Lynley, a new TV series based on the hit novels by Elizabeth George about a mismatched detective duo, is looking to make a global splash. Leo Suter (Vikings: Valhalla) and Sofia Barclay (Ted Lasso) star as the unconventional team of DI Tommy Lynley and DS Barbara Havers in the four-episode show from Colin Callender’s production company Playground (Wolf Hall, All Creatures Great and Small) that creatives and executive believe can become a new franchise.
The new adaptation, or reimagining of the globally popular intellectual property is one of BBC Studios’ lead scripted titles being launched at the annual BBC Studios Showcase in London this week. The premium crime show mixes whodunnits with explorations of social issues, including class differences, prejudices, workplace dynamics, and identity. And it features the cinematic look, Britishness, and universal stories that the creatives expect to speak to audiences well beyond Britain.
The latest collaboration between BBC Studios and Playground was commissioned by BritBox U.S. in association with the BBC and shot in Ireland with an ensemble cast that also includes Daniel Mays (Magpie Murders), Niamh Walsh (The English Game), Michael Workeye (My Lady Jane), and Joshua Sher (Vera). BBC Studios is selling the show around the world.
The series, from writer and executive producer Steve Thompson (Vienna Blood), marks a return to TV for Lynley and Havers 17 years after the final episode of the BBC series The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, which starred Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small and ran for six seasons.
“Tommy Lynley is a brilliant police detective but an outsider in the force – simply by virtue of his aristocratic upbringing. He is paired with Barbara Havers, a sergeant with a maverick attitude and a working-class background,” according to a show synopsis. “With seemingly nothing in common and against all odds, the mismatched duo of Lynley and Havers become a formidable team, bonded by their desire to see justice done.”
The stars and behind-the-scenes creatives describe the police station featured in the show as a microcosm of people with different experiences and life stories. The two protagonists in particular come from very different social backgrounds but find themselves teamed up in the police version of a last-chance saloon.
“Havers is more enthusiastic and goes more with her gut,” while Lynley comes from a
more privileged background as his clothes, car, and other details in the series show,
Suter explains to THR. “He’s an aristocrat, she’s more working-class and has to fight for
everything that she’s got. But they become an excellent duo, and they become friends.”
His social background means Lynley is generally friendly, rational, and business-focused,
at least on the outside. “It’s quite an upper-class British thing to not be enthusiastic,”
the actor shares. “It’s very uncouth to give 110 percent. Instead, you operate at 40 to
50 percent. You want to be calm.”
