''Rellik'' ("Killer" spelled backwards) is a

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series created and written by brothers Harry and Jack Williams that premiered on 11 September 2017. The project was commissioned by the BBC in 2015, with

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...

joining them later in November 2016. In the United States the series premiered on 13 April 2018.

Synopsis

The series tells the story of the hunt for a serial killer who always attacks his victims with acid. The chief investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Gabriel Markham, himself becomes a victim of the perpetrator but survives the attack. The story is shown in reverse, starting with the police shooting the suspected killer and then moving backwards in sections to finish at the beginning of the story. The period of time the story has moved backwards is shown each time on the screen.

Cast and characters

Main

Richard Dormer Richard Dormer (born 11 November 1969) is an actor and playwright from Northern Ireland. He is best known for his roles as Beric Dondarrion in the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' and Dan Anderssen in Sky Atlantic's '' Fortitude''. Ea ...

as DCI Gabriel Markham * Jodi Balfour as DI Elaine Shepard *

Paterson Joseph Paterson Davis Joseph (born 22 June 1964) is a British actor and author. Joseph appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) productions of ''King Lear'' and ''Love's Labour's Lost'' in 1990. On television he is best known for his roles in '' ...

as Dr Isaac Taylor *Lærke Winther as Lisa Markham * Shannon Tarbet as Hannah Markham *

Paul Rhys Paul Rhys (born 19 December 1963) is a Welsh actor with an extensive career in theatre, radio, television and film. Early life Rhys was born in Neath to working-class Catholic parents, Kathryn Ivory and Richard Charles Rhys, a labourer. He is of ...

as Patrick Barker *

Michael Shaeffer Michael Shaeffer is an English television and stage actor. He is especially known for his role as "Longcross" in the BBC political-thriller television series ''Bodyguard'' (2018). He has also appeared in the television series ''Black Mirror'' ...

as Steven Mills *

Rosalind Eleazar Rosalind Eleazar is a British stage and screen actress. She is known for her role as Louisa Guy in the TV series ''Slow Horses'', and as Agnes in 2019 film '' The Personal History of David Copperfield''. Early life and education Rosalind El ...

as Christine Levison * Georgina Rich as Beth Mills *

Ray Stevenson George Raymond Stevenson (25 May 196421 May 2023) was a Northern Ireland-born actor, best known for his film and television work. He had a starring role as legionary Titus Pullo on the BBC/HBO television series ''Rome'' (2005–2007), and port ...

as DSI Edward Benton

Recurring

Clare Holman Clare Margaret Holman (born 12 January 1964) is an English actress. She portrayed forensic pathologist Dr. Laura Hobson in the crime drama series ''Inspector Morse'' and its spin-off '' Lewis'' from 1995 to 2015. Career Holman started her ac ...

as Rebecca Barker *

Clive Russell Clive Russell (born 7 December 1945) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline in '' Ripper Street'', Angus O'Connor in ''Happiness'', Lord Lovat in '' Outlander'', and Brynden Tully in the HBO series ...

as Henry Parides *

Kieran Bew Kieran John Bew (born 18 August 1980) is an English actor, known for portraying Hugh Hammer in ''House of the Dragon'' , 'Big' Bill O’Hara in ''Warrior'', Alfonso, Duke of Calabria in ''Da Vinci's Demons'', '' Hans Christian Andersen: My ...

as DI Mike Sutherland *

Reece Ritchie Reece Ritchie (born 23 July 1986) is an English actor. He is known for his film roles, such as Moha in ''10,000 BC'' (2008), Bis in '' Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time'' (2010), and Iolaus in ''Hercules'' (2014). He starred as Jay in the Bri ...

as DC Asim Fry *Faye Castelow as DS Jenny Roberts *Joseph Macnab as DC Sam Myers *

Mimi Ndiweni Mimi or MIMI may refer to: People and fictional characters * Mimi (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Constantin Mimi (1868–1935), Bessarabian politician and winemaker * Mimi (footballer, born 1996), Bissau Guinean footbal ...

as DC Andrea Reed *

Michael Wildman Michael Wildman (born 10 June 1970) is an English actor. He appeared in the film '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'', where he played the role of a centaur Magorian. Prior to accepting this role, Wildman was in the West End playing ...

as DI Martin Brook *

Tanya Reynolds Tanya Louise Reynolds (born 4 November 1991) is an English actress. She landed her first major role as a series regular on the Sky 1 comedy-drama '' Delicious'' (2016–2019). Reynolds portrayed Lily Iglehart on the Netflix comedy-drama ''Sex Ed ...

as Sally *Annabel Bates as Jill Parides *Charlotte Dylan as Cassie Hughes * Richard Cunningham as Brian Sweeney *Lucy Chappell as Kerri *Michael Sardine as Dr Jonas Borner

Episodes

Production

Harry Williams and Jack Williams began writing Rellik while they were filming and editing the first series of ''The Missing''. "We didn't want it to be a technical exercise," the pair remarked, "so we had to ask ourselves why you'd tell a story that way. It became clear quite quickly that it was all about motive. That things happen for a reason and those reasons lie in the past. So, what happens when you start at the end and find your way back to the past sounded like an interesting thing to explore."

Reception

Initial reaction after the first episode were mixed: some people struggled to understand the programme's style. Episode one's consolidated viewing figure of 4.96 million fell to 2.82 million for episode two and subsequent episodes failed to register at all in the top 30 programmes for the week on BBC1. However, after the show's finale, it received acclaim from critics.

References

External links

* * {{Cinemax 2017 British television series debuts 2017 British television series endings 2010s British crime television series 2010s British drama television series BBC high definition shows BBC television dramas 2010s British television miniseries British English-language television shows Television series about fictional serial killers Cinemax original programming Television series by All3Media