Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger reteam for Strike – Troubled Blood
David Farnor | On 12, Feb 2022
Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger are returning for Strike – Troubled Blood, the fifth chapter of the crime drama about detective Cormoran Strike and his sidekick Robin Ellacott.
The four-part drama is adapted for the screen by Tom Edge (You, Don’t Know Me, Vigil), who also wrote Strike – The Silkworm, Strike – Career Of Evil and Strike – Lethal White. It sees Strike visiting his family in Cornwall when he’s approached by a woman asking for help finding her mother, Margot Bamborough, who went missing under mysterious circumstances in 1974.
Strike’s never tackled a cold case, before let alone one 40 years old, but despite the slim chance of success he’s intrigued and takes it on, adding to the long list of cases that he and his partner in the agency Robin Ellacott are currently working on. And Robin herself is also juggling a messy divorce and unwanted male attention, as well as battling her own feelings about Strike.
As Strike and Robin investigate Margot’s disappearance, they come up against a fiendishly complex case with a psychopathic serial killer and witnesses who cannot all be trusted. They learn that even cases decades old can prove to be deadly.
Burke (The Souvenir, True Things About Me) and Grainger (The Capture, Animals) lead a cast that includes Linda Bassett (Call The Midwife, What If If Only), Kierston Wareing (I Love My Mum, The Take), Abigail Lawrie (Our Ladies, Tin Star), Anna Calder-Marshall (The Third Day, Harlots), Fionnula Flanagan (Lost, The Others), Cherie Lunghi (Unforgotten, Midsomer Murders), Jack Greenlees (The Trial Of Christine Keeler, The Swarm), Daniel Peacock (Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves, Only Fools And Horses), Ruth Sheen (Unforgotten, It’s A Sin), Syrus Lowe (Avenue 5, The Inheritance), Carol MacReady (This Is Going To Hurt, Gentleman Jack), Sophie Ward (A Very British Scandal, Moonstone), Robin Askwith (The Train To Christmas, The Madam Blanc Mysteries), Genevieve Hulme-Beaman (Burn It All, Rebecca’s Boyfriend), Christina Cole (Suits, Innocent), Ian Radford (Coronation Street, The Man With The Iron Heart), Philip Cornwell (Call The Midwife, Dodger) and Kenneth Cranham (Hatton Garden, Layer Cake). Returning actors include Kerr Logan (Alias Grace, Showtrial) as Matthew, Sarah Sweeney (Bastard Executioner, Cider With Rosie) as Lucy, and Ben Crompton (Game Of Thrones, Rebecca) as Shanker.
Sue Tully (Strike – Lethal White, Line Of Duty) will direct.