Code 404

Last updated

Code 404
Genre
Created byTom Miller
Sam Myer
Daniel Peak
Written byTom Miller
Sam Myer
Daniel Peak
Directed byAl Campbell
Starring
Music byOli Julian
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes18
Production
ProducerCharlotte Surtees
CinematographyJohn Sorapure
Running time25 minutes
Production companies Kudos
Water & Power Productions
Original release
Network
Release29 April 2020 (2020-04-29) 
4 August 2022 (2022-08-04)

Code 404 is a British police procedural comedy-drama television series created by Tom Miller, Sam Myer and Daniel Peak, and produced by Kudos. The first series premiered on 29 April 2020 on Sky One, before later moving to Sky Comedy, where the second series premiered on 1 September 2021, also broadcasting simultaneously on Sky Showcase. It stars Stephen Graham and Daniel Mays and co-stars Anna Maxwell Martin, Rosie Cavaliero and Tracy-Ann Oberman. [1] The show also premiered on Peacock in the US on 8 October 2020.

Contents

Plot

Set in the near future, Code 404 revolves around a pair of top-notch investigators, DI John Major (Daniel Mays) and DI Roy Carver (Stephen Graham). When Major is killed on duty, his body is transferred to an experimental artificial intelligence project to revive him. However, the AI lacks the crimefighting instincts of Major.

As of 2022, all 3 series have aired. [2] The third series premiered on 4 August 2022. [3] This was confirmed to be the final series of Code 404, with Sky citing that the reasons for its cancellation were rooted in the main cast being too busy to film a fourth series. [4]

Cast

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
1 629 April 2020 (2020-04-29)
2 61 September 2021 (2021-09-01)
3 64 August 2022 (2022-08-04)

Series 1 (2020)

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1Episode 1Al CampbellDaniel Peak29 April 2020 (2020-04-29)
Detective John Major is killed after a failed sting operation, but the Met brings him back from the dead as part of an experimental artificial intelligence project, let by American scientist Alison Parfit. Major immediately goes on the hunt for his killer, dragging his still shocked partner and best friend Roy Carver along for the ride. Liam Cleasby, an apparently minor criminal at the sting, appears to be deeply connected to Major's murder.
2Episode 2Al CampbellDaniel Peak29 April 2020 (2020-04-29)
Parfit reveals that if the A.I. Ethics Committee deem the project a failure, Major will be 'switched off' and he'll die for good. She gives Major a software update, but it’s setting of American phraseology is irritating to all. Kelly Major does not take her revived husband back, but does not reveal that she and Carver have been living together since Major died. DIs Gilbert and Lyle, working half-heartedly on the case of Major's murder, are revealed to be feeding information to Cleasby.
3Episode 3Al CampbellDaniel Peak29 April 2020 (2020-04-29)
Former police commissioner Helen Chalmers heads the AI Ethics Committee reviewing Major's progress. Sweet on Major they once slept together she secretly feeds him information on his murder case. DS Dennett has given Major and Carver a new assignment, but Major would rather stake out Kelly's work. Kelly reveals she started seeing someone else after Major died, but does not tell him that it is Carver. Kristoff, the apparent lead criminal at the deadly sting, reveals to Major and Carver that he was no more than a patsy, and is worried that Cleasby is out to kill him; he is later found murdered.
4Episode 4Al CampbellDaniel Peak29 April 2020 (2020-04-29)
The pressure is on with Major and Carver's latest assignment; protecting Chalmers, the head of the A.I. Ethics Committee. Success could secure Major's future, whereas failing to do so could seal his fate. Meanwhile, feeling stung by Kelly's rejection, Carver contemplates a transfer to Scotland. But when Kelly asks him to stay, he's filled with renewed hope.
5Episode 5Al CampbellDaniel Peak29 April 2020 (2020-04-29)
To Carver's bewilderment, Major reveals that he is going to move back in with Kelly. Parfit discovers disturbing information in the AI Ethics files.
6Episode 6Al CampbellDaniel Peak29 April 2020 (2020-04-29)
With Major's AI finally living up to the hype, Carver and Kelly come clean about their relationship. The team lies in wait to catch The Juggler.

Series 2 (2021)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
71"Episode 1"Al CampbellDaniel Peak1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)
It has been three weeks since Carver and Major took down the Juggler, but personal problems still hinder the pair's professional success.
82"Episode 2"Al CampbellDaniel Peak1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)
The re-emergence of a case from his past worries Major and it seems a simple firmware update will not help, while news from Kelly heightens his stress even more.
93"Episode 3"Al CampbellDaniel Peak1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)
Major and Carver are assigned an investigation into reports of a dangerous new drug used in an underground MMA fight ring.
104"Episode 4"Al CampbellDaniel Peak1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)
Major has a rival. Introducing BRIAN (Brain Representation In Artificial Networks): he's cute, fun, gives great pilates classes, sounds an awful lot like Richard Ayoade and is programmed to maximise arrests in the Greater London area.
115"Episode 5"Al CampbellDaniel Peak1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)
Major's mood swings are getting out of hand. He and Carver are given the task of supplying Cleasby with a new identity under witness protection.
126"Episode 6"Al CampbellDaniel Peak1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)
On the verge of full-blown systems failure, Major makes a desperate, last ditch effort to clear his dad's name. Carver believes he's got Clifford trapped, but the old cop isn't going down that easily.

Series 3 (2022)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date [3]
131"Episode 1"Al CampbellDaniel Peak4 August 2022 (2022-08-04)
When a member of the SIU is brutally murdered, Carver and Major are assigned to investigate the case, and suspect they may be dealing with a serial killer.
142"Episode 2"Al CampbellDaniel Peak4 August 2022 (2022-08-04)
Carver tries to use Cleasby as bait to lure out the Puppet Master.
153"Episode 3"Al CampbellDaniel Peak4 August 2022 (2022-08-04)
Major discovers that he has been hacked.
164"Episode 4"Al CampbellDaniel Peak4 August 2022 (2022-08-04)
Chalmers' trial collapses after Major's testimony is found to be fatally flawed.
175"Episode 5"Al CampbellDaniel Peak4 August 2022 (2022-08-04)
The evidence against Major begins to tally up, but Carver isn't convinced that his closest colleague is a multiple murderer.
186"Episode 6"Al CampbellDaniel Peak4 August 2022 (2022-08-04)
Kelly becomes the final target of the Puppet Master.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Winterbottom</span> English film director

Michael Winterbottom is an English film director. He began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—Welcome to Sarajevo, Wonderland and 24 Hour Party People—have competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He and co-director Mat Whitecross won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival for their work on The Road to Guantanamo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy-Ann Oberman</span> English actress, playwright, writer and narrator (born 1966)

Tracy-Ann Oberman is an English actress, playwright and narrator. She is known for roles including Chrissie Watts in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and Valerie Lewis or "Auntie Val" in the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner (2011–2020).

Steven James Meo is a Welsh television actor from Coelbren in the Swansea Valley in Wales. He is best known for his roles in BBC Wales sitcom High Hopes (2002–2008), BBC Three series Grownups (2006–2009), and BBC Wales drama series Belonging (1999–2009).

Sky Comedy is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast. It launched on 27 January 2020, replacing Universal TV. It is the first dedicated full-time comedy station in Sky's channel portfolio since the closure of The Comedy Channel in 1992.

<i>Beyond the Pole</i> 2009 British film

Beyond the Pole is a 2009 British mockumentary adapted from the cult BBC radio series of the same name. It received its UK cinema release in 2010. Directed and produced by David L. Williams Beyond the Pole was shot on floating sea ice off the coast of Greenland, and stars an acclaimed cast of actors and comedians including: Stephen Mangan, Rhys Thomas, Mark Benton, Alexander Skarsgård and Helen Baxendale. Described by Variety magazine as a cross between The Office and Touching the Void, the film follows the trials and tribulations of the world's first Carbon Neutral, Vegetarian, Organic expedition to the North Pole.

<i>A Touch of Cloth</i> 2012 British TV series or programme

A Touch of Cloth is a British television comedy series created and written by Charlie Brooker and Daniel Maier, shown on Sky One. A parody of British police procedural dramas, it stars John Hannah as Jack Cloth, a police detective with personal problems, and Suranne Jones as Anne Oldman, his colleague. The title is a play on the title of the detective series A Touch of Frost and the British expression "touching cloth," a euphemism for a desperate need to defecate. The DVD of the first series was released in the UK on 3 September 2012, and the second and third series were released on 1 September 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Ramsey (comedian)</span> English actor and comedian

Christopher Ramsey is an English actor, comedian and presenter. After appearing in Hebburn as Jack (2012–2013), Ramsey began presenting series including I'm A Celebrity: Extra Camp (2016), Virtually Famous (2016–2017) and Stand Up Central (2017).

Hunderby is a British black comedy television series produced by Sky and written by Julia Davis. It was first broadcast on Sky Atlantic in 2012. The series won two awards at the British Comedy Awards in 2012; it also won Davis a BAFTA TV Award for best comedy writing. Hunderby returned in December 2015 for a second series consisting of two one-hour specials.

<i>The Job Lot</i> British television series

The Job Lot is a British sitcom. The series is set in a busy West Midlands Job Centre, and focuses on the relationships between the staff, and the job-seekers.

<i>A Young Doctors Notebook</i> (TV series) British dark comedy television programme

A Young Doctor's Notebook is a British dark comedy television programme based on the short story collection of the same name by Mikhail Bulgakov. Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe portray the show's main characters. The first series was broadcast between 6 December and 27 December 2012 on Sky Arts 1, and a second series aired from 21 November to 12 December 2013. The first series takes place in the year 1917 during the Russian Revolution, and the second series takes place in the following year during the Russian Civil War.

<i>Prey</i> (British TV series) 2014 British TV series or programme

Prey is a television crime thriller first broadcast on ITV, 28 April 2014 at 9pm. ITV first announced the new commission on their official Twitter account on 23 August 2013. A second series was announced in April 2015 and began airing on 9 December 2015.

<i>The Enfield Haunting</i> 2015 British TV series or programme

The Enfield Haunting is a British drama horror series which was commissioned by Sky Living and first aired on 3 May 2015. Kristoffer Nyholm, who rose to fame after the hugely popular Danish series, The Killing, directed the three-parter.

<i>Liar</i> (TV series) British TV drama series (2017 & 2020)

Liar is a British thriller television series created by Harry and Jack Williams, and co-produced by ITV and SundanceTV. The series stars Joanne Froggatt and Ioan Gruffudd as two people whose initial attraction leads to far-reaching consequences for them and their friends and families. The series premiered on ITV on 11 September 2017, with the first series concluding on 16 October 2017. Upon its debut, it received positive reviews, with many critics praising the performances of Froggatt and Gruffudd. The programme was renewed for a second and final series, which premiered on 2 March 2020, concluding on 6 April 2020.

<i>In the Cloud</i> 2018 American science fiction film

In the Cloud is a 2018 American sci-fi thriller film directed by Robert Scott Wildes and written by Vanya Asher, starring Justin Chatwin, Adetomiwa Edun, Nora Arnezeder and Gabriel Byrne. The film is an original production by Crackle.

<i>A League of Their Own</i> (2022 TV series) American television series

A League of Their Own is an American comedy drama television series co-created by Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson, who also stars. It is an adaptation of the 1992 film of the same name with new characters and storylines, about the formation of a World War II-era women's professional baseball team. Chanté Adams, D'Arcy Carden, Roberta Colindrez, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kelly McCormack, Molly Ephraim, Melanie Field, and Priscilla Delgado also star. The series premiered with 8 episodes on August 12, 2022. The series was renewed in March 2023 for a four-episode final season, but in August 2023, Amazon announced that the second season would be scrapped due to delays caused by the WGA strike.

Two Weeks to Live is a six-part television miniseries, produced for Sky UK and HBO Max starring Maisie Williams as Kim Noakes, a misfit, who has been raised in almost total isolation "living off-the-grid" in rural Scotland for most of her life by her overprotective survivalist mother, Tina.

The Witchfinder is a British television sitcom created, written, and directed by the Gibbons brothers. The series is executive produced by Steve Coogan, and Christine Langan, and produced by Dave Lambert for Baby Cow Productions. It stars Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper.

Sky Showcase is a British pay television channel which launched on 1 September 2021. It is owned and operated by Sky Group, a division of American media company Comcast.

Amanda Payton is an American actress. She is best known for playing Nina Rudolph on the NBC sitcom Trial & Error, Dr. Alison Parfit on the Sky Comedy/Peacock police comedy-drama Code 404, and Holly in the CBS sitcom United States of Al.

References

  1. "Code 404". Kudos. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  2. Richardson, Jay (1 September 2021). "Code 404 set to return for Series 3". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  3. 1 2 Darvill, Josh (22 July 2022). "Code 404 series 3 release date and trailer for Sky comedy series". Tellymix. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  4. Rodger, James. "Sky axe popular comedy after three seasons because stars are 'too busy'". Birmingham Mail . Retrieved 4 October 2023.