Starring award-winning Irish actor James Nesbitt, the intense Irish crime thriller Bloodlands will make its exclusive US and Canada debut on Monday, March 15, 2021, on Acorn TV, AMC Networks’ acclaimed streaming service specializing in British and international television. An Acorn TV Original series, Bloodlands will premiere in the UK on BBC One prior to its North American launch on Acorn TV, where it will roll out new episodes on Mondays.
The four-part drama stars Nesbitt as Tom Brannick, a veteran detective who delves into his own dark past to try and solve an infamous cold case with enormous personal significance: a series of mysterious disappearances linked to a turbulent period in Northern Ireland history over 20 years ago. It’s an engaging cat-and-mouse game and the stakes have never been higher – Bloodlands is also a thought-provoking drama exploring the balance between seeking justice for past crimes and protecting present-day peace. Bloodlands is co-executive produced by award-winning showrunner Jed Mercurio, as the first commission for his newly-formed production company HTM Television, and is the first-ever TV series by writer Chris Brandon. The series stars a top-shelf cast of acclaimed Irish actors including Nesbitt, Charlene McKenna, Lisa Dwan, Lorcan Cranitch, Ian McElhinney, Michael Smiley, Susan Lynch, and Lola Petticrew.
When an expensive car belonging to a well-known crime associate and containing a possible suicide note is pulled out of the sea at Strangford Lough, Brannick instantly sees the connection to an infamous cold case with enormous personal importance. It seems someone is trying to force the police to re-open their investigation into a notorious and long-buried series of mysterious disappearances just prior to the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement ending The Troubles, the violent sectarian conflict that scarred Northern Ireland for three decades. Bloodlands follows Brannick’s obsessive campaign to identify and unmask the legendary assassin behind these events, “Goliath,” nicknamed after the famous giant shipyard crane that dominates the Belfast skyline.
Brannick has a special interest in the case; he believes his own wife, Emma – herself an intelligence officer involved in dangerous undercover surveillance of terrorists – was one of Goliath’s victims. Supported by his Detective Sergeant, Niamh McGovern, Brannick launches an investigation without the approval of his superior officer and one-time friend Jackie Twomey. Brannick and McGovern embark on a journey to identify both Goliath – if such a person really exists – and whoever is behind this mysterious campaign to awaken the ghosts of the past. Bloodlands explores this conflict and investigates the impact of the violent past on the peaceful present.
