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, Victoria, Sanditon) and Sofia Barclay (Prime Target, Ted Lasso, We Are Lady Parts) 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.
on the set of ‘Lynley’
Courtesy of BBC Studios
“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.”
Adds Barclay: “What Lynley is saying may be polite, but he’s absolutely not being polite in his energy. So, the series deals with very universal themes that are being pushed through a very British lens, which I think people love. It’s a very useful Petri dish.”
The two protagonists may not get along right away. “But actually, they are exactly what each of them needs,” Barclay tells THR. “They are the kind of medicine that each of them needs. And you get to fall in love with them and see them starting to appreciate each other despite their differences.”
In other words: Lynely serves up social dynamics and conflicts AND cracking criminal cases that the duo must solve.
Writer and executive producer Thompson was aware of the previous Lynley series but didn’t want to reference it or require any knowledge of it. “We have taken on more recent novels to bring to screen. And what we have done completely stands alone,” he tells THR. “So, people can come to it completely fresh with no prior knowledge.”
The earliest Lynley novels were adapted more than 20 years ago. “Almost the first thing I said was we need to meet Lynley and Havers again as strangers,” Thompson explains. “We can’t just come into the story with all this pre-knowledge of who they are. We needed to go back to basics, and we needed to see, because it’s the most explosive moment, that very first time they walk into a room and meet – and it’s all going wrong. You know, it’s going to go wrong before it goes right.”
Sofia Barclay
George is an American who loves British culture, which comes through in the series. “She has written almost a love letter to it in so many ways,” shares Barclay.
Importantly, Thompson’s adaptation ensures things only get revealed over time. “One of the best things about the writing is they don’t give you everything right up front. It’s very much hinted at and suggested in the way that both of the characters, and actually all the characters, hold themselves, the way they speak, and also what they don’t say,” Barclay explains. “And the characters don’t just care about the law because it’s fun to care about,” she also emphasizes. “There are really personal reasons for both of these characters. It’s more than just a job for both of them.”
The best procedurals do that well, notes Robert Schildhouse, president, BritBox North America and general manager, BritBox International. “Yes, there