{"id":597272,"date":"2026-05-22T02:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T02:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/597272\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T02:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T02:38:11","slug":"brilliant-welsh-set-detective-drama-thats-as-cosy-as-crime-drama-gets-climbs-uk-streaming-chart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/597272\/","title":{"rendered":"Brilliant Welsh-set detective drama that’s “as cosy as crime drama gets” climbs UK streaming chart"},"content":{"rendered":"

BBC detective drama Death Valley has climbed up the iPlayer streaming chart days after its return. The brilliant Welsh-set series premiered its second season over the weekend, heralding the return of Timothy Spall’s John Chapel and Gwyneth Keyworth’s Janie Mallowan.<\/p>\n

Since its comeback, the show has proved successful on the streamer, currently sitting at the number eight spot in the 10 most popular shows list.<\/p>\n

Death Valley follows retired actor Chapel as he forms an unlikely detective duo with police officer Mallowan, with the second season seeing the latter promoted to Detective Inspector while she ignores the fact that Chapel has been dating her mother.<\/p>\n

\"gwyneth<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

However, she is forced to bring Chapel “in as the department’s consultant”, while Chapel “reluctantly re-enter the world of acting, on the set of an epic Welsh fantasy TV series” when the duo “are called to investigate a murder”.<\/p>\n

Alongside Spall and Keyworth, the show also stars Steffan Rhodri, Alexandria Riley and Rithvik Andugula, while season two guest stars include Jane Horrocks, Hammed Animashaun, Alexandra Roach, Roisin Conaty and Mark Lewis Jones.<\/p>\n

In Digital Spy<\/a>‘s review of the new season, we said the series “continues to blend humour, heart and mystery into a beautiful melody that simply sings to its audience”.<\/p>\n

“While it may fit into the formulaic rhythm of the genre, the subtle twist at the end is more nuanced than you think, proving [creator Paul] Doolan can still bring some freshness to the game,” we added.<\/p>\n

\"hammed<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

The Guardian<\/a> called the show “as cosy as crime drama gets”, adding: “Its body count challenges that of The Sopranos, but in its soothing episodic rhythms and Welsh valley quaintness, it remains as comfortable and predictable as Christmas.”<\/p>\n

Radio Times<\/a> further suggested it was “proper comfort-blanket viewing, elevated by the presence of Spall, whose performance ensures it never drifts into background noise”.<\/p>\n

Death Valley seasons 1-2 are streaming now on BBC iPlayer. The show broadcasts on BBC One.<\/p>\n

Visit our Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, a collector’s edition exploring the royal family, is here! Buy The Royals in newsagents or online<\/a>.
<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies<\/a>, TV<\/a> and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME<\/a> and Screen International<\/a>. \u00a0Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings<\/a> to Love Is Blind<\/a>, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BBC detective drama Death Valley has climbed up the iPlayer streaming chart days after its return. The brilliant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[147950,379,204104,381,96,190731,1156,204103,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-597272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-2952c7f4-63ee-4df4-9ae1-c057ab5eb992","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-brilliant-welsh-set-detective-drama-climbs-uk-streaming","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}