Apple TV+’s latest live-action series has found a unique ensemble cast. On Monday, it was announced that the streaming service has handed an eight-episode series order to Criminal Record, a new one-hour thriller series set in London. The series will be led by Doctor Who and The Suicide Squad star Peter Capaldi and The Good Wife and The Good Fight‘s Cush Jumbo. Both Capaldi and Cush will also executive produce the series is reportedly underway in London.
Criminal Record is described as a powerful, character-driven thriller set in the heart of contemporary London. An anonymous phone call draws two brilliant detectives into a confrontation over an old murder case: Detective Sgt. June Lenker (Jumbo), a young woman in the early stages of her career; and the other Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty (Capaldi), a well-connected man determined to protect his legacy. The series touches on issues of race, institutional failure and the quest to find common ground in a polarized Britain.ย
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The series hails from Vera and Indian Summers alum Paul Rutman, as well as Tod Productions and STV Studios. It will be directed by Jim Loach, whose work includes Save Me Too and Oranges and Sunshine.
One of Capaldi’s most recent credits was as Gaius Grieves / The Thinker in The Suicide Squad, a new take on the bizarre and memorable DC villain.
“My introduction was the script,” Capaldi previously told ComicBook.com. “I just read the script. James asked me to do it and then sent me the script, and I thought the script was great. And that’s really where I took it from. I dug into some of the comics, which is an archeological dig to have a look at his various in comics. It was quite difficult to pin down exactly who he was because he changes so much. And also, he seems to be quite old and then he disappears, and then he comes back again. And I thought it was quite confusing. I thought I’d be better just to cleave to the script. Stick with the script and try and conjure up that Thinker, as opposed to making a connection with the comics.”
“The first thing when you go on the Internet and call him up, you get a little drawing of him in the orange jumpsuit, which kind of is iconic for him and did, I think, influence James and our Thinker,” Capaldi continued. “But yeah, no, I just tried to do what the script tells me to do. It’s quite tricky. I mean, James is brilliant, I think, but it’s a very heightened sort of world that you have to try and exist in and be funny and scary at the same time.”
What do you think of Capaldi and Jumbo joining the cast of Criminal Record? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
