Dept. Q (2025) Review: Cold Cases, Colder Detective

Is Dept. Q worth watching?

Yes. Dept. Q is an absorbing, sharply written cold-case drama that turns a familiar premise, the difficult detective and his team of outcasts, into something tense and surprisingly moving. Matthew Goode is excellent as a man too damaged to be charming, and Scott Frank’s writing gives the central mystery real menace. The reservation is pace: the opening episodes take their time, and the hero’s abrasiveness can make him hard company before the show earns sympathy for him.

What is Dept. Q about?

Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) is a gifted but arrogant Edinburgh detective whose career is upended after a shooting that leaves his partner, James Hardy (Jamie Sives), badly injured. Carl returns to work guilt-ridden and even more difficult to be around, and his superiors, led by Kate Dickie’s senior officer, park him in a basement office running a new unit devoted to cold cases. His team is a group of misfits: Akram (Alexej Manvelov), a former police officer from Syria, and Rose (Leah Byrne), a young officer with troubles of her own. Their first case concerns the unexplained disappearance of a prosecutor, Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie).

Dept. Q was created by Scott Frank and Chandni Lakhani for Netflix, adapting the Danish crime novels of Jussi Adler-Olsen and relocating them to Scotland. It is a British series in English. This review covers the first nine episodes, which make up the show’s opening season; the series is ongoing.

Matthew Goode’s unlikeable detective

Goode plays Carl as sarcastic, dismissive and deeply wounded, a man who uses rudeness as armour. It is a fine performance precisely because Goode does not ask to be liked; the character’s warmth emerges only in flashes, often in his sessions with a police-appointed therapist played by Kelly Macdonald. Their scenes together are among the show’s best, a quietly witty duel between a man who will not talk and a woman who refuses to give up.

The supporting team is just as well cast. Manvelov gives Akram a calm authority and a hint of a mysterious past, making him the show’s secret weapon, while Byrne brings nervy energy to Rose. The dynamic between the three grows naturally, and by the later episodes the misfit unit feels like a real team.

A cold case with real heat

Scott Frank, who also wrote and directed The Queen’s Gambit, structures the main mystery with patience and control. The investigation into the missing prosecutor is intercut with glimpses of her story, which builds suspense and dread in equal measure. Edinburgh is shot in grey, wet shades rather than postcard views, and the gloomy basement office becomes a fitting symbol for a department nobody wants.

The writing also finds room for wit. Carl’s barbed exchanges with colleagues and superiors are often very funny, and the humour stops the darkness of the case from becoming oppressive.

Where the pace sags

At nine episodes, the season is longer than its central mystery needs. The early episodes spend a lot of time establishing Carl’s trauma and the team’s backgrounds, and some side plots, particularly those involving Carl’s home life, feel like padding. The resolution of the main case is satisfying but arrives after a noticeably slow middle stretch. Viewers who prefer tight six-episode British thrillers may find their patience tested.

Who should watch Dept. Q?

It is a strong pick for fans of dark British and Scandinavian crime drama, of slow-burn mysteries and of flawed detectives. At nine episodes, it is a moderate commitment, best watched over a week. The content includes violence, strong language, psychological abuse and scenes of captivity that some viewers will find distressing. More crime dramas are gathered on the same shelf.

If you enjoy it, try these:

• Broadchurch for another investigation led by a prickly detective carrying an old failure.
• Happy Valley for gritty British policing with an unforgettable central performance.
• Luther for a more heightened, stylish take on the troubled genius detective.

The verdict

Dept. Q is a smart, gripping crime drama with a superb central performance and a mystery that rewards patience. It is slower and longer than it needs to be, but its well-drawn characters and dark wit make it one of the better recent British detective series.

Rating: 4/5