‘Dept. Q’: First Images Tease the New Mystery Series From ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Creator!! Check It Out!!

Netflix is officially opening the doors to Dept. Q. The first images for the streamer’s new crime thriller novel adaptation have been released, and they feature Emmy nominee Matthew Goode leading a cold case unit as the prickly, formerly top-rated detective Carl Morck. This series will mark a welcome return to television for the actor of The Imitation Game and Watchmen fame, coming three years after the end of his tenure on A Discovery of Witches and his appearance in the Paramount+ miniseries, The Offer. It’ll also reunite him with Scott Frank — writer, director, and co-creator of The Queen’s Gambit —18 years after joining forces for the helmer’s star-studded feature debut, The Lookout. Together, they’ll once again take to the small screen to solve murder mysteries on May 29.

Based on the series of novels of the same name by author Jussi Adler-Olsen, Dept. Q is set in Edinburgh and follows Detective Chief Inspector Morck as he’s “promoted” to head of the police’s newly established cold case unit. In reality, the team is full of misfits kept in the basement where higher-ups can keep a watchful eye on them. He’s tasked with turning the office into a well-oiled machine, capable of cracking seemingly impossible cases and, in turn, making the police as a whole look good. As he tackles a new case, Morck is still trying to overcome the guilt he feels after his partner was paralyzed and another officer was killed during a deadly attack.

The images don’t just showcase Morck, but also other investigators who have parts to play in solving the cold cases the series will explore across its nine-episode run. That includes Game of Thrones veteran Kate Dickie as Detective Chief Superintendent Moira Jacobson, Morck’s boss who watches over his odd little band of crime-solvers. Goode had high praise for his co-stars and Frank for bringing them all together. “[Scott] assembled one of the finest casts I’ve ever gotten to work with,” he said in Tudum’s preview of the series. “It’s just an incredible playpen for an actor.” Adding to that, he also shared a ton of love for some of his fellow Department Q inhabitants. “Leah Byrne is a stone-cold star. I felt like I’ve known Jamie [Sives] for a long time, we just get on so well… Alexej [Manvelov] is joy, pure joy, capital J.” Also starring are Chloe Pirrie, Mark Bonnar, Shirley Henderson, Kelly Macdonald, and Tom Bulpett.

‘Dept. Q’ Has Been a Long Time Coming for Frank

Your first look at Dept. Q, from the writer and director of The Queen's Gambit.

Matthew Goode stars as DCI Carl Morck — a brash, but brilliant detective leading a cold case unit in Edinburgh. Premiering May 29. pic.twitter.com/rYSmFwgQrN

— Netflix (@netflix) April 21, 2025

All nine episodes of Dept. Q were co-written by Frank, while six were directed by him. The idea of adapting Adler-Olsen’s novels had been on his mind for a long time, stemming back to a conversation he had with the author when his 2014 crime thriller A Walk Among the Tombstones starring Liam Neeson and Dan Stevens was in production. “There was just something about it,” he added. “The title, this notion of something called Department Q, stayed with me. And so I met with the author while I was shooting A Walk Among the Tombstones in New York, and I’d actually had the books for a couple of years by then.” His return to Netflix comes after landing another hit detective novel adaptation, Monsieur Spade starring Clive Owen, last year, and he appears to be up to the challenge of finally doing DCI Morck justice.