When The Fall first arrived to our screens back in 2013, the crime drama was widely praised as a standout of the police procedural genre – with Gillian Anderson's Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson also being recognised as a strong, fearless female lead TV character, worthy of celebration.
When an active murder investigation doesn't seem to be going anywhere, Stella is transferred from London to the Police Service of Northern Ireland to lend a hand and her expertise. It becomes clear that there is a serial killer at large, and so local detectives must work with DS Gibson to catch him.
The man they are in pursuit of is called Paul Spector (played by Jamie Dornan), and he is attacking young women in the city of Belfast.
He is also a family man, with a wife and daughter, holding down an unassuming job as a bereavement counsellor by day, keeping his true nature under wraps.
What soon unfolds is a tense and high-stakes game of cat and mouse, with Spector and DS Gibson each working to outsmart the other.
Who else is in the cast of The Fall?
In addition to Stella's leading detective, Emmett J Scanlan – who has since gone on to star in other hit shows like Kin, Paramount's MobLand, Harlan Coben's Fool Me Once, and Netflix's How to Get to Heaven from Belfast – plays part of the police team, as DC Glenn Martin.
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John Lynch – who you may recognise from Shetland and Blue Lights – plays the character of ACC Jim Burns, Stella's Belfast boss.
Elsewhere, the cast includes:
• Stuart Graham (Say Nothing)
• Archie Panjabi (Hijack)
• Niamh McGrady (Hope Street)
• Colin Morgan (The Killing Kind)
• Michael McElhatton (House of Guinness)
• Bronágh Taggart (Derry Girls)
• Bronagh Waugh (Ridley)
• Valene Kane (Blue Lights)
• Laura Donnelly (Outlander)
• Jonjo O'Neill (Bad Sisters)
• Aisling Bea (This Way Up)
What did the critics say about The Fall?
The first season stands strong with a near-perfect 96% Rotten Tomatoes score, and was widely hailed by critics.
"This BBC serial killer thriller stands as the genre’s most effective and menacing...," read the review in The Australian, while Common Sense Media said: "This show is binge watching at its best; it's at once compulsively watchable and intelligent, well-written and beautifully acted with compelling performances to boot."
For season two, The Atlantic wrote: "The Fall's most remarkable achievement will be if it turns out to be the first show of many to present a new normal for women on television."
"Even without the crime thriller's favourite plot device, BBC2 series The Fall has kept us gripped, not only for the entire first series, but now also for most of a second series, too," said The Independent.
How to stream The Fall right now in the UK
The Fall spanned three seasons in total, and its available in its entirety on Netflix in the UK right now (as well as still being on BBC iPlayer).
So whether this would mark a first-time watch for you, or a revisit of this superb crime drama that's one of the BBC's greats, this could be your sign to hit that 'play' button.
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TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK's biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world's oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).
