'The Cleaner' First Images Introduce Conleth Hill in Season 3
Greg Davies as Wicky the Cleaner in 'The Cleaner Season 3
Christopher Barr/BBC
If there's one thing cozy crime shows and endless Agatha Christie adaptations have taught us, it's that anyone can solve crimes. From English professors to vicars, priests and nuns, antique dealers, and cab drivers, the list is endless. This bizarre insistence on having random people solve crimes for the cops inspired Greg Davies' series The Cleaner, which he conceived of, wrote for, and starred in as Wicky, the least likely man to ever solve crimes.
As most mystery thriller introductions would put it, Wicky is no ordinary cleaner. His job is cleaning up murder scenes. When the cops are done taking evidence, when the space needs to be returned to those who live in it, Wicky shows up, mop and bucket in hand. His profession is to scrub up all the bits of flesh, guts, brains, skull fragments, and bone while getting bloodstains out of the furniture and carpets. And because he's a nobody, a gossipy, sympathetic ear who doesn't seem all that bright, he finds himself, time and again, face to face with murderers who all but confess.
Davies' Wicky is a pitch-perfect satire of the cozy crime solver. Still, the show wouldn't be half as funny if it weren't for The Cleaner's other genius conceit of casting the U.K.'s biggest-name actors as the murderers of the week, each of whom seems bound and determined to out-wacky everyone else hired for the season by committing to the strangest of character performances. For Season 3, the show scored big with one of the U.K.'s most fearless character actors, Conleth Hill.
Conleth Hill as the Mad Lighthouse Keeper and Greg Davies as Wicky the Cleaner in 'The Cleaner' Season 3
Christopher Barr/BBC
Here's the series synopsis:
The Cleaner follows Paul ‘Wicky’ Wickstead, a state-certified cleaning technician with a very special field of work - he is a crime-scene cleaner responsible for the removal of any signs of death.
Armed with chemicals, scrubbing brushes and cleaning rags, Wicky removes the gruesome mess at the scene of the crime. When carrying out his duties, he stumbles across the strangest of people, from the victims’ relatives, employers, neighbours and acquaintances to occasionally even the murderers themselves. And because he’s a sociable type, he sometimes gossips more than he cleans…
Conleth Hill as the Mad Lighthouse Keeper and Greg Davies as Wicky the Cleaner in 'The Cleaner' Season 3
Christopher Barr/BBC
Hill is only the tip of the iceberg. Other significant A-listers for the new season include Gemma Whelan (D.I. Ray), Philippa Dunne (Derry Girls), Steve Pemberton (Happy Valley), Paula Wilcox (Trying), Rosie Cavaliero (The Power of Parker), Ben Willbond (Ghosts), Sharon Rooney (Barbie), Vicki Pepperdine (We Hunt Together), Chaneil Kular (Sex Education), Sheila Reid (Beyond Paradise), Derek Griffiths (Small Axe), Rebekah Staton (Doctor Who), Harry Peacock (Bad Education), Sophia Dall’Aglio (So Awkward), and Viraj Juneja (Horrible Histories).
As always, Zita Sattar returns in her role as PS Ruth Edwards, Wicky's friend on the force who helps him by being legally able to arrest the guilty parties. As part of the press release, Davies stated: “I am so delighted to be back wading around in blood. We have made sure that Wicky has some bizarre characters to deal with this series. Looking forward to sweating in a scene of crime suit and wearing the earring that my nieces find so cringe.”
The Cleaner Season 3 does not yet have a release date or a confirmed American distributor, but Seasons 1 and 2 streamed on BritBox in the U.S. Season 3 is expected to follow suit.
