s police team. 

First look stills

Images courtesy of Netflix

A figure in a vintage coat and patterned scarf stands outdoors with a historic castle in the background, surrounded by trees.

A woman stands in a softly lit room, wearing a striped sweater, with a blurred figure visible in the foreground.

A woman with wavy brown hair wearing a leather coat stands conversing with a man in a suit on a dimly lit street.

A person stands in a dimly lit room, holding a coat, surrounded by green walls and a red-lit doorway.

More information

Department Q is in production in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Images: Headshots of Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Goode and Chloe Pirrie, courtesty of Netflix