Criminal Record Review: A Moody British Thriller That Grabs You, Even When It Feels Familiar
Apple TV+’s Criminal Record opens with the kind of scene British crime dramas love: a desperate phone call, a dark secret, and a detective who cannot let it go.
It is raining, of course. It almost has to be. A mysterious woman calls 999 and claims she has been attacked by her boyfriend. Then she drops the real bombshell. Her boyfriend once killed another woman, but another man was convicted for the crime and is now serving a long prison sentence.
That single anonymous call becomes the spark for a tense investigation led by DS June Lenker, played by Cush Jumbo, who quickly finds herself looking into the old conviction of Errol Mathis. Mathis was jailed for the 2012 murder of Adelaide Burrowes, and the case was originally handled by DCI Daniel Hegarty, played by Peter Capaldi.
From there, Criminal Record becomes less of a simple “was the wrong man jailed?” story and more of a power struggle between two detectives who represent very different ideas of justice, loyalty, and truth.
And yes, that is both the show’s biggest strength and its biggest problem.
Season 1: One Phone Call, Two Detectives, and a Whole Lot of Suspicion
The first season of Criminal Record wastes no time building tension. June Lenker hears the anonymous 999 call and senses something is off. The woman is frightened, wounded, and careful with her words. She does not name her boyfriend, but what she says is enough to suggest that an old murder case may have gone terribly wrong.
June’s digging leads her to Errol Mathis, a man convicted of killing Adelaide Burrowes in 2012. If the caller is telling the truth, then Mathis may have spent years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
That would be explosive on its own. But the show adds another layer by putting June directly in the path of DCI Daniel Hegarty, the officer who helped put Mathis away.
Hegarty is not introduced as some cartoon villain twirling his mustache in a shadowy office. Instead, he is tired, sharp, guarded, and quietly intimidating. The opening glimpse of him moonlighting as a chauffeur immediately tells us something is not right in his life. He looks unhappy, maybe even trapped. Then June arrives with questions about his old case, and he becomes even more uncomfortable.
Peter Capaldi is excellent at playing men who seem calm on the surface but carry entire storms behind their eyes. Here, he gives Hegarty a cold, weary menace. You can feel him calculating every sentence before he says it.
Cush Jumbo is equally strong as June. She gives the character a mix of professional discipline and personal fire. June is not reckless, but she is not easily intimidated either. When Hegarty casually dismisses Errol Mathis and the possibility of a wrongful conviction, June sees more than defensiveness. She sees prejudice. She sees institutional arrogance. She sees, possibly, racism dressed up as procedure.
That is where Criminal Record starts to find its identity.
A Familiar Crime Drama, But With Strong Performances
The challenge with Criminal Record is that it does feel familiar.
If you have watched enough British crime dramas, you have seen parts of this before. A buried case. A younger detective pushing against an older authority figure. Police politics. Institutional rot. A possible miscarriage of justice. Moody lighting. Everyone looking like they badly need sleep and a proper cup of tea.
Shows like Broadchurch, Marcella, No Offence, and Suspicion have all played in similar territory. That does not mean Criminal Record is bad. It just means the show has to work harder to stand out.
The first episode does not completely escape that problem. There are moments where the setup drags a little. The middle section lingers in familiar procedural territory, and some viewers may feel like they are waiting for the show to reveal what makes it truly different.
But when it focuses on June and Hegarty, it becomes much sharper.
Their scenes have a quiet electricity. This is not a loud, action-heavy thriller. It is more psychological. The tension comes from what people are hiding, what they refuse to say, and what they think they can get away with.
It is like watching two people play chess, except the board is on fire and one of them may have helped ruin an innocent man’s life.
Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo Carry the Show
The smartest decision Criminal Record makes is casting Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo opposite each other.
Capaldi brings weight to Hegarty. He plays him as a man who has survived too long inside a system that rewards silence. There is menace in him, but also exhaustion. That makes him more interesting than a simple corrupt cop stereotype.
Jumbo, meanwhile, gives June a strong moral center without making her feel naïve. June knows how the job works. She knows how departments protect themselves. But she also understands that “that’s how things are done” is often the most dangerous sentence in policing.
Together, they create a hostile relationship that feels more compelling than the mystery itself at times. The question is not only whether Errol Mathis was wrongly convicted. It is also whether June can survive the professional pressure of challenging someone like Hegarty.
That workplace struggle gives the show extra bite. Criminal Record is not only about crime. It is about power. Who has it. Who abuses it. Who gets protected. Who gets erased.
Season 1 Verdict: Slow-Burn, Sinister, and Worth Watching
Criminal Record
Season 1
In the heart of London, an anonymous phone call draws two brilliant detectives—a young woman in the early stages of her career and a well-connected man determined to protect his legacy—into a fight to correct an old miscarriage of justice.
Season 1 begins with promise. It aims to be sinister and unpredictable, and while the first episode is not perfect, it has enough atmosphere and performance power to keep you invested.
The slow-burn approach works most of the time. The opening phone call is gripping, the central mystery is strong, and the June-Hegarty conflict has serious potential. The show is at its best when it stops trying to be another standard police drama and leans into the psychological battle between its leads.
The main concern is originality. Criminal Record has the cast, production quality, and Apple TV+ backing to become a breakout crime thriller. But the early episodes sometimes feel like they are walking down a very familiar alley.
A dangerous alley, yes. A beautifully lit alley, definitely. But still an alley we have walked through before.
Even so, the first season is good enough to recommend, especially for fans of moody British detective dramas.
Season 2: Still Watchable, But Not As Thrilling As Expected
Criminal Record
Season 2
In season two, when a young man is stabbed to death at a political rally, rival police officers June Lenker and Daniel Hegarty are forced into an uneasy alliance. But what starts as a hunt for a murderer escalates into an undercover operation to foil a far-right bomb plot in the heart of London.
Going into Criminal Record Season 2, expectations were naturally higher. Season 1 had built enough tension, character conflict, and moral ambiguity to suggest the show could become something truly gripping.
Unfortunately, Season 2 starts on a more uneven note.
The biggest issue is that the story feels a little too typical. For a series that wants to be tense and unpredictable, some of the plotting comes across as familiar. Modern crime dramas often fall into repeated patterns, and Season 2 does not fully avoid that trap.
There is also a sense that the show is leaning into themes we have seen many times before: powerful people hiding the truth, victims being ignored, race and class shaping justice, and institutions protecting themselves before protecting the innocent. These are important themes, but they need sharp writing to feel fresh. When handled too predictably, they can start to feel like boxes being checked.
That is where Season 2 becomes a bit frustrating. It is not bad. It is still watchable. The performances remain strong. The atmosphere is still there. But the early momentum does not feel as thrilling as expected.
For a crime series, “a little boring” is a dangerous place to be. A thriller can be slow, but it should never feel sleepy.
What Still Works
Even when Criminal Record struggles with familiar storylines, it still has clear strengths.
The acting remains the biggest reason to keep watching. Capaldi and Jumbo bring more depth to the material than a weaker cast could. Even a simple exchange between June and Hegarty can feel loaded with history, suspicion, and buried anger.
The tone also works. The show knows how to create unease. It is not flashy, but it is atmospheric. The city feels cold and tense. The police world feels political and suffocating. Every conversation feels like someone is withholding at least half the truth.
That mood is one of the reasons the series remains compelling even when the plot slows down.
There is also still potential in the broader conflict. June and Hegarty are not just solving cases. They are fighting over memory, guilt, reputation, and control. That makes the show more interesting than a basic whodunit.
What Does Not Work
The pacing is the main weakness.
Some sections take too long to get moving. Slow-burn crime drama can be excellent, but only when every quiet moment adds pressure. At times, Criminal Record feels like it is setting the table for too long before serving the meal. By the time something major happens, some viewers may already be checking how many minutes are left.
The second issue is predictability. The show wants to feel sinister and layered, but some of the story beats feel familiar from other British crime dramas. That does not ruin the series, but it does stop it from feeling like essential viewing.
The third issue is that the show sometimes depends too heavily on atmosphere. Mood is important, but mood cannot do all the heavy lifting. Even the best gloomy lighting cannot replace a shocking twist or a truly fresh character turn.
As the old saying almost goes: you can rain on a detective all you want, but eventually someone has to solve something.
Final Verdict: Is Criminal Record Worth Watching?
Yes, Criminal Record is worth watching, especially if you enjoy British crime thrillers with strong performances, moral tension, and a slow-burn mystery.
Season 1 is the stronger introduction. It begins with a gripping anonymous call and builds into a tense clash between June Lenker and Daniel Hegarty. The show may not completely reinvent the crime drama formula, but it has enough style, intelligence, and acting power to keep you hooked.
Season 2 is more mixed. It is still watchable, but it does not immediately deliver the level of suspense some viewers may expect. The storylines feel more typical, and the pacing can drag. Still, the cast keeps it alive, and there is enough potential for future episodes to change the overall impression.
Rating: 7/10
Criminal Record is not a perfect crime thriller, and it may not become the breakout Apple TV+ hit it had the potential to be. But when it focuses on its central power struggle, it becomes dark, tense, and genuinely engaging.
One anonymous call starts the whole thing. The real hook is watching what everyone does to bury or expose the truth after it.
