Dept. Q

This article is about the Scottish television series. For the Danish novel series, see Department Q.

Dept. Q
Genre	Crime thriller
Based on	Department Q by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Developed by	Scott Frank Chandni Lakhani
Starring	Matthew Goode Kelly Macdonald Chloe Pirrie Alexej Manvelov Leah Byrne Steven Miller Mark Bonnar Jamie Sives Shirley Henderson Kate Dickie
Music by	Carlos Rafael Rivera
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	9
Production
Executive producers	Scott Frank Andy Harries Rob Bullock
Producer	David Brown
Running time	42–71 minutes
Production companies	Left Bank Pictures Flitcraft Sony Pictures Television
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	29 May 2025 (2025-05-29)

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Dept. Q is a British crime thriller television series created by Scott Frank and Chandni Lakhani, based on the book series by Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen. It premiered on 29 May 2025.

Premise

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A top-rated detective, Carl Morck, returns to work following a shooting incident in which he was badly wounded, his colleague and friend James Hardy was paralysed and a uniformed police officer was killed. He receives a muted welcome as he is regarded as arrogant and appears to look down on his colleagues. He has to undergo therapy for the after-effects of the shooting.

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The Scottish Government has decided it would be politically expedient to temporarily concentrate on unsolved crimes to improve poor detection rates. Accordingly, Morck’s hard-pressed and under-resourced commander, Moira Jacobson, is offered a substantial budget to set up a new department to this end. She prefers to use most of the budget for her own department and current cases, so she assigns Morck as the sole officer dealing with a large number of cold cases and he is given a semi-derelict basement office.

A civilian employee, Akram Salim, a former Syrian policeman looking for more challenging work, quietly insinuates himself into Morck’s basement. Given the task of categorising the cold cases, he presents Morck with what he regards as the best prospect and they begin to build a team of misfit officers dedicated to cracking seemingly impossible cases.

Cast

Main

• Matthew Goode as Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck, an emotionally-scarred detective charged with setting up Department Q, a cold case unit
• Chloe Pirrie as Merritt Lingard, a ruthless and ambitious prosecutor, Bobby Rainsbury as Teenage Merritt
• Jamie Sives as James Hardy, Morck's paraplegic former colleague who finds a new purpose in life consulting Department Q on their cases
• Mark Bonnar as Stephen Burns, Lord Advocate and Merritt's former supervisor
• Alexej Manvelov as Akram Salim, a Syrian policeman forced to flee to Europe who becomes part of the new department
• Leah Byrne as Detective Constable Rose Dickson, a young woman shaken by a breakdown and looking for a chance to prove herself in Morck's team
• Kate Dickie as Moira Jacobson, Morck's commanding officer
• Shirley Henderson as Claire Marsh, a housekeeper and attendant of William
• Kelly Macdonald as Dr. Rachel Irving, a police therapist handling Morck's mandatory post-shooting sessions
• Alison Peebles as Ailsa Jennings, mother of Lyle and Harry Jennings

Recurring

• Angus Yellowlees as Police Constable Anderson, a patrol officer
• Patrick Kennedy as Liam Taylor, a prosecutor
• Douglas Russell as Graham Finch, a businessman accused of murdering his wife
• Steven Miller as Sam Haig
• Kal Sabir as DCI Logan Bruce
• Aron Dochard as DC Clark
• Catriona Stirling as DC Wilson
• Tom Bulpett as William Lingard, Merritt's disabled brother
• Aaron McVeigh as Jasper Stewart, Morck's stepson
• Sanjeev Kohli as Martin Fleming, Morck's housemate
• Gordon Brown as Fergus Dunbar, a detective investigating the Merritt Lingard case
• Michelle Duncan as Dr. Fiona Wallace, the glamorous director of a mental hospital and William's guardian
• Ellen Bannerman as Kirsty Atkins, a witness in the Finch case
• James Macnaughton as Dennis Piper, a reporter
• Gilly Gilchrist as Constable John Cunningham
• Angus Miller as Colin Cunningham
• Clive Russell as Jamie Lingard, father of Merritt and William
• Fraser Saunders as Harry Jennings

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	Episode 1	Scott Frank	Chandni Lakhani & Scott Frank	29 May 2025 (2025-05-29)
Arriving at the Leith Park home of a man found stabbed in the head, Edinburgh detectives Carl Morck, James Hardy, and patrol officer Anderson are ambushed by a masked gunman; Anderson is killed, but a traumatised Carl and a paralysed James survive. Forced to attend therapy with Dr Rachel Irving, Carl is relegated to the derelict basement by Chief Superintendent Moira Jacobson to serve as a new cold case unit, "Department Q". Struggling with his teenage stepson Jasper and the recovering but depressed James, Carl grudgingly accepts the assistance of Akram Salim, a Syrian refugee with police experience, who suggests they investigate the disappearance of prosecutor Merritt Lingard. Four years earlier: Merritt lives with her non-verbal brother William, cared for by housekeeper Claire Marsh. Failing to convict Graham Finch in the murder of his wife, Merritt receives death threats and is last seen aboard a ferry with William. In the present, Merritt is alive, held captive for years in a hyperbaric chamber by her mysterious abductors.
2	Episode 2	Scott Frank	Chandni Lakhani & Scott Frank	29 May 2025 (2025-05-29)
Akram presents Merritt's case to Moira as Dept. Q's first assignment, and a sceptical Carl speaks to Fergus Dunbar, the former detective originally assigned to the case. Carl and Akram visit William's care facility but the director, Dr Fiona Wallace, refuses to let them see him. They interview Claire, who explains that William's disability resulted from a head injury and insists Merritt would not have willingly abandoned her brother. Discovering Jasper is skipping school, Carl makes an embarrassing pass at Rachel and confides in James about the case. Approached by Lord Advocate Stephen Burns, Merritt's former supervisor, Carl has a panic attack after delivering a disastrous statement to the press. Watching on TV, William runs away from his facility. In the chamber, Merritt has covered the walls with names of those she convicted, and every month must guess on whose behalf her unseen captors — a grandmotherly woman and a man in a distinctive cap — are seeking revenge. She guesses Kirsty Atkins, an informant in the Finch case she failed to save from prison, but to no avail.
3	Episode 3	Elisa Amoruso	Chandni Lakhani & Scott Frank	29 May 2025 (2025-05-29)
Carl and Akram retrace Merritt and William's steps on the ferry to Innis Mhór where they grew up, watched by the man in the cap. Local constable John Cunningham explains that Merritt turned her troubled life around after William was beaten by thief Harry Jennings, who died jumping off the ferry to evade arrest. The Lingards' estranged father, Jamie, hates Merritt for taking William away and stealing her late mother's necklace. Finding Merritt's home ransacked by squatters, William recovers one of his drawings. Carl reluctantly accepts junior investigator Rose Dickson into Dept. Q, and suspects Merritt's case was covered up. Akram handily questions the squatters, and he and Carl find William in Claire's garden, helping William use his drawing to explain that he saw the man in the cap stalking his sister and on the ferry. Persuading James to assist with the case, Carl is chastised for missing his appointments with Rachel, who opens up to him about her failed marriage. Returned to Wallace's facility, William tries to draw the man in the cap. Threatened with decompression, Merritt discovers an old message carved in the chamber: "L. H. Why are you here?"
4	Episode 4	Elisa Amoruso	Stephen Greenhorn & Scott Frank	29 May 2025 (2025-05-29)
Rachel is surprised to learn Carl agreed to sole custody of his stepson. Carl deduces that the Leith Park gunman was lying in wait and had a getaway driver, and James advises Rose to look into Harry Jennings. At Mhòr, Rose charms Cunningham and his son/deputy Colin, and is unable to meet Harry's mother but learns Merritt returned for Harry's funeral and took the necklace. Victoria, Jasper's mother and Carl's ex-wife, urges Carl to be a more understanding parent, and he lashes out at his housemate, Martin. A romantic note to Merritt from 'S' leads Dept. Q to question her assistant Sandrine as well as Stephen Burns. Merritt's colleague Liam admits they had an affair but denies writing the note, and hotel records reveal the man who last stayed with her: Sam Haig. Four years earlier: Ending her relationship with Sam, Merritt is abducted on the ferry by her two captors and imprisoned in the chamber. Her first guess as to who she wronged is Sam, but her captors declare that although she is responsible for his death, she is incorrect.
5	Episode 5	Elisa Amoruso	Stephen Greenhorn & Scott Frank	29 May 2025 (2025-05-29)
Carl and Akram learn that Sam was a secretive reporter covering organised crime, and died in a climbing accident just before Merritt disappeared. Interviewing Sam's editor, Carl loses his temper with another reporter. James starts a promising rehab treatment, and discovers Merritt had access to her mother's considerable family wealth, which passed to William in her absence. Carl confronts Wallace for embezzling William's money, and places William in Claire's care. Frustrated with Dept. Q's lack of progress, Moira suggests to Rachel that Carl be assigned to another therapist, and Carl accuses Moira of being pressured to bury the initial investigation into Merritt's disappearance. A laundry receipt leads Rose and Akram to learn Merritt tried to apologise to Kirsty's family, and they interview the soon-to-be-paroled Kirsty; she knew Finch abused his wife, but the deal she made with Merritt to testify against him fell through. Four years earlier: Burns prevents Merritt from letting Kirsty testify, but after Kirsty is targeted in prison and nearly killed, Merritt reaches out to a reporter she has just met, Sam.
6	Episode 6	Scott Frank	Colette Kane & Scott Frank	29 May 2025 (2025-05-29)
Carl turns his attention to Finch, while Fergus is threatened not to cooperate with the investigation. A suspect is arrested in the Leith Park shooting and Carl revisits the scene, deducing that the stabbing victim was an informant and Anderson behaved suspiciously. Questioned by Dept. Q about the Finch case, Liam realises Burns is their real target. Jasper is threatened by a mysterious man until Carl arrives and viciously beats him, but the incident is caught on video. James suspects Finch threatened Burns' daughter, and Carl is upset to discover Rachel is no longer his therapist. Tracking down the mysterious man's driver, Akram brutalises him into admitting they were sent by Finch to entrap Carl, who is unable to identify his shooter in a lineup. Four years earlier: Merritt has a clandestine meeting with Sam, who claims to be investigating corruption within the Crown Office. She arranges another meeting at a hotel, ostensibly to discuss Burns' interference with the Finch case, and she and Sam sleep together. In the present, Merritt learns her chamber's airlock is broken.
7	Episode 7	Scott Frank	Colette Kane & Scott Frank	29 May 2025 (2025-05-29)
Carl and Akram all but confirm that Burns was threatened by Finch into blocking Kirsty's testimony. They confront Finch at his private golf club with incriminating messages to his henchmen, proving he tried to have Kirsty killed, though his advocate claims that it was Sam who told him Kirsty was going to testify. The detectives learn that Sam was once a violent juvenile offender who later tracked down a boy he had attacked. Sharing an honest conversation with Jasper, Carl visits Rachel at her home. Rose questions Paul Evans, the climbing instructor who discovered Sam's body, and Paul reveals that Sam slept with his wife but denies killing him. Scrubbing the names off the walls, Merritt remembers Harry: they were close as teenagers, despite her father's disapproval. Given pliers to remove an infected tooth, she uses them to sabotage the airlock. The resulting force knocks her female captor unconscious, and Merritt phones the police but is recaptured by the man in the cap.
8	Episode 8	Scott Frank	Teleplay by : Scott Frank	29 May 2025 (2025-05-29)
In a dream, Carl solves the Leith Park shooting and takes revenge, but wakes up no closer to closing the case. Seeking Rachel's advice, he accosts her on a date. Dept. Q realizes Merritt and Paul knew two different people as Sam Haig, and a visit to the young offender institution where Sam was sent reveals that the boy he attacked was Lyle Jennings, Harry's younger brother. Obsessed with Merritt, the man in the cap locks her back in the chamber and takes her mother's necklace, but later returns it. Merritt remembers how, as a teenager, she fantasised to Harry about stealing her mother's jewellery to escape Mhòr, only for him to carry out the robbery, attack William, and fall to his death. When her female captor demands a final guess, a desperate hint from the man in the cap leads Merritt to realise 'L' and 'H' were the Jennings brothers; her captors are Lyle and his mother Ailsa, who blame Merritt for Harry's death, and a crazed Lyle reveals himself as the man she knew as Sam.
9	Episode 9	Scott Frank	Teleplay by : Scott Frank	29 May 2025 (2025-05-29)
Video of the deeply disturbed Lyle's youth counselling sessions reveals that his unstable mother often locked her sons in the chamber. Cunningham, who always believed that Lyle killed Merritt, finds her and is furious to discover they have kept her in a tank for four years. When Cunningham says he can't let this go, Lyle bludgeons him to death. Dept. Q questions William, who identifies Lyle both as his attacker and the man in the cap. The real Sam found Lyle to make amends, but Lyle killed him, staged his death as a climbing accident, and assumed his identity. Lyle and his mother abandon Merritt in the chamber with rising pressure, but Carl and Akram return to Mhòr and search the Jennings' property. Finding Cunningham's body and the chamber, they are ambushed by Lyle, and Carl is shot protecting Akram, who disarms and kills Lyle. Merritt is rescued and reunited with William, while Ailsa shoots herself to escape police on the ferry. Three months later: Carl blackmails Burns into funding Dept. Q, a new car, and making Akram an official detective. Just missing meeting a grateful Merritt, Carl returns to work with Akram, Rose, and James, now walking on crutches, as Moira considers assigning James to the still unsolved Leith Park shooting.

Production

Development

Filming took place at the City Chambers in Edinburgh

On 27 April 2023, Scott Frank was set 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, while Frank will direct the first 2 episodes.

Casting

On 6 February 2024, Matthew Goode, Chloe Pirrie, Alexej Manvelov, Leah Byrne, and Kelly Macdonald, were cast for main roles in the series.

Filming

On 27 April 2023, it was announced that the series would be set in Edinburgh, Scotland, as compared to the Copenhagen, Denmark setting of the source novels. Filming took place in Edinburgh between February and June 2024. Scenes for the Jennings Property were filmed at Burntisland Docks in Fife

Release

Dept. Q premiered on 29 May 2025.

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 86% 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."

External links

• Dept. Q on Netflix
• Dept. Q at IMDb