Two rival crime families.

A 22-year-old woman born into one of them.

And a romance with the one man her family cannot afford to let her love.

That’s the volatile setup behind Mint, the atmospheric new BBC crime drama combining Scotland’s rugged landscapes with gangland power struggles and a tragic love story.

Led by Emma Laird and musician-turned-actor Ben Coyle-Larner, the series has already attracted praise for its striking cinematography, with The Guardian calling it “the most outrageously beautiful TV show since Twin Peaks.”

But beneath those beautiful images is a family beginning to fracture — just as a dangerous outsider arrives in town.

Shannon Was Born Into A World She Didn’t Choose

At the centre of Mint is Shannon, played by Emma Laird.

She is 22, fiercely romantic and the daughter of the family controlling the local criminal world.

Crime surrounds her.

Power shapes her family.

Loyalty is expected.

But Shannon’s attention is pulled somewhere considerably more dangerous when Arran arrives.

Played by Ben Coyle-Larner, better known to music fans as Loyle Carner, Arran belongs to a rival crime family.

For Shannon’s relatives, his presence is already a problem.

Her feelings for him make everything worse.

A Gangland Romeo And Juliet Story

Shannon and Arran fall for each other despite the hostility separating their families.

That gives Mint the shape of a modern Romeo and Juliet story, but one unfolding against organised crime and the bleak beauty of Scotland.

Their relationship isn’t simply complicated by disapproving relatives.

The two come from opposing sides of a criminal divide.

Every step closer to each other risks upsetting a balance already threatening to collapse.

And while Shannon is trying to understand what she wants from Arran, her own family’s power structure begins falling apart.

Her Father Suddenly Walks Away

Early in the story, Shannon’s father Dylan makes an unexpected decision.

He steps down as head of the family.

Exactly why he chooses to relinquish control isn’t immediately clear.

But the consequences begin almost at once.

Dylan’s second-in-command, Sam, moves into the leadership role.

His methods, however, aren’t necessarily the same as those of the man he replaces.

As Sam’s tactics begin raising concerns, the succession creates another source of instability at precisely the moment Shannon’s forbidden relationship is developing.

The family suddenly has threats both outside and inside its own world.

The Crime Story Is Really About A Family

Despite its gangster premise, Mint doesn’t remain focused entirely on criminal manoeuvring.

Instead, Dylan’s decision opens the door into the individual lives of the people surrounding Shannon.

There is Dylan himself.

Shannon’s mother Cat.

Her older brother Luke.

And her formidable grandmother Ollie.

Rather than treating them simply as pieces in a criminal hierarchy, the series explores the emotional relationships holding the family together — and the tensions threatening to pull it apart.

That gives the drama another layer beyond the question of who will control the family’s criminal interests.

Power matters.

But so do parents, children, siblings, love and loyalty.

Emma Laird Leads The Cast As Shannon

Laird takes the central role as Shannon, the young woman caught between the family she belongs to and the relationship she wants.

Opposite her is Coyle-Larner as Arran.

Better known for his music career under the name Loyle Carner, he takes on the role of the outsider whose arrival threatens to destabilise Shannon’s already complicated world.

Their relationship supplies the romantic heart of the series.

But the surrounding cast gives the family drama considerable weight.

The Supporting Cast Is Packed With Familiar Faces

Sam Riley plays Dylan, Shannon’s father and the head of the family whose mysterious decision to step aside creates a dangerous vacuum.

Laura Fraser, known for Breaking Bad and Patience, plays Shannon’s mother Cat.

Lewis Gribben, whose credits include Somewhere Boy and Shetland, appears as her older brother Luke.

And Lindsay Duncan plays Shannon’s grandmother Ollie.

Duncan will be familiar to viewers from dramas including Truelove and Sherwood.

Together, they form a family whose internal relationships become just as important as the criminal organisation surrounding them.

Behind The Series Are Some Major British Drama Names

Mint was written by acclaimed writer-director Charlotte Regan.

The series comes from Fearless Minds and House Productions.

House Productions has already been involved with acclaimed projects including BBC crime drama Sherwood and the Oscar-winning film Conclave.

That pedigree fits a series attempting to combine several different styles at once.

There is the atmosphere of a Scottish crime thriller.

There is the danger of a gangster drama.

And running through both is an emotionally charged forbidden romance.

Critics Have Already Praised Its Striking Look

One aspect of Mint has particularly stood out in the early critical response: how it looks.

The Guardian awarded the series four stars and offered an eye-catching comparison, describing it as “the most outrageously beautiful TV show since Twin Peaks.”

The Financial Times also highlighted Coyle-Larner’s performance while describing the production as “stylish.”

That visual identity appears particularly important to the series.

Scotland isn’t merely somewhere for the characters to conduct criminal business.

The landscape and atmosphere become part of the drama’s personality.

It helps distinguish Mint from the anonymous urban settings that can dominate gangster television.

Shetland Meets MobLand — With A Tragic Romance At Its Centre

The easiest way to understand the show’s unusual combination may be to imagine the atmospheric Scottish backdrop of Shetland colliding with the family power struggles of MobLand.

But Mint adds something different to that mixture.

At its centre isn’t simply a detective hunting a criminal or gangsters fighting for territory.

It’s Shannon.

A young woman who happens to have been born into a powerful crime family and then falls for someone from the wrong side of that world.

That relationship gives every shift in the criminal hierarchy a personal consequence.

If the families collide, Shannon and Arran cannot remain untouched.

A Family Is Cracking Just As A Romance Begins

The timing couldn’t be worse.

Shannon is becoming increasingly drawn to Arran just as Dylan relinquishes control of the family.

Sam is adopting methods that begin causing alarm.

Old loyalties are being tested.

And the emotional lives of Shannon’s parents, brother and grandmother are coming into sharper focus.

The ingredients might be familiar individually — gangsters, rival families, forbidden love and succession battles.

Mint brings them together against an unusually beautiful Scottish backdrop.

The result is a crime drama where the greatest danger may not simply be which family wins.

It’s what everyone stands to lose while they fight.

Mint is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.