ITV's moody new serial killer drama The Dark, which has been adapted from GR Halliday's 2020 novel From the Shadows, is a very different approach to a crime drama - at least in the eyes of the cast and creatives.
Set in the atmospheric Scottish countryside, the series centres on a detective duo made up of DI Monica Kennedy (played by Outlander's Laura Donnelly) and her new police partner DC Connor Crawford (Karen Pirie's Mark Rowley). They go on the hunt for a "twisted" masked murderer, with the trailer already revealing their theory that "the killer lives among" the local community.
Director Gilles Bannier – who has previously worked across the BBC's breakout hit Blue Lights as well as ITV's Nordic noir detective series Marcella – has shared that, in addition to "the script and the talent of the writing", the reason he decided to do this show was because it "didn't have the classic elements" of the genre.
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Where procedural fans might be used to seeing stories unfold in a police station or an interview room of a precinct, those components aren't a presence in The Dark.
"Consequently, it was giving more space to the characters and to the life of the characters, and all these little moments we've tried to capture," Bannier explained to Digital Spy and other media.
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For Donnelly, this marks her first time playing a cop on screen – and it was the drama's unique approach to the genre that really drew her to it, having previously resisted police roles throughout her career.
She explained that she was struck when reading the script for the first episode, namely in how "interesting" the relationships were due to the writing. Specifically, the actor highlighted "how each character handles what they are presented with".
Donnelly also revealed that there are elements of crime shows that she does enjoy, sharing "Delving into the most fascinating and darkest aspects of humanity, I think that human beings have forever been fascinated with that. And it'll remain that way."
"[The Dark] had that mixture for me of what I love to delve in as an actor, being the complications of character and the relationships, and then the kind of thing that I actually do enjoy watching," she explained.
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Helen Baxendale – who fans may first recognise from Friends and Cold Feet as well as cosy crime dramas such as Death in Paradise and Midsomer Murders – said that reading the script was "really exciting".
Playing the character of Bethany Morgan, a mother of two sons who lives in a remote farm house, Baxendale also noted that the The Dark seemed to be "different to your average" crime series.
"I mean, I don't watch loads of these serial killer things," she said, before adding: "But I was really gripped by it... And it seemed really different."
The Dark is coming soon to ITV and STV, and will stream on ITVX and STV Player this summer.
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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).
