Strike (TV series)

Strike (also known as C. B. Strike internationally) is a British crime drama television programme based on the book series Cormoran Strike by J. K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The programme was first broadcast on BBC One on 27 August 2017, after receiving an advance premiere at the British Film Institute on 10 August 2017.

The programme follows Cormoran Strike (Tom Burke), a war veteran turned private detective operating out of a tiny office in London's Denmark Street, who uses his unique insight and his background as a Special Investigation Branch investigator to solve complex cases that have eluded the police along with his assistant, subsequently business partner, Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger).

Fifteen episodes across five series have been broadcast to date, each series adapting the novels The Cuckoo's Calling (2013), The Silkworm (2014), Career of Evil (2015), Lethal White (2018), and Troubled Blood (2020), respectively. A sixth series, based on The Ink Black Heart (2022), began shooting in February 2024.

The programme premiered on 1 June 2018 in the United States on Cinemax and in Canada on HBO Canada. Following the fourth series, the programme was exhibited in the United States on HBO.

Main cast

 * Tom Burke as Cormoran Blue Strike
 * Holliday Grainger as Robin Venetia Ellacott

Recurring cast

 * Kerr Logan as Matthew Cunliffe
 * Ben Crompton as "Shanker"
 * Natasha O'Keeffe as Charlotte Campbell
 * Killian Scott as DI Eric Wardle
 * Ann Akin as Vanessa Ekwensi
 * Sargon Yelda as DI Richard Anstis
 * Caitlin Innes Edwards as Ilsa Herbert
 * Jack Greenlees as Sam Barclay
 * Sarah Sweeney as Lucy

S1: The Cuckoo's Calling

 * Siân Phillips as Lady Yvette Bristow
 * Martin Shaw as Tony Landry
 * David Avery as Nico Kolovas-Jones
 * Leo Bill as John Bristow
 * Tara Fitzgerald as Tansy Bestigui
 * Amber Anderson as Ciara Porter
 * Kadiff Kirwan as Guy Somé
 * Bronson Webb as Evan Duffield
 * Elarica Johnson as Lula Landry
 * Brian Bovell as Derrick Wilson

S2: The Silkworm

 * Dorothy Atkinson as Kathryn Kent
 * Monica Dolan as Leonora Quine
 * Dominic Mafham as Jerry Waldegrave
 * Tim McInnerny as Daniel Chard
 * Peter Sullivan as Andrew Fancourt
 * Jeremy Swift as Owen Quine
 * Lia Williams as Liz Tassel
 * Sarah Gordy as Orlando Quine

S3: Career of Evil

 * Andrew Brooke as Niall Brockbank
 * Emmanuella Cole as Alyssa
 * Jessica Gunning as Holly Brockbank
 * Matt King as Jeff Whittaker
 * Neil Maskell as Donald Laing
 * Kierston Wareing as Leda Strike

S4: Lethal White

 * Nick Blood as Jimmy Knight
 * Robert Glenister as Jasper Chiswell
 * Joseph Quinn as Billy Knight
 * Sophie Winkleman as Kinvara Chiswell
 * Christina Cole as Izzy Chiswell
 * Adam Long as Raff Chiswell
 * Natalie Gumede as Lorelei Bevan
 * Saffron Coomber as Flick Pardue
 * Danny Ashok as Aamir Malik
 * Robert Pugh as Geraint Winn

S5: Troubled Blood

 * Jonas Armstrong as Saul Morris
 * Linda Bassett as Joan Nancarrow
 * Fionnula Flanagan as Oonagh Kennedy
 * Sutara Gayle as Kim Sullivan
 * Abigail Lawrie as Margot Bamborough
 * Ian Redford as Ted Nancarrow
 * Ruth Sheen as Pat Chauncey
 * Andy de la Tour as Nico 'Mucky' Ricci
 * Sophie Ward as Anna Phipps
 * Kierston Wareing as Leda Strike
 * Michael Byrne as Roy Phipps
 * Anna Calder-Marshall as Janice Beattie
 * Cherie Lunghi as Gloria Conti
 * Carol MacReady as Irene Hickson
 * Madhav Sharma as Dr Dinesh Gupta
 * Samuel Oatley as DI George Layborn
 * Kenneth Cranham as Dennis Creed
 * Robin Askwith as Steve Douthwaite
 * Christina Cole as Izzy Chiswell

S6: The Ink Black Heart

 * David Westhead
 * Christian McKay
 * Emma Fielding
 * James Nelson-Joyce

Production and development
On 10 December 2014, it was announced that the Cormoran Strike novel series, written by J. K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, would be adapted for television by the BBC, for broadcast on BBC One, beginning with The Cuckoo's Calling. Two years later, it was confirmed that the series would total seven episodes of sixty minutes, with shooting to begin in London in the autumn of 2016. Tom Burke was announced in the role of Cormoran Strike in September 2016, while Holliday Grainger was announced in the role of Robin Ellacott in November 2016.

Ben Richards adapted The Cuckoo's Calling, and Tom Edge adapted The Silkworm, Career of Evil, Lethal White and Troubled Blood. Richards stated that the series is "very different tonally and visually from other crime dramas." He compared Strike to the British detective television show Morse. Similarly, Edge commented that "people use old-fashioned as a pejorative word, but to me that's part of why these books, and, I hope, the TV series, works so well."

Series 1: The Cuckoo's Calling (2017)
The Cuckoo's Calling was released on DVD on 27 November 2017.

Series 2: The Silkworm (2017)
The Silkworm was released on DVD on 19 February 2018.

Series 3: Career of Evil (2018)
Career of Evil was released on DVD on 16 April 2018.

Series 4: Lethal White (2020)
Lethal White was released on DVD on 23 November 2020.

Reception
The Cuckoo's Calling received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an approval rating of 85%, based on 20 reviews, and an average score of 6.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads "The TV adaptation of C. B. Strike delivers an entertaining detective series that faithfully and effectively adheres to genre tropes." Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy, who reviewed the first episode, praised both Burke and Grainger's performances, calling Burke's performance "a revelation".

Similarly, the adaptation of The Silkworm was met with positive reviews, with critics again praising Burke and Grainger's performances. However, the first episode was criticised for showing a suicide scene on World Suicide Prevention Day, making some viewers claim that this scene was insensitive.

Career of Evil holds an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 8 reviews, and an average score of 7/10.

Lethal White holds a 73% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews, and an average score of 5.6/10.