'Dalgliesh' Season 3's Debut Will Be a Holiday Treat

Acorn TV is on a bit of a roll. In 2024, it released a new season of nearly every fan favorite on the roster, from Harry Wild to My Life is Murder to Whitstable Pearl. Now, on the heels of Inspector Ellis' debut, the streaming service has announced it will close out the year with the third season of Dalgliesh. Starring Bertie Carvel (The Crown) as the titular poet-detective, the 21st-century remake of P.D. James' hero will once again cover three novels (1962's Cover Her Face, 1989's Devices & Desires, and 2001's Death By Holy Orders) over six episodes. However, like Season 2, Acorn TV will release two episodes a week so that fans have one entire mystery to watch instead of waiting for a cliffhanger to be resolved every other week. This also means all six episodes will be on streaming before the holidays properly arrive.

Season 3 of Dalgliesh was initially commissioned in 2022 by Channel 5 and Acorn TV after the first season's success during COVID lockdowns. However, news became scant as Season 2 went into production, to the point that when Season 3 began filming, most trades assumed that was the renewal confirmation. The question fans will be asking, though, is if Dalgliesh has more renewals waiting in the wings or if three seasons is all viewers can hope for. James wrote 14 Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries stories in all, 12 of which were adapted by ITV and the BBC between 1985 and 2004. 

Thus far, the new version has adapted six novels, with three more arriving in Season 3. That leaves five books to be adapted, three of which have already been given the small-screen treatment. If the series is looking to remake all of the mysteries previously made for TV, that means viewers have at least one more season to look forward to, with a chance of a fifth made up of the final two novels. Until Acorn TV and Channel 5 announce more, we at least have the Season 3 trailer to watch and six new installments to look forward to, two of which were helmed by Carvel himself.

Here's the Season 3 synopsis:

On the cusp of Thatcher’s victory, Commander Adam Dalgliesh takes on three highly sensitive cases – from a remote seminary already mired in scandal to a wealthy family under political attack, to a spate of killings at a nuclear power station.

Also, here are the three mysteries this season will adapt:

1. "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.
2. "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.
3. "Devices & 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.

Carvel will again be joined by returning cast members Carlyss Peer (Sense & Sensibility) as Kate Miskin and Alistair Brammer (Medieval) as Daniel Tarrant. 

Guest stars for Season 3 include Anton Lesser (Endeavour), Lloyd Owen (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Claire Goose (The Bay), 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 (This Way Up) and Josie Walker (Belfast).

Helen Edmundson (The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher) returns as lead writer, with Colette Kane (Department Q) co-writing "Death In Holy Orders" and Kam Odedra (Whitstable Pearl) on "Cover Her Face." Director Roger Goldby (Belgravia: The Next Chapter) helms "Devices & Desires," Geoff Sax (Victoria) returns to helm "Death In Holy Orders," and Carvel directs "Cover Her Face," with Leon McGeown-Fee producing. Carvel, Edmundson, Elaine Pyke, and Willow Grylls serve as executive producers.

Dalgliesh Season 3 premieres on Monday, December 2, 2024, on Acorn TV and will stream one episode a week through the end of the year.