Netflix Reveals “Format-Bending” Police Procedural

Netflix is doing a police procedural set exclusively within the confines of a police interview suite, with 12 stories set in four different countries.

The drama will focus on the intense mental conflict between the police officer and the suspect in question. George Kay (Killing Eve, The Hour) and Jim Field Smith (Endeavour, The Wrong Mans) are showrunners.

The four countries are France, Spain, Germany and the U.K., and the episodes will be in the local language, written and directed by talent from their respective countries.

For the U.K., the team comprises Kay (writer, co-creator and executive producer) and Smith (director, co-creator and executive producer). For France, the team is Frederic Mermoud (writer, director and co-executive producer) who worked on Spiral and The Returned; Antonin Martin-Hilbert (writer) whose credits include Nina and Black Spot; and Mathieu Missoffe (writer) of Black Spot and Profilage. The German team features Oliver Hirschbiegel (director and co-executive producer) who worked on Four Blocks and Downfall; Bernd Lange (writer) who worked on Das Verschwinden; and Sebastian Heeg (co-writer) whose credits include Blaumacher. In Spain, the team is Mariano Barroso (director and co-executive producer) of El día de mañana, Todas las mujeres and Éxtasis; Alejandro Hernández (writer) with credits such as El autor and El día de mañana; and Manuel Martín Cuenca (writer) who worked on El autor and Caníbal.

All 12 episodes of Criminal will film at Netflix’s production hub at Ciudad de la Tele in Madrid. An Idiotlamp Production for Netflix, the 12×45-minute series will dedicate three episodes per country.