Apple TV+’s new crime drama, Down Cemetery Road, is based on Mick Herron’s novel of the same name and was created by the same team that produced the Apple TV+ Emmy-winning Slow Horses, also based on a Mick Herron novel. Apple TV+ and Mick Herron seem to be the new Netflix/Harlan Coben super collaborators.
Academy, Emmy, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award winner Emma Thompson takes on the role of Zoë Boehm, a private investigator, who is hired to find a missing girl after a house explosion outside Oxford. Two bodies are found, and when the child goes missing, Sarah Tucker (played by Golden Globe winner Ruth Wilson), a neighbor, local conspiracy theorist, and bored housewife, hires Zoë to help find the girl. A massive government cover-up is suspected.
Down Cemetery Road seems to follow in Slow Horses footsteps
In an interview with TV Insider, Ruth Wilson explains that the reason she opted for this role was the opportunity to work with Watson, as well as the chance to portray Sarah Tucker.
“She’s the kind of odd one out in this weird world, but actually, you realize she’s kind of more akin with it as they are as it goes on.”
Based on the trailer, fans of Slow Horses will likely enjoy this series, which appears to follow a similar formula of a world filled with dodgy characters and quirky outsiders involved in shady cover-ups. Slow Horses never takes itself too seriously and always delivers a bit of fun, so hopefully Down Cemetery Road will follow in the same vein. According toThe Oxford Mail, it "will act as a 'companion piece' to MI5 drama Slow Horses".
Personally, I am thrilled to see the wonderful Emma Thompson in a new type of role as an adventurer and crime solver. Her spiky white hair gives a futuristic bounty hunter feel, far removed from the traditional roles she has played in the past, such as Jane Austen adaptations and Professor Trelawney in Harry Potter. Her fantastic acting and excellent comedic timing will likely make the new series a joy to watch.
Slow Horses is now in its fifth season, and the characters continue to evolve and the world of Slough House deepens. There is no word yet on whether more seasons of Down Cemetery Road are in the works, but if it’s as good as Slow Horses, another series or two hopefully might pop up.
Adeel Akhtar (Fool Me Once), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Femme), Tom Goodman-Hill (Baby Reindeer), Darren Boyd (Trying), Tom Riley (The Woman in the House), Adam Godley (The Great), Sinead Matthews (Hellraisers), Ken Nwosu, Fehinti Balogun, and Aiysha Hart round out the cast.
Eight episodes of Down Cemetery Road are scheduled. The first two will air on Wednesday, Oct. 29 on Apple TV+, and then every Wednesday through to Wednesday, Dec. 10.
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