Sean Bean's classic crime epic Red Riding trilogy is coming to Netflix next week

Having premiered back in 2009, the Channel 4 drama is certainly a dark one, but if you're a crime thriller fan, then you'll definitely want to be adding this one to your watchlist.

And it's safe to say that the casting is positively starry for this drama, with the likes of Sean Bean, Andrew Garfield, David Morrissey, Peter Mullan and Michelle Dockery all starring throughout.

The first film, Red Riding 1974, follows a young reporter Eddie Dunford (Garfield), who unravels a web of institutional corruption and deceit while investigating a string of child abductions in '70s Yorkshire.

Set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire Ripper killings, the films have overarching themes, stories and recurring characters, but pave the way for wider thought about the world of corruption and crime.

Based on the book series of the same name by David Peace, the second film Red Riding 1980 centres on Paddy Considine's "clean" Assistant Chief Constable Peter Hunter, who is assigned to West Yorkshire to help with the investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper but comes to find it hard to continue his work amid such rampant corruption.

The third and final film in the trilogy, Red Riding 1983, sees Sherwood's Morrissey take on the role of Detective Maurice Jobson, who suspects that the Yorkshire Ripper may still be alive. When a young girl is kidnapped, he believes that he's imprisoned the wrong man and sets about trying to right the wrongs of the past.

The series was previously only able to stream on Prime Video with a premium subscription to Studiocanal Presents, so fans who are keen for a rewatch or those who simply haven't experienced the series for themselves will be delighted that it's now found a home on Netflix.

While many may recognise the likes of Andrew Garfield for blockbuster films like The Amazing Spider-Man, We Live in Time or The Social Network, he stars in all three Red Riding Trilogy films as a recurring character.

As for the rest of the cast, it's made up of plenty of recognisable TV drama faces, with the likes of Sean Bean having graced plenty of series throughout his career. Having more recently starred in BBC's This City Is Ours, Bean has also been confirmed to lead an upcoming Robin Hood TV series for MGM+ as the Sheriff of Nottingham.

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Clearly passionate about bringing tales of the north of England to life on the screen, Bean is set to take on the role of Sheriff, who has been described as "a statesman, a strategist, and a builder of Nottingham itself," who "rules with an iron hand, not out of cruelty, but an unshakable belief that the law, as Normans see it, must be preserved".

Well, while we bide our time until that exciting series hits our screens, the Red Riding Trilogy couldn't come to Netflix soon enough.

Red Riding 1974, Red Riding 1980 and Red Riding 1983 will be available to stream on Netflix from Friday 18th July.

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