'Department Q' Will Go Online at the End of May

The average American reader is probably not very familiar with Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen or his wildly popular series of thrillers, the Department Q series, initially titled Afdeling Q in Danish. Currently at ten books, with the last one published in 2022, Netflix acquired the rights to produce the first-ever English-language adaptation of the series in 2023, beginning with Adler-Olsen's first novel, which was retitled The Keeper of Lost Causes when it was published in English, following the adventures of homicide detective Carl Mørck, who finds himself promoted up to lead Department Q after losing multiple team members in a gunfight.

Much like other Nordic noir stories and remakes of foreign thrillers in English for U.K. viewers, Department Q is reset from its original fjords and moved house south to Scotland. Downton Abbey's Matthew Goode stars as DCI Carl Morck (note the anglicized O), who is still coming off the loss of his old team, just in Edinburgh instead of Oslo. Goode co-stars opposite Kelly Macdonald (Line of Duty) as Dr. Rachel Irving, the therapist tasked with helping Morck work through the loss of his former team, and the emotions he feels about their deaths leading to his promotion.

The series was chosen for adaptation by Scott Frank, best known to Netflix viewers for his hit The Queen's Gambit and more recently the creative force behind AMC+'s Monsieur Spade. Production began in mid-2024, and the series has finally been given a release date for May 2025.

Here is the series synopsis:

DCI Carl Morck is a brilliant cop but a terrible colleague. His razor-sharp sarcasm has made him no friends in Edinburgh police. After a shooting that leaves a young pc dead, and his partner paralysed, he finds himself exiled to the basement and the sole member of Department Q; a newly formed cold case unit. The department is a PR stunt, there to distract the public from the failures of an under-resourced, failing police force that is glad to see the back of him. 

But more by accident than design, Carl starts to build a gang of waifs and strays who have everything to prove. So, when the stone-cold trail of a prominent civil servant who disappeared several years ago starts to heat up, Carl is back doing what he does best - rattling cages and refusing to take no for an answer.

Goode and Macdonald will be joined by an ensemble cast that is full of PBS favorites, including  Chloe Pirrie (To Walk Invisible), Mark Bonnar (World on Fire), Jamie Sives (Guilt), Shirley Henderson (Tom Jones), and Katie Dickie (Annika), Alexej Manvelov (Before We Die), and Leah Byrne (Call the Midwife). 

Supporting cast includes Catriona Stirling (We Were the Lucky Ones), Paul Ellard (Karen Pirie), Aron Dochard (Bodies), Alec Newman (Sister Boniface Mysteries), Kim Allan (The Devil's Hour), and James Macnaughton (Secret Invasion).

Scott Frank adapted Department Q with writers Chandni Lakhani, Stephen Greenhorn, and Colette Kane also credited. Frank directed the first two installments of the eight-episode series. The series is produced by Left Bank Pictures, best known for The Crown and Netflix. Filming is currently underway. 

Department Q Season 1 will debut with all episodes on Friday, May 29, 2025.