{"id":489050,"date":"2026-06-08T13:54:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/489050\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T13:54:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:54:22","slug":"a-shetland-rival-irvine-welshs-crime-is-itvs-exceptionally-engaging-detective-drama-to-binge-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/489050\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA Shetland rival\u201d: Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime is ITV\u2019s \u201cexceptionally engaging\u201d detective drama to binge tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

No matter how hard they try, some of the best detective dramas<\/a> never quite get the fanfare they deserve – and one of them is Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime. The ITV drama is the titular Trainspotting author\u2019s first TV project, which sees Dougray Scott bring the bruised detective, Detective Ray Lennox, to life and, in our opinion, it\u2019s so exceptionally engaging it\u2019s good enough to rival Shetland<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The detective drama, which takes us to Scotland\u2019s capital, consists of two very compelling series and begins with Lennox investigating the disappearance of young girl. It\u2019s a gritty, complex case, which is made all the more challenging by Lennox\u2019s personal struggles with addiction and childhood trauma. Featuring a gritty backdrop and fantastic lead performances from Scott and John Simm, the latter of whom plays Lennox’s nemesis, it\u2019s the kind of series weeknights were made for.<\/p>\n

With two series of Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime available to stream on ITV tonight, here\u2019s everything you need to know about the detective drama before you tune in, including the plot, cast and how to watch it.<\/p>\n

What is Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime about?\"crime(c)<\/p>\n

Britbox<\/p>\n

Adapted from Irvine Welsh\u2019s 2008 novel of the same name, the series takes us to Edinburgh where Detective Ray Lennox (Dougray Scott) is investigating the abduction and murder of a young girl, Britney Hamil, at the hands of a serial killer known as Mr. Confectioner. Lennox isn\u2019t your average detective; he\u2019s not content with simply solving crimes, he wants to root out evil wherever he senses it and his obsession with doing so means he alienates most people around him. <\/p>\n

The case of Mr. Confectioner pushes him to the brink as he resolves to prove his case that Britney was murdered by the serial killer, who was also responsible for previous crimes pinned on an innocent man. When the detective and the killer come face to face, it\u2019s Mr. Confectioner who has the upper hand as he senses correctly that Detective Lennox is struggling with a private turmoil. <\/p>\n

\"buccaneer<\/p>\n

Britbox<\/p>\n

As the serial killer turns the tables and Lennox is forced to look deep inside himself, he finds himself in a spiral from which he may not emerge. The question is, is Lennox able to face his demons, prove the truth and triumph over Mr. Confectioner in the process? Expect an intense yet brilliantly compelling journey to find out. <\/p>\n

No spoilers, but a second series, which premiered in 2023, revisits Lennox after he\u2019s covered from the toll of his last investigation. But when a high-ranking member of the establishment is found dead in a Leith warehouse, he\u2019s thrown into a case which quickly reveals itself as the work of a serial killer. And as victims mount up, it seems the murders are anything but random – it\u2019s the work of a solitary killer with an axe to grind. <\/p>\n

\"buccaneer<\/p>\n

Britbox<\/p>\n

Explaining Lennox\u2019s background, Dougray Scott told ITV: \u201cI think you would call him some sort of very rough, fragile, avenging angel who is determined to give a voice to those people who don’t have a voice in society, and to protect the vulnerable. Stuff happened to him as a kid and so he went into becoming a copper because he felt that was the best way to avenge what happened to him as a child. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes him a great copper also makes him a bad copper: he’s impetuous, he works off the cuff, he works on instinct. He’s left field – he\u2019ll go down alleyways that no one else will go down in order to try and find the solution or the answer. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t work. But he’s passionate, deeply passionate about what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s in the cast of Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime? \"buccaneer<\/p>\n

Britbox<\/p>\n

The cast of Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime includes:<\/p>\n

Dougray Scott (My Oxford Year) as DI Ray LennoxJoanna Vanderham (The Paradise<\/a>) as DS Amanda DrummondAngela Griffin (Waterloo Road) as Trudi LoveJamie Sives (Guilt<\/a>) as DI Dougie GillmanKen Stott (Rebus)as Chief Superintendent Bob ToalJohn Simm (Grace<\/a>) as Gareth HorsboroughMichael Abubakar (Trust Me) as DC Stuart McCorkelGordon Kennedy (The Borderlands) as DI Eddie RogersDerek Riddell (Payback<\/a>) as Richie GulliverJonathan Kerrigan (In the Club) as Mark McKendrickStuart Martin (In Flight) as Stuart LennoxEllie Haddington (Motherland) as Avril LennoxEwan Stewart (The Advocates) as John LennoxLaura Fraser (Mint) as Sally HartIs there a trailer for Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime?<\/p>\n

Yes, you can watch the trailer for Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime below. <\/p>\n

Is Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime any good? \"buccaneer<\/p>\n

Britbox<\/p>\n

Yes – while we\u2019re used to seeing the whole troubled detective meets complex mystery thing on TV, what makes Irwine Welsh\u2019s Crime stand out is the fact that is deals with very real – and traumatic – themes that real-life police are facing every day. It doesn\u2019t feel fictionalised or far-fetched as we watch Lennox\u2019s past trauma resurface and him spiral as a result. It\u2019s not, we should add, the easiest watch given it deals with themes such as addiction, abuse and childhood trauma, but it is brilliantly executed and, as a result, it\u2019s likely to stay with you for several days (months even) after you\u2019ve watched it. <\/p>\n

How can I watch Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime?<\/p>\n

Both series of Irvine Welsh\u2019s Crime are available to watch now on ITVX<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What other detective dramas can I watch now? \"case<\/p>\n

UKTV<\/p>\n

If you like the idea of a compelling setting, emotional mysteries and a troubled but compassionate detective, we\u2019d highly recommend Case Histories<\/a>. The series enters us into the world of Jackson Brodie (Jason Isaacs) who\u2019s drawn into the lives those who want to understand mysteries from the past \u2013 and he can\u2019t help but come to their rescue. You can watch Case Histories now on U<\/a>. Another exceptionally good series is Chasing Shadows<\/a>. DS Sean Stone (Reece Shearsmith) and his professional partner Ruth Hattersley (Alex Kingston) track down serial killers targeting vulnerable people and their investigations take them to some very dark places. Chasing Shadows is available to watch now on ITVX<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No matter how hard they try, some of the best detective dramas never quite get the fanfare they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,210145,282],"class_list":["post-489050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irvine-welsh","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}