''Marcella'' is a British

nordic noir Nordic noir, also known as Scandinavian noir or Scandi noir, is a genre of crime fiction usually written from a police point of view and set in Scandinavia or Nordic countries. Plain language avoiding metaphor and set in bleak landscapes results ...

detective series, written, directed and produced by Swedish screenwriter

Hans Rosenfeldt Hans Rosenfeldt (born Hans Petersson on 13 July 1964) is a Swedish screenwriter, radio presenter, novelist and actor. He co-created the Swedish series ''De drabbade'' (2003) and ''Oskyldigt dömd'' (2008–09), and created the Scandinavian series ...

, creator of '' The Bridge''. The series is produced by Buccaneer Media for ITV and distributed worldwide by Buccaneer's parent company

Cineflix Cineflix Media is a Canadian global media production and distribution company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, it has branches in Toronto, New York City, London, and Dublin. Subsidiaries include United Kingdom-based Cineflix Rights, ...

. It was first shown on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on 4 April 2016, with seven further episodes released weekly. The series stars

Anna Friel Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she has been acting professionally since age 13. Friel achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache on the British soap opera ''Brookside'' ( ...

as Marcella Backland, a former

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

detective who returns to work to investigate an open case from 11 years earlier involving an unidentified serial killer who appears to have become active again. Marcella also has to deal with a hectic home life, where her husband, Jason (

Nicholas Pinnock Nicholas Andre Pinnock (born 2 September 1973) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as lead character Aaron Wallace in the American legal drama '' For Life'' and Leon in award-winning Channel 4 drama ''Top Boy''. Early life and educa ...

), has made the decision to leave her and, at first, send their two children to a boarding school; but later on (in the second season) he uses Marcella's mental disorder as a means to take full custody.

Nina Sosanya Oluwakemi Nina Sosanya (born 6 June 1969) is an English stage, television, film, radio actress and narrator. She is most notable for her roles in ''Teachers'', '' W1A'' and '' Last Tango in Halifax''. Early life and education Sosanya was born i ...

(series one),

Ray Panthaki Ray Panthaki (; born 20 January 1979) is a British actor, producer, screenwriter and director. Early life Panthaki was born in London to second-generation Indian parents. His parents belong to India's Parsi minority community. Career Panthaki i ...

and

Jamie Bamber Jamie Saint John Bamber Griffith (born 3 April 1973), known professionally as Jamie Bamber, is a British actor, known for his roles as Lee Adama in ''Battlestar Galactica'' and Detective Sergeant Matt Devlin in the ITV series '' Law & Order: ...

are also credited as principal members of the cast. The series was commissioned in June 2015, with location filming taking place in London and the

Port of Dover The Port of Dover is a cross-channel ferry, cruise terminal, maritime cargo and marina facility situated in Dover, Kent, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just away, and is one of the world's busiest maritime pa ...

. After their first release on ITV, the episodes were made available to stream on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

outside the United Kingdom. The first series was released on DVD via Universal Pictures UK on 20 June 2016. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, Friel was awarded the

International Emmy Award The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and S ...

for Best Actress for her performance in ''Marcella''. On 26 August 2016, ITV announced that a second series had been commissioned. The second series premiered on 19 February 2018 and was released on DVD on 16 April 2018. On 3 October 2018 it was announced that ''Marcella'' would be returning to ITV for a third series. It premiered internationally on Netflix on 14 June 2020, and began airing on ITV in the UK on 26 January 2021; it was also expected to be released on DVD in March 2021.

Synopsis

Series 1

Marcella Backland (

), a former

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

detective, decides to return to work after her husband of 15 years, Jason (

), abruptly announces he is leaving her. Marcella resumes her investigation into the three unsolved Grove Park murders from 2005, when it appears the serial killer responsible has returned.

Series 2

Marcella investigates a serial killer of children, encountering a paedophile, an arrogant millionaire, a 1970s rock star, and strange symbols relating to witchcraft. Her estranged husband Jason has become engaged to his rehab nurse even though their divorce is not yet finalised, putting their children in the middle of a custody battle that quickly becomes ugly. Marcella's blackouts continue, and she seeks counselling to help her remember what happened during them.

Series 3

Marcella has assumed a new identity as Keira Devlin and is working undercover in Northern Ireland where she becomes involved with a wealthy crime family. More is learned of Marcella's mental health issues.

Cast

Main

Recurring

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Supporting

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

* Paul Kennedy as Lawrence Corrigan * Jorin Cooke as Conor Scott

Episodes

Overview

Series 1 (2016)

Series 2 (2018)

Series 3 (2021)

This series was released originally on

in June 2021, however the televised dates were scheduled for Spring 2021.

Reception

Critical response

For series one, the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported a 73% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 15 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Buoyed by

, ''Marcella'' will satisfy any fan of dark crime drama."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews ". For series two, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 57% approval rating with an average rating of 5.3/10, based on 7 critic reviews. The third series has an 80% approval rating based on 5 critic reviews.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcella (Tv Series) 2016 British television series debuts 2010s British crime drama television series 2010s British mystery television series 2010s British police procedural television series 2010s British workplace drama television series 2020s British crime drama television series 2020s British mystery television series 2020s British police procedural television series 2020s British workplace drama television series Adultery in television British detective television series English-language television shows ITV crime dramas ITV mystery shows Serial drama television series Serial killers in television Television shows set in London

Synopsis

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Cast

Main

Recurring

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Supporting

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Episodes

Overview

Series 1 (2016)

Series 2 (2018)

Series 3 (2021)

Reception

Critical response

See also

References

External links