Strike returns to BBC One this weekend with its new season Troubled Blood – and one of the show’s producers has teased that viewers can expect cracks to appear in the working relationship between Cormoran (Tom Burke) and Robin (Holliday Grainger).
“There’s an element of continuation from previous seasons but in this season both go through parallel emotional journeys,” explained producer Alex Rendell. “Robin is dealing with her impending divorce, she’s also running the office while Strike is away and she’s got some new staff that she has to deal with, which is quite taxing at times.”
He continued: “Strike is dealing with his very ill aunt, so there’s an emotional squeeze on him there. His estranged father Jonny Rokeby is also trying to contact him, so there’s an emotional vice on Strike and some cracks start appearing.”
Meanwhile, Tom Edge – who has once again adapted the script from a novel by JK Rowling (published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith) – added that “there’s a lot going on” with both characters under the surface, even if their agency initially seems to be in a settled period.
He said that Robin’s divorce was “proving really taxing” and that Matthew (Kerr Logan) was “being extremely difficult and using it as an opportunity to punish her”.
Regarding Cormoran, he added: “His aunt Joan has just been diagnosed with a very aggressive and fast-moving cancer and for Strike this really begins to open some old wounds.
“He is somebody who doesn’t want to be needed by family and prefers to keeps things emotionally at an arm’s length and the diagnosis and the obligation to be close and to help out really brings to the surface some challenging questions for him.”
Strike: Troubled Blood will premiere on BBC One on Sunday 11th December, while Strike seasons 1-4 are available now on BBC iPlayer.
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