The 'Dept. Q' Trailer Sees Matthew Goode Solving Cold Cases in Edinburgh

Move over, Slough House. Slow Horses isn't going to be the only destination for law enforcement derelicts and misfits on the proverbial television block. Netflix's forthcoming crime drama Dept. Q will follow the investigations of a newly formed cold case unit that's so second-tier that it's barely even real. 

The series stars Matthew Goode (A Discovery of Witches) as DCI Carl Morck, a brilliant if overly sarcastic detective with a reputation for being difficult in his adopted hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland. He's still struggling to come to terms with the tragic end of his last posting, which involved a shooting that saw his partner paralyzed and a young officer killed. Morck feels responsible, a situation that's made worse when he's suddenly promoted to the mysterious "Dept. Q" that's allegedly dedicated to solving cold cases. But the basement office he's assigned to is little more than a PR front; its staff consists of just one employee. (Spoiler alert: it's him.) 

Obviously, he's meant to shut up, stay out of the way, and continue his regular visits with Dr. Rachel Irving (Kelly Macdonald), the therapist tasked with helping him work through the guilt he feels about everything that happened with his former team. But if you've ever watched any crime drama of this ilk, you already know that's an unlikely outcome. Instead, Morck manages to assemble a genuine team, collecting a motley crew of other departmental strays that, the trailer is anything to go by, almost immediately begins to make real progress on a long-unsolved case. 

Here's 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.
 

Alongside Goode and Macdonald, the series also stars plenty of familiar faces, including Chloe Pirrie (Under the Banner of Heaven), Mark Bonnar (World on Fire), Jamie Sives (Guilt), Shirley Henderson (Tom Jones), Katie Dickie (Annika), Alexej Manvelov (Before We Die), Leah Byrne (Call the Midwife). 

The supporting ensemble 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).

Based on Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen's popular series of thrillers, Dept. Q is written and directed by Scott Frank (The Queen's Gambit) and executive produced by Rob Bullock, Scott Frank, and Andy Harries.

“I’ve been working with him since 2006,” Frank tells Netflix's Tudum. “Matthew just felt like this guy. I was writing with him in mind. I knew that he could do this and that he would lend this undeniable intelligence with his flintiness, but that he could also be emotional without being sentimental.” 

All episodes of Dept. Q will premiere Friday, May 29, 2025, on Netflix.