''The Rook'' is an American television series, loosely based on the novel of the same name by

Daniel O'Malley Daniel O'Malley is an Australian science fiction writer from Canberra. Biography O'Malley graduated with an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and a master's degree in medieval history from Ohio State University. He worked fo ...

, and originally adapted by

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; née Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 100 mill ...

. It was ordered direct-to-series at

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

in July 2017. Meyer left the series due to creative differences as the first and second episodes were being filmed. It premiered on June 30, 2019 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and on July 1, 2019 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

on the Virgin TV Ultra HD channel. On March 4, 2020, Starz confirmed that they had decided not to continue it beyond the original eight episode miniseries.

Premise

Myfanwy Thomas finds herself at

Millennium Bridge Several bridges are known as the Millennium Bridge: * in the United Kingdom **Gateshead Millennium Bridge ** Lune Millennium Bridge, Lancaster ** Millennium Bridge, Glasgow ** Millennium Bridge, London ** Millennium Bridge (Salford Quays) ** Teesqua ...

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 ...

surrounded by dead bodies with no memory of how she came to be there. She soon discovers that she is an agent with supernatural abilities in a British secret service called the Checquy.

Cast

Main

Emma Greenwell Emma Greenwell (born January 14, 1989) is an American-born English actress. She made her acting debut as Mandy Milkovich in the second season of the Showtime comedy-drama '' Shameless'' (2012–2016), appearing as a series regular in the third ...

as Myfanwy Thomas, a

Rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...

in the inner court of the Checquy *

Joely Richardson Joely Kim Richardson (born 9 January 1965) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Julia McNamara in the FX drama series ''Nip/Tuck'' (2003–10) and Katherine Parr in the Showtime series ''The Tudors'' (2010). She has also appeared ...

as Linda Farrier, the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

in the Checquy *

Jon Fletcher Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".Ronan Raftery Ronan Raftery is an Irish actor in television, film and stage. Television Film Theatre References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raftery, Ronan Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Male actors from Dublin (city ...

as Robert Gestalt, a third body of the Rook Gestalt *

Catherine Steadman Catherine Steadman is a British actress and author. Career Steadman trained at the Oxford School of Drama and made her screen debut playing Julia Bertram in '' Mansfield Park''. Since then she has appeared in television series such as ''The Tu ...

as Eliza Gestalt, a fourth body of the Rook Gestalt *

Adrian Lester Adrian Anthony Lester (born Anthony Harvey; 14 August 1968) is a British actor, director and writer. He is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award, an Evening Standard Theatre Award and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his work on the Lo ...

as Conrad Grantchester, the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

in the Checquy *

Olivia Munn Lisa Olivia Munn (born July 3, 1980) is an American actress and former television host. After an internship at a news station in Tulsa, she moved to Los Angeles where she began her professional career as a television host for the gaming network ...

as Monica Reed, an agent from the American BVA, a Checquy sister agency

Recurring

Ruth Madeley Ruth Madeley (born 1987) is a British actress known for her roles in '' Years and Years'' and '' The Rook''. She was born with spina bifida and has worked with the charity Whizz-Kidz for much of her life. She was nominated for a television BAFT ...

as Ingrid Woodhouse, a

Pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...

in the Checquy *

Shelley Conn Shelley Deborah Conn (born 21 September 1976) is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Lady Mary Sharma in the hugely successful Netflix series ''Bridgerton'', as Isabella in the film ''Love Sarah'', as Dr Elizabeth Shan ...

as Danielle Wulff, a

Chevalier Chevalier may refer to: Honours Belgium * a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II * a title in the Belgian nobility France * a rank in the French Legion d'h ...

in the Checquy, their PR expert *

Gina McKee Georgina "Gina" McKee (born 14 April 1964) is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for ''Our Friends in the North'' (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for ''The Lost Prince'' (2003) and ''The Street'' (2 ...

as Jennifer Birch, senior UK Government Minister responsible for the Checquy *

Barry Atsma Barry Atsma (born 29 December 1972) is a Dutch people, Dutch actor. He became known in the Netherlands through his role in the TV series ''Rozengeur & Wodka Lime'' (2001–2005) and the movie ''The Black Book''. He is a recipient of both a Golde ...

as Peter Van Syoc *

Luke Roberts Luke Justin Roberts (born 25 January 1977) is a sports director and former Australian racing cyclist specialising in both track cycling and road bicycle racing. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, he resides both in Adelaide and in Cologne, G ...

as Marcus Kevler *

Michael McElhatton Michael McElhatton (born 12 September 1963) is an Irish actor and writer. He is best known for playing the role of Roose Bolton in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones''. He joined the series as a guest star in the second season, and continued t ...

as Lorik, a senior representative of the Lugate *Aidan O'Callaghan as Apex Analyst * Tamsin Topolski as Bronwyn, Myfanwy's sister *

James D'Arcy James D'Arcy (born Simon Richard D'Arcy; 24 August 1975) is an English actor and film director. He is known for his portrayals of Howard Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series '' Agent Carter'' and the ...

as Andrew Bristol, a former therapist for the Checquy * Michael Karim as Nazim, an EVA with the ability to erase people's memory

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

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 ...

, the series received an approval of 44%, and a 5.83/10 average rating from 16 reviews. The critics' consensus states, "Though it teases some appealingly pulpy puzzle pieces, ''The Rooks dour tone and convoluted machinations overshadow its intriguing premise."

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 the series a score of 62 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Production

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

features as "Apex House", the Checquy headquarters overlooking the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

. 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 ...

was used in the series when production filmed inside Cruise Terminal Two, outside quayside and along Cruise Terminal.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rock, The 2019 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings English-language television shows Starz original programming Television series by Lionsgate Television