McDonald & Dodds

McDonald & Dodds is a British television crime drama series created and principally written by screenwriter Robert Murphy. It stars Tala Gouveia as DCI Lauren McDonald, a streetwise former Metropolitan Police investigator who arrives in Bath to head up the Avon and Somerset Police Criminal Investigation Department; and Jason Watkins as DS Dodds, a shy and modest investigator who has not seen street action in over ten years.

Originally commissioned under the working title Invisible, a pair of films were shot during the summer of 2019, which make up the basis of the first series, broadcast in March 2020. Strong viewing figures saw a second series commissioned for 2021 and shown in February 2021. A third series was confirmed later and broadcast in June 2022. In March 2023, ITV announced that the show was renewed for a fourth series, which was scheduled to air in the UK in April 2024 but it has been delayed due to scheduling conflicts. Series 4 will now air on 21 July 2024. Series 4 began airing in Denmark on 20 March 2024 and in the United States on 23 May 2024.

Production
The first series featured an ensemble line-up of guest stars including actors Robert Lindsay, Hugh Dennis, Freddie Fox, and Joanna Scanlan. The second series, which began in February 2021, was again headed by an all-star guest cast, led by Rob Brydon, whose role was used to heavily promote the series in the run-up to its broadcast.

The final episode of the second series, The War of the Rose, was made available to watch on BritBox services outside of the UK. By June 2022, the episode had still not been broadcast in the UK, despite having been released on DVD in Germany, Australia, and the United States. Subsequently, it was announced that the episode would instead air as if it were the third episode of Series 3 in the UK. Due to the casting changes between series, running this episode third in Series 3 would have created a continuity problem, so it was decided to reshoot James Murray's scenes with Claire Skinner instead. This means there are two versions of the episode in circulation: the international version with Murray as the Chief Super, and the UK version with Skinner as the Chief Super.

Filming on the third series took place in late 2021, with Skinner joining the cast as Chief Superintendent Mary Ormond, following the departure of Murray. Guest stars announced for this series include Alan Davies, Sian Phillips, Paul McGann, and Kelvin Fletcher.

The fourth series began filming at the end of June 2023 with Bhavik C. Pankhania joining the cast as DC Lee and guest stars announced for this series include Lydia Leonard, Daniel Lapaine, Ace Bhatti, John Gordon Sinclair, Dipo Ola, Toby Stephens and Pixie Lott.

The title sequence for the show features a question mark (which transforms into the title's ampersand), referencing the iconic overhead view of the Royal Crescent and The Circus, two listed structures in Bath that are frequently shown on-screen.

Cast

 * Tala Gouveia as DCI Lauren McDonald (series 1–present)
 * Jason Watkins as DS Dodds (series 1–present)
 * James Murray as Chief Superintendent John Houseman (series 1–2)
 * Claire Skinner as Chief Superintendent Mary Ormond (series 3–present)
 * Jack Riddiford as DC Darren Craig (series 1–2)
 * Pearl Chanda as DC Laura Simpson (series 1)
 * Danyal Ismail as DC Martin Malik (series 3)
 * Lily Sacofsky as DC Milena Paciorkowski (series 2–3)
 * Charlie Chambers as DC Samuel Goldie (series 3–present)
 * Bhavik C. Pankhania as DC Lee (series 4)

Series 3 (2022)

 * The War of the Rose was originally intended to be Series 2's finale, featuring the final appearances of James Murray as Ch. Supt. Houseman and Jack Riddiford as DC Darren Craig. Due to a scheduling conflict in the UK, the episode was moved to late on in Series 3, meaning some scenes had to be re-shot with the new characters for the purposes of continuity. However, on the streaming service Britbox, the original filming of this episode is shown as the Series 2's finale with the original cast including James Murray as Ch. Supt. Houseman.

Series 4 (2024)

 * Series 4 was scheduled to air on ITV1 in April 2024 but it has been delayed due to scheduling conflicts. Series 4 will air on 21 July 2024.

Home media and streaming
The first three series have been released onto Region 2 DVD in the UK. Further releases have taken place of the first, second and third series in France and Germany.

Streaming
The first three series are available for streaming in the US and Australia through the BritBox service. The fourth series started streaming weekly in Australia and the US on 23 May 2024.