New Netflix series Bodies arrives on the streamer this month with an intriguing premise, a stellar cast and a whole lot of mystery surrounding it.

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The series stars Stephen Graham amongst others, and follows four detectives in four different time periods in the past, present and future, as they all investigate finding the exact same body in the same place.

The series is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Si Spencer, so some will already know some of the show's secrets. Whether you do or don't, it seems sure to be a thriller, twisting, turning ride - check out our review.

Read on for everything you need to know about the cast of Bodies on Netflix.

Bodies on Netflix release date

Amy Manson as Charlotte Hillinghead and Kyle Soller as Detective Sergeant Alfred Hillinghead in Bodies
Amy Manson as Charlotte Hillinghead and Kyle Soller as Detective Sergeant Alfred Hillinghead in Bodies. Matt Towers/Netflix

All eight episodes of Bodies will be released on Netflix on Thursday 19th October 2023.

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The series first entered production in May 2022, before wrapping in October of the same year.

Bodies plot: What is the story behind the Netflix series?

Based is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Si Spencer, and has been described as a "police procedural with a twist".

Writer Paul Tomalin, who adapted the series from Spencer's graphic novel, recently teased the genre-defying show at a Q&A, saying: "The Jack the Ripper stuff, the Line of Duty stuff, the future dystopia, utopia stuff, this was wild. The ingredients were too unique not to be bound together…

"I believed it was too strange to actually get made but I thought, I’d love to through myself into the research, I’d love to exist in these timelines, really absorb everything I possibly can and the put it on the page, and three, four years later."

He added: "It was just this challenge I couldn’t ultimately turn down."

Emily Barber as Kathleen in Bodies, holding a phone to her ear
Emily Barber as Kathleen in Bodies Matt Towers/Netflix

The official synopsis for the series says: "When a body – the same body – is found on Longharvest Lane in London's East End in 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053, one detective from each period must investigate.

"As connections are drawn across the decades, the detectives soon discover their investigations are linked, and an enigmatic political leader – Elias Mannix (Stephen Graham) – becomes increasingly central. Did he have a part to play in the murder? Or is something far more sinister at play?

"To solve the mystery, our four detectives must somehow collaborate and uncover a conspiracy spanning over 150 years."

How many episodes are there in Netflix's Bodies?

Stephen Graham and Shirley Haas looking through glass in Netflix series Bodies
Stephen Graham and Shirley Haas looking through glass in Netflix series Bodies. Netflix

Bodies consists of eight episodes, with writer Tomalin saying it was important to him to wrap up the story in one season.

He told RadioTimes.com: "We’d be plain suicidal to rule anything out [in terms of future seasons] but I do think that we owed it to the audience to end this bastard. It was really important to Netflix that when you have a concept like this, you betray your audience if you think, ‘And now we’re going to drag it out for ever and ever and ever because we all have bills to pay.’

"I think that’s a really tiring thing. I get exhausted by it as a viewer when you get this spectacular pilot that the at the end you think ‘you’ve only given me about three eps worth of turns here’. I want you to feel satisfied, I want you to feel knackered having watched it til 5am and that means an ending. That means closure. And I think as a writer these days it’s rare you get to do endings because so often people are about the returnable factor."

Who stars in Bodies with Stephen Graham?

Stephen Graham as Elias Mannix in Bodies.
Stephen Graham in Bodies. Netflix

Bodies is led by Amaka Okafor (The Responder), as well as Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (The Great), Kyle Soller (Andor) and Shira Haas (Unorthodox).

Meanwhile, Stephen Graham (Boiling Point) plays the enigmatic Elias Mannix/Julian Harker.

The main stars of Bodies are:

  • Amaka Okafor as Shahara Hasan
  • Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Charles Whiteman
  • Kyle Soller as Alfred Hillinghead
  • Shira Haas as Iris Maplewood
  • Stephen Graham as Elias Mannix/Julian Harker
  • Tom Mothersdale as Gabriel Defoe

Bodies trailer

You can watch the full trailer for Bodies on Netflix right here:

Bodies is available to stream on Netflix from Thursday 19th October 2023. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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