If ever there was a reason to get the kids in bed early or the baby to sleep, the return of Nicola Walker in BBC One crime drama Annika is just that.
The much-loved actress, last starred in Hertfordshire-filmed BBC comedy Marriage, but it received mixed reviews and prior to that she starred in Unforgotten but was written out of season five and also the sixth series.
But Nicola has returned to her crime drama roots, playing the lead role of DI Annika Strandhed in the six-part Scottish TV series which is based on the BBC Radio 4 drama Annika Stranded.
The story is centred on Annika Strandhed, a Detective Inspector in the Scottish police, who recently transferred to the Glasgow-based Marine Homicide Unit (MHU). She brings her teenage daughter with her. And fans will see how Annika's relationship with her daughter develops across all the episodes.
And while some fans are struggling to get their heads around the different style of filming, which often sees Nicola break through the fourth wall to communicate directly with the audience about the current case and personal matters, others have been drawn into the drama.
One fan criticised, "I love and adore Nicola Walker but the first ep was a hard watch. The other actors around her are awful and the 'to camera' bits of it just don't work for me.... Such a shame but I can't watch another episode already. Sorry Nicola you are better than this."
While another praising Nicola's work, "Absolutely love Nicola Walker. Annika is a noir influenced police procedural but better as Nicola breaks the 4th wall."
As we look at all you need to know about the new show...
Where was Annika filmed in Scotland?
Annika was filmed in Glasgow Scotland. Filming started back in 2020 and wrapped in April 2021 and saw the cast out on locations primarily in Glasgow, on the River Clyde, as well as in towns in Argyll. The Beacon Arts Centre served as the homicide unit's base, and DI Strandhed's home was located on the banks of Loch Lomond.
Meanwhile, the original radio series Annika Stranded was set in Oslo.
And as Season one aired on Alibi in 2021, a second season has already been confirmed and filming underway, with the shows due to be aired later this year.
Speaking about playing Annika, Nicola said in a recent interview, "As everyone knows, I've played a lot of detectives over the years. But I've been Annika a long time now, and if there was a chance of getting her fully fleshed out in a real-world environment, I wanted to be part of it. I was very keen to see how she worked transposed to life in Scotland."
And on the controversial method of speaking to the camera, Nicola admits she first found it challenging, she told Alibi, "On the first day, I kept stopping and laughing. It felt so wrong. But by the end, I was so into it, I was flicking looks at the camera all the time. I'm very worried about my next job now - "why does she keep looking down the lens?" It might have ruined me for the future!"
What channel is Annika on in the UK?
Annika is on BBC One on Saturdays at 9.15pm and all six episodes are available on BBC iPlayer. Viewers can also stream on Sky Go and NOW. It is also available to watch on the Alibi channel on UKTV on Tuesdays at 9pm.
Annika episode guide:
- Episode 1 - On her first day in the new role, Annika and the team are called in to solve the murder of a man found in the Clyde, a harpoon piercing his head.
- Episode 2 - When a body is found on a boat in the Clyde, the case takes the team to the Isle of Bute. Evidence points to a jilted lover, but as the team investigate, a darker secret starts to emerge.
- Episode 3 - When the body of a scientist is found in Loch Katrine, Annika is reminded of Ibsen's Enemy of the People. With so many people wanting him dead, which one was pushed over the edge?
- Episode 4 - The team is called in when writer Cara Gibson is found dead under a bridge. Her books left a lot of lives in tatters, but which of these people would be driven to murder?
- Episode 5 - Annika and the team are tasked with solving the death of a popular man who was thrown in the river from a party boat.
- Episode 6 - The murder of a young woman in Glasgow hits the team hard when Michael's brother is named as the next of kin. Michael is taken off the case while his brother is investigated.
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