Acorn TV

Acorn TV Nabs ‘Department Q’ Film Trilogy

Acorn TV picks up the original 'Department Q' trilogy in the wake of 'Dept. Q's' success.

Ani Bundel

28 Oct 2026 — 2 min read

Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Fares Fares in 'Department Q' (Acorn TV)

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; however, on the big and small screen, that imitation can take many forms. The most obvious version is when studios start greenlighting shows in the same genre after one hits big. There’s “twinning,” when two studios greenlight very similar shows/films within a few weeks of each other; and there are global spinoffs, where each country tweaks a basic hit format to suit their audience. (The Traitors is the most obvious current example.)

But sometimes imitation doesn’t even require a studio to make anything, especially when the hit series is already a remake. Such is the case with Netflix’s Dept. Q, based on Jussi Adler-Olsen’s bestselling novels. The novels debuted on shelves in 2011 with The Keeper of Lost Causes, and a film adaptation followed in 2013. Starring Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Carl Mørck, the Danish-language film series adapted four of Adler-Olsen’s 11 novels before Lie Kaas left, then continued with two more starring Ulrich Thomsen (Face to Face).

The new Dept. Q follows the U.K. tradition of setting English-language remakes of Scandinavian mysteries in Scotland, and stars Downton Abbey’s Matthew Goode as lead detective, DI Carl Mørck. Now that it’s a major hit, Acorn TV has scooped up the first three Danish films, considered the best of the bunch and usually grouped as The Department Q Trilogy.

Here are the synopses for the three films:

Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes (Kvinden i Buret)

Police Inspector Carl Mørck is put in charge of a department of cold cases, joined only by his assistant Assad. They dig into a case about a missing woman.

Department Q: The Absent One (Fasandræberne)

The murder of young twins initially implicates a group of upper-class students as the killers, though the case takes a turn or two from its starting point.

Department Q: A Conspiracy of Faith (Flaskepost fra P)

Two intertwined cases linking the past with the present require the aid of Department Q to catch an elusive serial killer while time is running out.

The three films star Lie Kaas (Britianna) as Mørck and Fares Fares (The Wheel of Time) as Assad. They are the only characters to appear in all three.

Supporting cast for The Keeper of Lost Causes includes Troels Lyby (The Sommerdahl Murders), Søren Pilmark (Atlantic Crossing), and Sonja Richter (The Bridge); The Absent Ones features Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones), David Dencik (The Assassin), and Danica Curcic (Wallander); and A Conspiracy of Faith co-stars Amanda Collins (House of the Dragon), Jacob Lohmann (Darkness: Those Who Kill), and Pål Sverre Hagen (Beforeigners).