Crime (TV series)

Crime (also known as Irvine Welsh's Crime) is a Scottish crime drama television series, an adaptation of the Irvine Welsh novel of the same name. The 6-episode first series was co-written by Welsh and Dean Cavanagh and broadcast in 2021 on BritBox, later moved in the UK to be available on ITVX. It stars Dougray Scott as the detective Ray Lennox. Scott won an International Emmy Award in November 2022 for his performance. A second series began filming in Scotland in 2022 and premiered on September 21, 2023 on ITVX.

Synopsis
DI Ray Lennox (Scott) and DS Drummond (Vanderham) investigate a schoolgirl’s abduction.

First series
On 23 July 2020, BritBox announced that Irvine Welsh would be adapting Crime as a six-part miniseries for streaming service with Irvine Welsh adapting his own book alongside Dean Cavanagh. The series is set in Edinburgh but filmed there and Glasgow.

Second series
In October 2022, a second six-part series started filming in Scotland with Welsh and Cavanagh again scripting. Directors for the second series include Trygve Allister Diesen and Anthony Neilson. Production is by Buccaneer and Off Grid Film and TV. Production crews were reported in Glasgow’s West End, with filming occurring on Horselethill Road and Rosslyn Terrace. Filming continued in Glasgow into November 2022.

Scott was quoted as saying "Season 2 takes us even deeper into Lennox's past, and helps us understand his persona even more. I couldn't be happier.” Among those returning for series two are Ken Stott, Joanna Vanderham, John Simm and Derek Riddell.

Broadcast
The first series premiered on BritBox on 18 November 2021. The second series will be shown in the UK on ITVX with the first series becoming available via ITVX in 2023.

Critical response
Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph described the performance of Scott as “lifting” the police procedure “out of the ordinary” by delivering “every line with a burning intensity” that still “manages at the same time to convey the character’s emotional fragility, and the toll that his job is taking”. Lucy Mangan in The Guardian was less effusive, but said that Welsh “pushed the limits of what we normally see from the troubled detective at the centre of such shows”. Carol Midgely in The Times said “ I thought it was terrific, give or take the odd daft scene” and “few writers could write about such horror and still make it funny”.

Accolades
Scott was nominated at the International Emmy Awards for his performance. Scott won the International Emmy Award for Best Actor in November 2022.