‘Poldark’ star leads Netflix’s Whitechapel period crime drama ‘Bodies’

Netflix has a brand new British crime series on the way.

Described as “a crime procedural with a twist,” Bodies is based on Si Spencer’s mind-bending 2015 graphic novel.

The eight-part drama comes from the producers of the BBC’s recent The Pursuit of Love adaptation.

Bodies follows four detectives in four different eras of London as they find themselves investigating the murder of the same victim – an unidentified body in Whitechapel – uncovering a conspiracy spanning 150 years.

Leading the cast as the four detectives are Kyle Soller (Andor), Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (The Queen’s Gambit), Shira Haas (Unorthodox), and Amaka Okafor (The Responder).

Soller is best known for his role as Francis in Poldark, while Fortune-Lloyd can currently be seen in See How They Run.

Bodies has been adapted by screenwriter Paul Tomalin, who’s previously written episodes of The Frankenstein Chronicles, Shameless, No Offence and Torchwood.

Its various time periods include the 1890s, the 1940s, 2014 and a post-apocalyptic 2050.

The cast also boasts award-winning actor Stephen Graham from Peaky Blinders and Line of Duty.

The official synopsis for the graphic novel tells us a bit more about what to expect:

“LONDON, 1890. As Jack the Ripper stalks the streets, Inspector Edmond Hillinghead-the city’s most diligent detective-applies his skills to an even harder case. The victim is an unidentified male. The killer may have powerful allies. And Edmond’s darkest secret may be exposed if he gets too close to the truth….

“LONDON, 1940. As the Blitz rains bombs down on the city, Inspector Charles Whiteman reigns over its streets. He escaped the Nazis in Poland only to run the very rackets he’s supposed to shut down. But when he discovers a mysterious murder victim, his double life may be destroyed…

“LONDON, 2014. As racist rioters wreak havoc in the name of their prejudiced patriotism, Detective Sergeant Shahara Hasan leads the fight against them. As a Muslim cop, she’s English to the core. But the corpse she’s uncovered may reveal something rotten deep below the surface…

“LONDON, 2050. As the mind-scrambling pulsewave plagues the last survivors of a terrifying techno-apocalypse, the amnesiac young woman known only as Maplewood can barely understand the body she’s discovered. But this ritual killing is identical to those from decades past-and the link between them all is stronger, and stranger, than anyone could dream…”

The series has already been filming in the North of England over the summer, with locations including Leeds, Bradford, Grimsby and Rotherham:

Hull’s Old Town has previously been used in period dramas like Enola Holmes and The Personal History of David Copperfield.

Bodies will premiere exclusively on Netflix in 2023 and it sounds intriguing from what we know so far!

The series is not to be confused with Max Beesley’s British medical drama series of the same name, which aired from 2004 to 2006.

Si Spencer’s graphic novel Bodies is available on Amazon.