New Inspector Lynley adaptation with Sanditon favourite gets release date confirmed by the BBC

It's time to bookmark another crime drama for your watchlists as it's now been confirmed just when Lynley will be landing on BBC One and iPlayer.

Described as a "contemporary update" of the original novels by Elizabeth George, the new four-part series will premiere on BBC One on Monday 5th January at 8:30pm.

The drama, which premiered on BritBox in North America earlier this year, will also be released as a boxset on BBC iPlayer for all your binge-watching needs.

Leo Suter (Sanditon) and Sofia Barclay (Ted Lasso) lead the series as unconventional detective duo DI Tommy Lynley and DS Barbara Havers, with the rest of the cast including Daniel Mays (Magpie Murders) as DCI Brian Nies, "the astute, suspicious Senior Detective at Three Counties Major Incident Team, whose aversion to Lynley is partly born of his own insecurities about class and partly because he knows he’s no longer the smartest person in the room".

Niamh Walsh (The English Game) stars as Helen Clyde, "an estate agent and Lynley’s former Oxford classmate whose romance with Lynley is sparked when their paths fatefully cross on a case".

The rest of the cast includes Michael Workeye (My Lady Jane) as tech specialist Tony Bekele, while Joshua Sher (Vera) stars as forensic scientist Simon St. James.

The synopsis for Lynley reads: "Tommy Lynley is a brilliant police detective but an outsider in the force – simply by virtue of his aristocratic upbringing. He is paired with Barbara Havers, a sergeant with a maverick attitude and a working-class background.

"With seemingly nothing in common and against all odds, the mismatched duo of Lynley and Havers become a formidable team, bonded by their desire to see justice done."

It's obviously not the first time that the books have been adapted for the TV, with The Inspector Lynley Mysteries originally airing on the BBC from 2001 to 2008.

That series saw Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small lead the cast but this time round, the new Lynley series is coming to us from production company Playground, who are known for their work on All Creatures Great and Small and Wolf Hall.

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The new series has been written by Steve Thompson, who is known for his work on shows like Doctor Who, Vienna Blood, Jericho and Sherlock. At the time of the BBC's acquisition of the show, Thompson said: “It's a privilege and a thrill to have the opportunity to adapt these wonderful books for television. Elizabeth George's iconic characters are greatly loved and her gripping stories are smart and ingenious.”

Similarly, author Elizabeth George said: “I'm thrilled to see Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers come to television again, especially through the participation of the BBC and Britbox and the production expertise of Playground. Watching my characters brought to life on television is a real celebration.”

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Lynley will premiere on BBC One and iPlayer on Monday 5th January at 8:30pm.

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