f you’re missing the stunning Scottish highland scenery of Shetland, along with one of our favourite detectives, DS Alison McIntosh, we bring you a new television gift to unwrap. From Darkness is the perfect crime drama for Shetland fans, with Anne-Marie Duff starring as an equally mesmerising lead in the thrilling cat-and-mouse series you can watch in one go.
Introducing Claire Church (Anne-Marie Duff), a former police officer who relocates from Manchester to the remote Western Isles for a fresh start with her family. But, when decades old bodies are discovered on her old patch, she’s forced to decide whether to return to her former life to revisit a chilling missing persons case she’s never got over.
With the series available to stream this week on U, here’s everything you need to know about From Darkness, including the plot, cast and how to watch it.
What is From Darkness about?
The four-part series, which first aired on the BBC in 2015, introduces us to Claire Church (Anne-Marie Duff), a keen runner and ex-Greater Manchester police officer. We meet her on the cusp of a whole new life, swapping her professional anguish in Manchester for a more peaceful set-up in the remote Western Isles with her daughter and her partner, Norrie (Richard Rankin).
But when decades-old bodies are discovered on a building site in her old patch, linked to a 1998 case where a string of women went missing, her former partner, DCI John Hind (Johnny Harris), gets in touch. Now she’s forced to choose between the idyllic serenity of the island and digging up the past that’s haunted her for so long. Then, the wily killer claims another victim and leaves Claire a sinister gift, writing her old police badge number on the body.
As well as the intense pressure to stop another murder, there are the flickering embers of an old flame with her former partner, John – and a shock confession from Claire’s past sends him reeling. Will they ever be able to stop the killer? And will she ever find peace?
Anne-Marie Duff, whose credits include Shameless and more recently Bad Sisters, shared what differentiated Claire from other characters she’d played.
‘I liked the idea of playing a character who was on the run from something – an internal chase. The demons are there snapping at her heels,’ Anne-Marie told the BBC. ‘She’s running and running, and that’s what’s so lovely about the image of her training, that she’s just constantly on the run, and also that whole Freudian notion of the return of the repressed. I found that very interesting,’ she added.
Who’s in the cast of From Darkness?
The cast of From Darkness includes:
- Anne-Marie Duff (Bad Sisters, The Virgin Queen) as Claire Church
- Johnny Harris (Legends) as John Hind
- Richard Rankin (Burnt) as Norrie Duncan
- Luke Newberry (In The Flesh) as Anthony Boyce
- Caroline Lee Johnson (Chef!) as Lola
- Lyndsey Marshal (Restless) as Lucy Maxley
- Ben Batt (Toxic Town) as Chris Templeton
- Naomi Ryan (Doctor Who) as Rosanna Templeton
- Jim Cartwright (Road) as Roy Marsh
- Cora Tsang (Outlander) as Megan Duncan
- Leanne Best (A Woman Of Substance) as Julie Hind
Is From Darkness any good?
Yes – we think it’s a truly riveting ride and, as we mentioned, it has the key elements we enjoy about Shetland: the atmospheric setting of the Scottish highlands and a compelling lead in the form of the empathetic Claire Church, who reminds us of DS ‘Tosh’. Anne-Marie Duff delivers a standout performance as the antithesis of the gruff persona we usually see represented in detective dramas. Her complicated love life also kept us hooked, with her current partner, Norrie (Richard Rankin), the epitome of safety and stability, and her former flame, John Hind (Johnny Harris), embodying the turbulent history she’s tried to leave behind.
How can I watch From Darkness?
You can watch From Darkness on U now.
What other crime dramas can I watch now?
If you’re after something a little cosier, we’d direct you towards Mrs Sidhu Investigates, the Channel 4 series in which we meet high-end caterer turned local sleuth Mrs Sidhu (Meera Syal), who unravels a series of mysteries in her local town. You can watch Mrs Sidhu Investigates on Channel 4. If you’re in the mood for something even darker, we’d recommend Channel 4’s The Marnow Murders. Set in the German city of Schwerin, the atmospheric drama sees detectives Lona Mendt (Petra Schmidt-Schaller) and Frank Elling (Sascha Alexander Geršak) team up to solve murder cases. You can watch The Marnow Murders now on Channel 4.
