🔎 Dept. Q (2025) on Netflix: Release Date, Cast, Plot & Why This Nordic Noir Will Hook You

🔎 Dept. Q — Cold Cases, Colder Truths | Premieres May 29 on Netflix

From the mind behind The Queen’s Gambit comes a brooding new detective drama that promises to grip you from the very first mystery. Scott Frank’s Dept. Q arrives on Netflix this May 29, and it’s everything fans of crime thrillers, noir drama, and flawed heroes have been waiting for.

🕵️‍♂️ Meet DCI Carl Mørck — Brash, Brilliant, and Burdened

At the center of Dept. Q is Matthew Goode (A Discovery of Witches, The Imitation Game) as DCI Carl Mørck, a once-top-tier detective now relegated to a dusty Edinburgh basement and tasked with running a new cold case unit. Battling personal demons, professional disgrace, and bureaucratic neglect, Mørck is the type of cop who doesn’t play by the rules — but somehow always gets the job done.

His new assignment? Lead a team of unlikely outcasts and solve Scotland’s most impossible cold cases. But what begins as punishment soon becomes redemption — for all of them.

🔍 What is Dept. Q?

Adapted from the international bestselling Department Q novels by Jussi Adler-Olsen, the show is a nine-part crime procedural with a psychological edge. Each episode delves into a separate case from the shadows of Edinburgh’s unsolved files — missing persons, unexplained deaths, and long-forgotten injustices that still cry out for answers.

Expect the atmosphere of Broadchurch, the grit of Luther, and the emotional complexity of True Detective — all fused with Scott Frank’s razor-sharp character work and elegant storytelling.

🧩 A Team of Misfits, Bound by Truth

Dept. Q doesn’t just follow Mørck — it gives us a cast of deeply human, flawed, and quietly heroic characters:

• Kelly Macdonald as Dr. Rachel Irving, the police therapist trying to keep Carl from imploding.

• Chloe Pirrie as Merritt Lingard, a cutthroat prosecutor whose ambition may compromise her ethics.

• Alexej Manvelov as Akram Salim, a Syrian refugee and former police officer, bringing a sharp mind and outsider perspective to the unit.

• Leah Byrne as Rose, a fragile cadet rebuilding her confidence under Mørck’s reluctant mentorship.

• Mark Bonnar, Jamie Sives, Shirley Henderson, and Kate Dickie round out a top-tier British cast as fellow officers, allies, and skeptics.

🧠 Not Just Another Crime Drama

Under Scott Frank’s direction, Dept. Q aims for more than your average whodunit. It’s about redemption, institutional failure, and the fragile humanity behind crime-solving. Expect layered cases, morally grey characters, and sharp emotional writing that holds a mirror up to justice systems and broken people trying to make a difference within them.

📅 Mark Your Calendar

🗓 Release Date: May 29, 2025

📺 Where to Watch: Exclusively on Netflix

🔎 Episodes: 9

📚 Based On: The Department Q novels by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Setting: Edinburgh, Scotland

👣 Step Into the Basement

When the world forgets the victims, Dept. Q remembers.

Whether you’re a longtime lover of Scandinavian noir, British procedurals, or just discovering the genre, this is the show to queue up for your next binge.

Are you ready to follow the clues to where the light doesn't reach?