Dejected Detective

Tom Riley plays a bereaved cop in a harrowing crime thriller

- Caren Clark

Troubled cops aren’t exactly new in TV crime dramas, but Dark Heart’s DI Will ‘Staffe’ Wagstaffe, played by Tom Riley, is contending with more disturbing baggage than most.

The six-part series, penned by Unforgotten’s Chris Lang, follows the talented but tortured London cop as he deals with a range of demanding cases, while also living under the shadow of his parents’ unsolved murder when he was a teenager.

‘It’s as much about Staffe’s personal journey as the cases,’ explains Riley. ‘His parents’ murder is an ongoing mystery.