Must Watch reviews: Dept. Q
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join Naga Munchetty to review Dept. Q.
Dept. Q is a Netflix crime series from Scott Frank, the writer and director of The Queen’s Gambit.
It’s set in Edinburgh and stars Matthew Goode as Carl, a former top-rated detective who is now wracked with guilt following an attack that left his partner paralysed and another policeman dead. On his return to work, Carl is assigned a new job investigating cold cases in the basement of the building.
What do the Must Watch reviewers make of it?

Naga: Scott, is it a Must Watch?
I was thinking to myself, I鈥檝e seen this all before and yet I absolutely adored it.鈥
Scott: It is for me. It’s clear that Netflix has been wanting to have a very successful detective series in the same way Slow Horses has been for Apple TV+. They’ve had various attempts, they’ve sometimes worked, sometimes failed. Of course it makes sense for Netflix because true crime is a massive genre for them, so fictional crime would also work.
“I started to watch it and I was thinking to myself, this is every convention that every normal, traditional detective series ticked. The main lead character looks like he hasn’t slept for three days, he is in therapy and absolutely loathes it, he has a very distant relationship with his son and you see him frazzled, there’s a very traumatic incident in the first episode.
“And then there’s the fact that it’s set in Edinburgh and they make it grey looking, with all of the sandstone and all of the buildings. It’s got practically every Scottish actor you can imagine, Mark Bonnar from Guilt, Kelly McDonald from Line of Duty, Shirley Henderson who played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films. I was thinking to myself, I’ve seen this all before and yet I absolutely adored it. It felt as if it wasn’t lazy in any way.
“The storyline was original and heading in a direction that I wasn’t able to predict. I thought the acting was really well done, the characters are incredibly fleshed out. I found the setting and the production quality absolutely mesmerising to watch on the screen. I wouldn’t say it's a knockout, but I would definitely say that Netflix have got a hit on their hands here.”

Naga: “Hayley?”
I think when you鈥檙e sick of stories about dismembered and abused women, this is actually quite refreshing.鈥
Hayley: “I agree. This was great. Like Scott says, it’s got a lot of the standard stuff we expect from detective shows – the buried trauma, the all consuming focus on work, also he’s a horrible person with a rubbish car.”
Scott: “The car is very bad.”
Hayley: “But I think those are only bad things if they’re no fun to watch. And it also, as you say, has that kind of Slow Horses feel. But this feels like Slow Horses in that the mystery of the crime isn’t why I’m watching it. I’m watching it to hang out with everyone. And also, like Slow Horses, it’s based on novels. These ones are by the bestselling Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen and this could basically be one of my beloved bleak, Danish shows. Edinburgh can be just as dark and miserable if you shoot it right.”
“It’s full of Scottish actors we know and love but, to me, the draw of this thing is Matthew Goode being an absolutely terrible human being. He’s so good at it. He’s been so wasted playing posh people in things like The Crown and Downton Abbey.”
Naga: “It took me a while to get that bit out of my head regarding him.”
Hayley: “Also what I loved were the nasty women in it. The police boss. The woman who’s locked in a tank. The woman who’s keeping her locked in a tank. It’s not just another story about male violence against women, it’s way more complicated. I think when you’re sick of stories about dismembered and abused women and their corpses, this is actually quite refreshing.”

Naga: “How many have you watched?”
I鈥檓 intrigued by the relationship he has with this other detective.鈥
Hayley: “I’ve watched three.”
Scott: “I’ve also watched three. And Hayley, your point about women is so, so true because that was probably the only typical convention that this show has not followed. And also a shoutout to Akram (Alexej Manvelov), the fellow detective that he works alongside, their chemistry is sublime.”
Naga: “I think, and this hasn’t happened for a while, it’s such a Must Watch. I loved this. As soon as I was watching it, I was like this is very Slow Horses. I had you in mind, Hayley, because I think, like you, I’m exhausted with murder detective series.”
Scott: “There’s one a week.”
Naga: “At least. And we watch a lot of them and they’re very formulaic. I thought the start was enough to make me sit up. That set the tone. I’ve only watched one and I really enjoyed it because I was doing a binge watch on Saturday night and, spoiler alert, I didn’t fall asleep.”
Hayley: “Well done Dept. Q!”
Scott: “You know what, that is the quote for Netflix’s promotional team, put that on the side of a bus.”

Naga: “I thought it was excellent and I was a bit worried so I’m quite encouraged. The whole thing about a woman being abused and being part of the storyline, I did kind of think ‘here we go’, so I’m really excited if that is not going to go the way I think it’s going to go.
“I’m intrigued by the relationship he has with this other detective, I think there’s a lot to go on now. I will be finishing this.”
Scott: “My only reservation is why they’ve launched this in June, this is normally a show you would have in January and November for those bleak months but maybe that’s just me.”
All episodes of Dept. Q are available to watch on Netflix now.
But before all that, why not contact Scott and Hayley with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on mustwatch@bbc.co.uk.
This week, the team reviewed ‘Cocaine Air’ and ‘The Consultant’.
As always, we like to include your reviews - on shows you love, loathe or lament.
Message @bbc5live on social media using the hashtag #bbcmustwatch or email mustwatch@bbc.co.uk.
Amie sent in a thought-provoking must watch…
I just finished watching the jury murder trial on Channel 4, after seeing it won a BAFTA.
I thought it was really interesting & thought-provoking. However I found it really scary how one large character in a jury has the ability to sway the whole group. I felt the narrative of ‘mad emotional woman’ causing victim blaming.
I remember you reviewing it but can’t recall if you thought it was a must watch, but I did!
Richard emailed in…
Just watched a fascinating true crime series on Netflix called Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders. It's about the unsolved 1982 murders in the wider Chicago area in which seven people died from cyanide poisoning after taking the medication Tylenol which had been tampered with.
It’s a case which I don't think is that well known in the UK but had far reaching consequences for pharmaceutical packaging.
And Scott and Hayley’s Must Watch choice last week has been proving popular with Nicola…
The latest podcast is still playing but I'm responding to Hayley's call to arms to write in if you've seen the latest series.
It is a MUST WATCH!!! I am loathed to say anything to do with the plot so nothing is spoiled. I have just deleted a whole bit about going in cold as Hayley has (belatedly) warned everyone.
It's deranged, awkward, hilarious and jaw dropping. Evanescence will never sound the same again.