Everything to Remember Ahead of 'Professor T' Season 3

The original Flemish language Professor T starred Koen De Bouw as Jasper Teerlinck, the titular Professor T, a criminology lecturer at the University of Antwerp. A Sherlock Holmes-type figure, Professor T suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and is neuroatypical. However, former student Annelies Donckers, now an inspector of the Federal Judicial Police, comes to see him when she hits a wall in a rape case, and soon he's her regular consultant. The series proved so popular that it was remade multiple times: in German in 2017, in French and Czech in 2018, and finally in English in 2020, where it has become the most popular version. 

Every Professor T starts the same way. He's a Professor at a high-end academic institution — the German Jasper Thalheim is at the University of Cologne, the French Julien Tardieu is Professeur émérite à l'université de Nantes, and the British Jasper Tempest is at Cambridge. His former student, whose name ranges from Anneliese Deckert in German to Lisa Donckers in the U.K. version, turns to her professor for help on a rape case. In each case, she is dinged by her superior, who Professor T secretly harbors a longstanding crush on, for bringing outside help on board. In all cases, her bagman stands up for her, despite not liking the Professor, and keeps him around to become a valued member of the team. 

All three seasons of the Belgian version are available for members on PBS Passport and have been since 2019. However, the U.K. version is the one that airs on most local stations and debuts its Season 4 in August 2025. Starring Ben Miller in the role of Jasper Tempest, it begins precisely like all the others in the premiere episode, with Emma Naomi as DS Lisa Donckers, Barney White as DS Dan Winters (who, like in the Belgian version, would like to date Lisa, but she is not interested), Juliet Aubrey as DCI Christina Brand (Jasper's longtime crush), Frances de la Tour as Adelaide Tempest (Jasper's mother), and Douglas Reith as The Dean (Jasper's boss).

However, though the first six mysteries in Season 1 follow the same structure as the Belgian show, they have their own flavor. For example, the premiere is much more brutal, the rape is shown on screen, the violence factor is higher, and things that are implied in the Belgian version are spelled out. The second episode has more fun with Jasper's mental state, giving him full-on musical numbers to hallucinate while investigating a poisoning. 

Episode 3 brings Jasper's mother into the picture as it does in the Belgian one, not as a one-off but as a permanent fixture. (Listen, if you have Frances de la Tour, you do not waste her.) Donckers' family is more fleshed out, with her father revealed to have dementia, which affects her job and personal life. She and Winters take hesitant steps toward a relationship, but then call it off and date other people before getting back together. Perhaps the most significant change is that Jasper decides to go to therapy.

That last alteration is why Season 2 feels different, even though the mysteries (and the overall arc) follow the same trajectory as previous versions. There are only six episodes per season, versus 13 in the original; the series selectively chooses which to remake and which to skip over, which does it a great deal of favors. Professor T spends time with Jasper suspended in Season 2 of the Belgian version; in the U.K. version, he receives an upgraded classroom and proceeds directly to the arson mystery. Juliet Stevenson is introduced as therapist Dr Helena Goldberg. The scenes where Jasper's mother accompanies him to therapy, and they dig into his childhood, are riveting.

Lisa and Dan fully commit to a relationship in the second season, with Dan stepping up to help with Lisa's father. Unfortunately, it doesn't last, as Lisa pursues a promotion and the growing inequality between them ultimately breaks them apart. The show also brings Jasper and Christina together much more quickly, allowing the unrequited relationship to develop much faster and for Christina to start viewing Jasper as a person she cares for, even though she is seeing someone new herself, DI Simon Lanesborough (Alastair Mackenzie). This is essential as the show only has six episodes to get Jasper to the point where he would shoot a man to save Christina, rather than 26 over two seasons.

Season 2 ends with Jasper discovering that Lanesborough is not what he seems — he's a dirty cop using Christina to keep his drug smuggling ring safe from being busted. When she confronts him, he pulls a gun, but then Jasper busts in with a rifle. He saves Christina's life by firing the weapon...not at Simon, but at the ceiling, before punching the guy out. Still, his use of a firearm is illegal, and he's hauled off to jail as Season 2 concludes.

The series mostly rejoins the previous versions' arc for Season 3, beginning with Jasper in prison while everyone outside of it works to get him released. Again, the much shorter season necessitates efficiency, and Jasper has his day in court by the show's mid-point and is released, thanks to Christina stepping up and admitting she should take the fall. However, his job has been taken over by his rival, and with Christina now out, Lisa has a new boss, DCI Maiya Goswami (Sunetra Sarker), who doesn't understand why Jasper's here. He also attempts to quit therapy, while accidentally having an OCD breakthrough, but by the end of the episode, returns admitting he needs to keep learning.

The final two episodes of Season 3 further propel Jasper forward. His replacement at Cambridge is murdered, gaining him his job back, but only after he solves the case and gets justice for a man he thought he hated. Also, Donckers and Dan get back together, again, and finally seem to be working out their relationship. But the series finale then comes in with a pair of knock-out blows. Jasper, confronted by his mother's diaries (which he doesn't even read) and a trophy, unblocks the memory of seeing his father commit suicide.

However, the memory isn't of his father being there, but of The Dean, who has been doing Adelaide's bidding, including destroying all evidence that Jasper's father was murdered. That's because Adelaide was the one who killed him; she claims it was in self-defense and to protect Jasper from his father's drunken rage. Jasper slowly lets go of his anger and self-righteousness and forgives her for her crime. However, by dealing with his own trauma, he never manages to get to Donckers in person, and there is no one to help or stop her when the suspect in the case of the week mows her down with her car.

Season 4 will pick up with Doncker's passing, as Jasper, Dan, and the rest of the team pick up the pieces. With an unprecedented Season 5 already in production, Professor T is entirely on its own now, telling its own story the way it wants to. We look forward to discovering what's next.

(This post was originally published 06.14.24. Updated 8.21.25)

Professor T Season 4 debuts at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 24, 2025, on most PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece channel, and will air and stream weekly through the end of September. All six episodes are now available as an early release bingedrop for PBS Passport members. Seasons 1 through 3 are also available to stream on PBS Passport, along with all three seasons of the Belgian version. As always, check your local streaming service/listings.