3 October 2016
While you can watch some of the best of UK and US crime drama on channels Drama, alibi and W, UKTV is now home to its own dedicated crime podcast.
Host Mark Billingham with guests Val McDermid and Kate Harwood.
In each episode of A Stab In The Dark, available across most podcast streaming platforms, the award-winning crime novelist and comic Mark Billingham hosts themed discussions featuring some of the biggest names from the worlds of crime fiction and television crime drama.
In the first episode we hear Mark joined by legendary, best-selling crime novelist Val "The Queen of Crime" McDermid and Managing Director of Euston Films and former BBC Head Of Drama Kate Harwood in a discussion on representation of women in crime drama. Notable mentions include Silent Witness, Happy Valley, Scott & Bailey and Rizzoli & Isles.
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Other guests appearing in the series include crime actor David Morrissey, Shetland author Ann Cleeves, Bosch author Michael Connelly, Broadchurch-inspired novel writer Erin Kelly and Lee Child, the man behind Jack Reacher, to name but a few. Meanwhile, the episodes are set to include features from a host of crime aficionados such as Sarah Hillary, Yrsa Sigurdardottir and Anne Holt.
On fronting this exciting new format, Mark Billingham commented:
Crime fiction, both on the page and on the screen, is more popular than ever. There is a seemingly endless appetite for TV crime dramas, while the novels that often inspire them continue to dominate the bestseller lists. Arguably, this is a Golden Age for crime stories in all their forms and I could not be more thrilled to host A Stab In The Dark, which will see me casting a forensic eye across this dynamic and entertaining genre, interrogating some of its best known practitioners and highlighting those who are guilty of bringing brilliant crime stories to viewers' TVs and bookshelves. I hope that those who love crime drama - both on page and on-screen - will tune in for what I know will be some criminally entertaining discussions.
Producer and feature interviewer Paul Hirons added:
We're absolutely delighted that someone of Mark's standing is hosting A Stab In The Dark and, along with his guests, he does a fantastic job of exploring a genre that has always been so popular. Here at UKTV our mission is to give viewers more of what they love, and by producing this podcast we're adding real value to our already impressive slate of crime drama that plays out on our channels Alibi, Drama and W.
A Stab In The Dark is recorded at UKTV and is produced by Sam Pearson and Paul Hirons.