Instinct, the star-studded police procedural starring Alan Cumming, has topped the UK chart on one streaming service. With a devilish narrative and stacked cast, it’s easy to see why this has proved to be a hit.
Cumming portrays Dr Dylan Reinhart, a university professor who is drawn back into the world of criminal investigation after NYPD homicide detective Lizzie Needham (Bojana Novakovic) enlists his help to catch a serial killer.
The synopsis for the series, which is based on the work of James Patterson, reads: “Dr Dylan Reinhart is a gifted author and university professor living a quiet life teaching psychopathic behaviour to packed classes of adoring students.
“But when tenacious top NYPD detective Lizzie Needham appeals to him to help her catch a serial murderer who is using Dylan’s first book as a tutorial, Dylan is compelled by the case and comes out of retirement.”
Joining Cumming and Novakovic in the impressive cast are Daniel Ings, Michael B Silver, Danny Mastrogiorgio, Sharon Leal, Naveen Andrews, Travis Van Winkle and Whoopi Goldberg, with the latter appearing in a recurring role.
James Dimmock//CBS
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After airing for two seasons in 2018 and 2019, all 24 episodes are now available to stream for free in the UK on 5’s streaming service, where it has clearly impressed viewers after jumping straight to the top of the chart.
Over on IMDb, Instinct has a solid average user rating of 6.7 out of 10 from 9400 logs, with one fan calling it “excellent” and a “cut above most of the other fluff” as they awarded it a score of 8.0.
“I love this show. It is so refreshing to see characters work together so closely and know there is no chance for a romance between them,” penned another. “Alan Cumming and Bojana Novakovic are great partners. Wonderful supporting characters as well.”
CBS
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Not everyone was as taken with the show, however, with one disappointed viewer writing: “I love Alan Cumming, and anyone can see he’s doing his best, but both the writing and direction is so predictable, I wince.”
While Instinct ended in 2019 following its second season, Cumming has had several roles since then, and was recently seen in the first trailer for Brian Cox’s directorial debut, Glenrothan.
Instinct is streaming on Channel 5.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy.Â
A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.Â
In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.