BritBox Kicks Off May with 'Death Valley'

BritBox is chugging along in 2025, full steam ahead, no holds barred, cozy crime caper after cozy crime caper, with a few A-list British actors starring in horrifying thrillers in between and the occasional reality series. April highlighted all of those aspects with Ludwig, the David Mitchell-starring, “case-of-the-week mystery-crime-comedy-drama.” Now the show will follow up in May with a different show that falls within that particular description: Death Valley, a series about a retired actor who played a cop on TV getting into solving mysteries, assisted by a local detective in need of a partner and a few solved cases to show to her superiors.

Death Valley is a Welsh production, although unlike some of BritBox's more recent acquisitions, such as Tree on a Hill (Pren ar y Bryn) and Rough Cut (Dal y Mellt), it is not available in both languages, only in English. It falls into one of the more standard styles of cozy crime series, the "amateur & professional" odd couple, exemplified by Grantchester.  The "amateur" half of the cozy crime-detecting duo is one John Chapel, a world-renowned actor and "national treasure" after starring for years as the lead in the cozy crime series Caesar, which was a hit on both sides of the pond. Naturally, playing a detective on TV makes Chapel a natural at solving crimes in his Welsh community, as he has learned a great deal from playing the main role in a police procedural. 

Pity his partner-in-crime-solving, DS Janie Mallowan, who is in such dire straits at her job that she decides to ask the man who used to star in her favorite crime series for help.

Here's the series synopsis:

A retired actor. A struggling young detective. They’re the perfect crime-fighting duo – when they get along. The nation’s once beloved TV detective, John Chapel, lives a reclusive life in the Welsh countryside, guilt-ridden for letting his career get in the way of his final months with his late wife, Elin. But when his neighbour is murdered, John is dragged back into the world by Detective Sergeant Janie Mallowan. Struggling to rise up the ranks, she teams up with the widower. Despite their opposing instincts – Janie’s interested in procedure and building a watertight case while John’s captivated by character and motives – this could be the answer to her waning career. As long as her boss doesn’t find out.

Timothy Spall (The Sixth Commandment) stars as John Chapel, with Gwyneth Keyworth (Lost Boys & Fairies) as DS Janie Mallowan. The rest of the cast includes Steffan Rhodri (Gavin & Stacey), Alexandria Riley (The Outlaws), Melanie Walters (Father Brown), Remy Beasley (Steeltown Murders), Rithvik Andugula (Extraordinary), and Mike Bubbins (Mammoth). Guest stars for the show's first season include Patricia Hodge (All Creatures Great & Small), Karl Johnson (Lark Rise to Candleford), Vicki Pepperdine (The Trouble with Maggie Cole), Kiell Smith-Bynoe (Ghosts), Sian Gibson (The Power of Parker), Jim Howick (Sex Education), Colin McFarlane (The War Between The Land & the Sea), Steve Speirs (Dickensian), and Amy Trigg (Such Brave Girls).

Series creator Paul Doolan (Bloods) penned all six episodes of Death Valley with Sian Harries. Director Simon Hynd (There She Goes) helmed all installments, with Nikki Wilson producing. Doolan also acts as executive producer alongside Josh Cole and Madeline Addy. The series was filmed in Wales with locations including Penarth and Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Death Valley will premiere with two episodes on BritBox sometime in May 2025, with one a week to follow.