Blackmere

A Grim Detective Story With a Crooked Smile

Blackmere is Charlie Brooker's four-part crime thriller, except Netflix describes it as an absurd comedy wearing a deadly serious disguise. Paddy Considine plays John Blackmere, a tormented detective whose name fits the rain-soaked world around him almost too perfectly.

From Bleakford to a London Killing Spree

Blackmere leaves the northern city of Bleakford after his partner's death and heads to London for revenge. His target is a ritualistic serial killer, and the investigation becomes a race to stop the body count. The official description promises blood, frowning and the kind of straight-faced bleakness that gives Brooker room to make the absurdity land.

A Cast Built for Deadpan Darkness

Considine is joined by Georgina Campbell, Lena Headey and Rory Kinnear. Kinnear's arrival also creates a playful link to Brooker's better-known Black Mirror, though Blackmere is a separate story with its own detective lead and crime-thriller shape.

Four Episodes, One Very Serious Joke

Brooker created and wrote the series with Ben Caudell, Jason Hazeley, Emer Kenny, Daniel Maier and Joel Morris, with Al Campbell directing. The compact run should suit a mystery that wants to maintain tension while quietly exposing how strange its hard-boiled conventions can become.