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Bloodlands: Who’s in the cast of Jed Mercurio’s new BBC One thriller?

All the stars of the new Ireland-set crime drama

Louis Chilton
Thursday 18 February 2021 09:14 GMT
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Bloodlands trailer

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The hotly anticipated new thriller Bloodlands premieres on BBC One this Sunday (21 February).

With Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio attached as an executive producer, the series promises to be a tense cat-and-mouse crime drama about a police detective pursuing his wife’s killer.

Here’s a rundown of the series’ cast, which includes some familiar names from British TV.

Playing the lead character of DI Tom Brannick is James Nesbitt, the Irish actor best known for his role in Cold Feet. Nesbitt has also featured in series including Murphy’s Law and The Missing.

Lisa Dwan (Top Boy; Oliver Twist) plays Tori Matthews, a benevolent doctor who teaches Brannick’s daughter at Queen’s University, and to whom Brannick turns for medical expertise in his pursuit of the killer known only as Goliath.

Read more: Why our hunger for true crime stories is getting stronger

Lorcan Cranitch (Parnell and the Englishwoman; Cracker) plays Brannick’s boss, police stalwart Jackie Twomey.

Brannick’s partner in the series is detective sergeant Niamh McGovern, a tough and inquisitive police officer who joins in the hunt for Goliath. McGovern is played by Charlene McKenna, the Irish actor best known in the UK for her roles in Being Human, and has appeared in Merlin, Misfits and Ripper Street.

Ian McElhinney, the actor known for playing Barristan Selmy in Game of Thrones and Granda Joe in Derry Girls, appears as the brother of one of Goliath’s victims.

Charlene McKenna and Christopher Walley in Bloodlands
Charlene McKenna and Christopher Walley in Bloodlands (BBC / HTM Televison /Steffan Hill )

Lola Petticrew (Come Home; My Left Nut) stars as Brannick’s daughter, Izzy, and Christopher Walley (The Young Offenders; 1917) plays “Birdy”, a fellow investigator on the case.

Michael Smiley (Luther; Black Mirror) also appears in the series as a character named Dinger, while Susan Lynch (Ready Player One; Happy Valley) plays Heather Pentland.

Bloodlands begins on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday, 21 February.

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