Another three novels by P.D. James will be adapted for the season in two-hour episodes each, in which Commander Dalgliesh is seen with Margaret Thatcher on the eve of power in the United Kingdom.
In the first book, Death in Holy Orders, Dalgliesh travels to a remote seminary overlooking a windswept lake, where a body has been found gruesomely murdered. Nearly everyone in the seminary has reason to despise the victim, and Dalgliesh and Detective Tarrant must unravel a complicated series of motives to find the killer.
In the second part, Cover Her Face, Dalgliesh investigates a murder at the Essex home of the Mehtas, a staggeringly wealthy family with connections to the British government. With the help of local detective Clive Roscoe, Dalgliesh builds a picture of the events in the weeks leading up to the crime, facing a blanket of secrecy among his protected suspects.
In the third part, Devices and Desires, Dalgliesh is sent on an urgent mission to investigate a terrorist plot against a nuclear power station on the Kent coast. He is soon drawn into a complex and highly charged hunt for a serial killer, once again teaming up with his former colleague Kate Miskin, now an acting DCI.
Carlyss Peer and Alistair Brammer both return to the series with guest stars including Anton Lesser, Lloyd Owen, Claire Goose, Liz White, Adam James, Richard Lintern, Ellora Torchia, Parth Thakerar, Soni Razdan and Josie Walker.
Screenwriter and playwright Helen Edmundson returns as head writer and executive producer, with Colette Kane writing Death In Holy Orders and Kam Odedra writing Cover Her Face.
Carvel directs Cover Her Face, Geoff Sax returns to direct Death In Holy Orders and Roger Goldby directs Devices and Desires. Leon McGeown-Fee will produce the series with Elaine Pyke, Willow Grylls and Bertie Carvel serving as executive producers for New Pictures. Additional funding comes from Northern Ireland Screen.
“I’m thrilled to return to Dalgliesh; this time behind, as well as in front of, the camera, directing a bold adaptation of PD James’ first ever Dalgliesh novel, Cover Her Face,” said Carvel. “It’s a story with powerful and unsettling contemporary resonance and it’s my privilege to direct an exemplary ensemble cast who are giving knockout performances.”
