Traces | |
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Genre | Crime drama |
Created by | |
Written by |
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Directed by |
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Starring | |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 12 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Philippa Collie Cousins Michaela Fereday |
Producer | Juliet Charlesworth |
Running time | 45 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | Alibi |
Release | 9 December 2019 – 22 March 2022 |
Traces is a British television crime drama produced by Red Production Company (a StudioCanal company). Co-created and written by Val McDermid and Amelia Bullmore, and based upon an original idea by McDermid, it originally premiered on Alibi on 9 December 2019. The series was rerun on BBC One on 4 January 2021 and Series One began repeating on Drama on 15 January 2022, [1] A second six-episode series was released in February 2022. [2] [3] [4] and was shown on BBC One from 30 March 2024. [5] [6]
Traces focuses on three female forensic professionals, Emma Hedges, Sarah Gordon and Kathy Torrance, working together at the fictional Scottish Institute of Forensic Science and Anatomy (SIFA) at the fictional University of Tayside in Dundee, Scotland, as they uncover the truth of a murder case and bring a killer to justice.
In the first series, the cast was as follows: [7]
Traces is set in and around Dundee, but the majority of the series was filmed in Bolton, England. [17] [18] The theme tune is a cover of Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Valerie Broussard. [19]
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [20] |
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1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Mary Nighy | Amelia Bullmore | 9 December 2019 | 1.00 |
2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Mary Nighy | Amelia Bullmore | 10 December 2019 | 0.89 |
3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Mary Nighy | Amelia Bullmore | 16 December 2019 | 0.84 |
4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Mary Nighy | Amelia Bullmore | 17 December 2019 | 0.79 |
5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Mary Nighy | Amelia Bullmore | 23 December 2019 | 0.81 |
6 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Mary Nighy | Amelia Bullmore | 24 December 2019 | 0.83 |
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) |
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7 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Chris Foggin | Amelia Bullmore | 15 February 2022 [21] | N/A |
8 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Chris Foggin | Amelia Bullmore | 22 February 2022 | N/A |
9 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Chris Foggin | Jess Williams | 1 March 2022 | N/A |
10 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Chris Foggin | Jess Williams | 8 March 2022 | N/A |
11 | 5 | "Episode 5" | N/A | Amelia Bullmore | 15 March 2022 | N/A |
12 | 6 | "Episode 6" | N/A | Amelia Bullmore | 22 March 2022 | N/A |
Stuart Heritage reviewing on behalf of The Guardian rated the series three out of five, and whilst acknowledging the series is loaded with talent, said "this is what happens when TV runs out of new shows". [22] The Times awarded the series two out of five, with Carol Midgley saying that "the biggest crime here so far is a lack of flavour". [23]
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