BBC Orders Third Installment of Crime Series Based on J.K. Rowling Books

 Posted on August 17, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  680 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

The BBC has ordered a third installment in the Cormoran Strike drama series, based on the crime novels written by J.K. Rowling, to be broadcast next year.

The first two installments, “The Cuckoo’s Calling” and “The Silkworm,” began airing in Britain at the end of August and have drawn solid ratings for the pubcaster. They were based on bestselling novels of the same titles written by Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

The new series, “Career of Evil,” will also be adapted from a book by Rowling of the same name, the BBC announced Sunday night, immediately after the final episode of “The Silkworm” was shown on flagship channel BBC One. For the third installment, Tom Burke will reprise his role as Cormoran Strike, a war veteran-turned-private detective in London, and Holliday Grainger will return as his assistant, Robin Ellacott.

“When a dismembered leg is sent to Strike’s office, it sends both Cormoran’s and Robin’s lives into disarray, forcing them to confront ghosts from their pasts,” the BBC said in its description of the new series. “Their partnership reaches breaking point as Robin’s wedding approaches and they disagree about how to ensnare a man who abuses children.”

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Cinemax holds the North American rights to the show, which is being produced by Bronte Film and TV, the company founded in 2013 to develop screen versions of Rowling’s works. The company previously produced the three-part dramatization of “The Casual Vacancy,” Rowling’s first book for adults after she completed the Harry Potter series. “The Casual Vacancy” also aired on BBC One.

Rowling managed to keep her authorship of the Strike books secret for only a few months after “The Cuckoo’s Calling” was published in 2013, but she has continued to use the Galbraith pen name for the sequels.

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