Department Q is one of Netflix’s latest hits despite briefly vanishing from the streaming giant after its premiere. The crime thriller series debuted on May 29, 2025, and it features an almost entirely Scottish and English cast.
“After a shooting that leaves a young pc dead and his partner paralyzed, Morck finds himself exiled to the basement and the sole member of Department Q, a newly formed cold case unit,” the show’s synopsis reads. “The department is a PR stunt, there to distract the public from the failures of an under-resourced, failing police force that is glad to see the back of him. But more by accident than design, Carl starts to build a gang of waifs and strays who have everything to prove. So, when the stone-cold trail of a prominent civil servant who disappeared several years ago starts to heat up, Carl is back doing what he does best — rattling cages and refusing to take no for an answer.”
Below, meet the cast of Department Q and get to know each of the main actors.
Matthew Goode — Carl Morck
The show focuses DCI Carl Morck, “a brilliant cop but a terrible colleague,” the show’s synopsis reads. “His razor-sharp sarcasm has made him no friends in Edinburgh police.”
Matthew has also been seen in Match Point, Imagine Me and You, Copying Beethoven, Brideshead Revisited, Watchmen and, most recently, Abigail.
Kelly Macdonald — Dr. Rachel Irving
Kelly is a Scottish actress who has been seen in a variety of films, including Trainspotting, No Country for Old Men, Elizabeth, Gosford Park, Intermission, Nanny McPhee, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Anna Karenina.
Chloe Pirrie — Merritt Lingard
Chloe, a Scotland native, is known for her appearances in projects such as The Game, Shell, An Inspector Calls and War & Peace.
Alexej Manvelov — Akram Salim
Before Department Q, Alexej was see in A Day and a Half, Jack Ryan and The Contractor.
Leah Byrne — Rose
Before landing the role of detective constable Rose in Department Q, Leah was seen in Deadwater Fell, Call the Midwife and Nightsleeper.
