Dalgliesh | Series 3 Preview (Channel 5)

Acorn TV Original hit crime drama Dalgliesh, produced by New Pictures (The Long Shadow, Champion, Des) for Acorn TV and Channel 5 in association with All3Media International, with lead actor Bertie Carvel making his debut as one of the directors on the series.

Another three novels from P.D. James’ international best-selling murder mysteries are being adapted for this latest series, with each being told over two, hour-long episodes.

Carvel (The Crown, Agatha Christie’s The Pale Horse, Doctor Foster) will reprise the role of the uniquely enigmatic detective, Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, for all six new episodes. We meet Commander Dalgliesh on the cusp of Thatcher’s rise to power, as he is called to investigate three highly sensitive murder cases:

In Death in Holy Orders, Dalgliesh travels to a remote seminary overlooking a windswept lake, where a body has been found gruesomely murdered. Nearly everyone in the seminary has reason to resent the victim, and Dalgliesh and DS Tarrant must unpick a complicated set of motives to find their killer. 

In Cover Her Face, Dalgliesh investigates a murder in the Essex home of the Mehtas, a staggeringly wealthy family with connections to the British government. With the help of local detective Clive Roscoe, Dalgliesh builds a picture of events in the weeks leading to the crime, confronting a blanket of secrecy among his guarded suspects.  

In Devices and Desires, Dalgliesh is sent on an urgent mission to investigate a terrorist plot against a nuclear power station on the Kent coast. He is soon drawn into a complex and highly charged hunt for a serial killer, working once more alongside former colleague Kate Miskin, now an acting DCI.

Carlyss Peer (Kate Miskin) and Alistair Brammer (Daniel Tarrant) both return to the series with guest stars including Anton Lesser (Endeavour), Lloyd Owen (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Claire Goose (Silverpoint), Liz White (The Long Shadow), Adam James (Mr Bates vs The Post Office), Richard Lintern (Silent Witness), Ellora Torchia (The Gold), Parth Thakerar (Gangs of London), Soni Razdan (War), and Josie Walker (Belfast).

Dalgliesh returns Thursday 5th December on Channel 5.