''Patience'' is a British-Belgian detective drama television series starring

Laura Fraser Laura Fraser (born 24 July 1975) is a Scottish actress. She has played Door in the urban fantasy series ''Neverwhere'' (1996), Kate in the film '' A Knight's Tale'' (2001), Cat MacKenzie in the BBC Three drama series '' Lip Service'' (2010–20 ...

as Detective Inspector Bea Metcalf, and Ella Maisy Purvis as

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

police archivist Patience Evans (Purvis is herself autistic). The series is set in Yorkshire. It is adapted from the French television series '' Astrid et Raphaëlle''. The series premiered in the United Kingdom on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

on 8 January 2025. Filming on a second series took place in May 2025.

Premise

A detective forms an alliance with a brilliant, self-taught criminologist who has been working in the criminal records department of the City of York police and is autistic.

Cast

* Ella Maisy Purvis as Patience Evans **Ava-Grace Cook as 11-year-old Patience **Oona Van Harneveldt as 6-year-old Patience *

as DI Bea Metcalf *Nathan Welsh as DS Jake Hunter *

Mark Benton Mark Benton (born 16 November 1965) is an English actor and television presenter known for his roles as Eddie in '' Early Doors'', Howard in '' Northern Lights'', Martin Pond in '' Barbara'' and the eponymous Frank Hathaway in '' Shakespeare & H ...

as Calvin Baxter *Ali Ariaie as DC Will Akbari * Tom Lewis as Elliot Scott *

Liza Sadovy Liza Sadovy is a British actress. She is best known for ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007 film), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (2007), ''Prime Suspect 3'' (1993) and ''Company'' (1996). Other television work ...

as Dr. Loretta Parsons *

Adrian Rawlins Adrian John Rawlins (born 27 March 1958) is an English actor best known for playing Arthur Kidd in '' The Woman in Black'' (1989) and James Potter in the ''Harry Potter'' films. In 2019, he starred in '' Chernobyl'' as Nikolai Fomin. Early ...

as Douglas Gilmour * Jamie Maclachlan as George Evans *Lotte Lauren as Mathilde Evans *Connor Curren as Billy Thompson *Maxwell Whitelock as Alfie Metcalf-Haynes *Eddie Elks as David Haynes

Production

The project was announced in February 2024 from Eagle Eye Drama, PBS Distribution and Beta Film. The series is produced in association with Belgium's Happy Duck Films and has support from the Belgian Tax Shelter. Maarten Moerkerke is directing the series, which is adapted from the original French series '' Astrid and Raphaelle''. Jo McGrath and Walter Iuzzolino are executive producers for Eagle Eye. The writing team on the series was led by

Matt Baker Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's '' Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, wi ...

and also included Stephen Brady, Sarah Freethy and Daniella DeVinter. Filming took place in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

from 23–29 April 2024. Locations included

Precentor's Court Precentor's Court is a historic street in the English city of York. Although certainly in existence by 1313,''York: The Making of a City 1068–1350'', Sarah Rees Jones (2013), p. 146 the street does not appear on a map until 1610, and it is no ...

, opposite

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

, as well as Monkgate,

The Shambles The Shambles is a historic street in York, England, featuring preserved Middle Ages, medieval buildings, some dating back as far as the 14th century. The street is narrow, with many Timber framing, timber-framed buildings with Jettying, jettied ...

, Gillygate and

Micklegate Micklegate is a street in the City of York, England. The name means "Great Street", "gate" coming from the Old Norse ''gata'', or street. Micklegate is described by York City Council as "one of the most handsome streets in Yorkshire", and was d ...

. However other than some exterior sequences to place the stories in York, most of the scenes were filmed in Belgium in 2024. The series was renewed for a second series with filming taking place in 2025 with

Jessica Hynes Jessica Hynes (''née'' Stevenson) is a British actress, director and writer. Best known as a comedy actress, she has played Cheryl in ''The Royle Family'' (1998–2010), Siobhan Sharpe in ''Twenty Twelve'' (2011–2012) and ''W1A'' (2014–2 ...

added to the cast.

Episodes

Broadcast

The first episode was broadcast at 9pm on 8 January 2025 in the United Kingdom on

. All episodes were immediately made available on Channel 4's digital streaming platform.

Reception

Critical response

Critics' reviews have been mixed. In a three-star review for ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', Chris Bennion summarised it as "a worthwhile addition to the crime drama ranks, but one that fits into, rather than breaking the mould." However, in a two-star review for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'',

Lucy Mangan Lucy Mangan (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian'' and an opinion writer for '' i'' news. Early life and education Mangan was born in 1974 and grew up in Catford, ...

described the plot as "preposterous", the dialogue as "terrible", and the drama overall as "deeply uninspired" and "embarrassingly clunky". Carol Midgely in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' said that Purvis does not "overact" the character's condition, "showing it in overt and subtle ways".

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 31495377 2025 British television series debuts 2020s British drama television series Belgian television series British detective television series Channel 4 television dramas Television shows filmed in Belgium Television shows shot in York Autism in television British English-language television shows