''Traces '' is a

British television Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transm ...

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 ...

produced by

Red Production Company Red Production Company Limited was a British independent television drama production company that was founded by Nicola Shindler and owned by French production & distribution company StudioCanal. Background Red Production Company was formed i ...

(a StudioCanal company). Co-created and written by

Val McDermid Valarie McDermid (born 4 June 1955) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of novels featuring clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill and his collaborators in the police department. Her work is considered to be part of a sub-genre k ...

and

Amelia Bullmore Amelia Mary Bullmore (born 31 January 1964) is an English actress, screenwriter and playwright. She is known for her roles in ''Coronation Street'' (1990–1992, 1995), '' I'm Alan Partridge'' (2002), '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2008–2009), '' Twenty ...

, and based upon an original idea by McDermid, it originally premiered on

Alibi An alibi (, from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person under suspicion in a crime that they were in a different place when the offence was committed. During a police investigation, all suspects are usually a ...

on 9 December 2019. The series was rerun on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

on 4 January 2021 and series one began repeating on

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

on 15 January 2022, A second six-episode series was released in February 2022. and was shown on BBC One from 30 March 2024.

Synopsis

Traces focuses on three female forensic professionals, Emma Hedges, Sarah Gordon and Kathy Torrance, working together at the fictional Scottish Institute of Forensic Science and Anatomy (SIFA) at the fictional University of Tayside in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Scotland, as they uncover the truth of a murder case and bring a killer to justice.

Cast

In the first series, the cast was as follows: *

Molly Windsor Molly Windsor is an English actress. Her breakthrough role was in the 2009 Channel 4 television film '' The Unloved'', and she has appeared in '' Oranges and Sunshine'' (2010) and '' The Runaways'' (2019). She is best known for her performance in ...

as Emma Hedges, a laboratory technician who has moved back to her birthplace of Dundee, for her new job, and in search of answers about her mother's murder. *

Laura Fraser Laura Fraser (born 24 July 1975) is a Scottish actress. She has played Door in the urban fantasy series ''Neverwhere'' (1996), Kate in the film '' A Knight's Tale'' (2001), Cat MacKenzie in the BBC Three drama series '' Lip Service'' (2010–20 ...

as Sarah Gordon, professor of Chemistry at the University of Tayside and Emma's new boss at SIFA. *

Jennifer Spence Jennifer Spence (born January 22, 1977) is a Canadian actress. Her acting credits include playing Dr. Lisa Park on the ''Stargate Universe'' television series and Betty Robertson on the series '' Continuum''. Career Spence has had principal role ...

as Kathy Torrence, a professor of forensic anthropology at the University of Tayside and a colleague at SIFA. *

Martin Compston Martin Compston is a Scottish actor and former professional footballer. He played Anti-Corruption Unit Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in the BBC drama ''Line of Duty'', Liam in Ken Loach's '' Sweet Sixteen'', Paul Ferris in '' The Wee Man'', ...

as Daniel MacAfee, director of a construction company and romantic interest of Emma. *

Vincent Regan Vincent Regan (born 16 May 1965) is a Welsh film and television actor. Early life Regan born 16 May 1965 in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales. He attended Nicholas Breakspear School, St.Albans, Hertfordshire, then St Joseph's College, Ipswich, before ...

as Phil MacAfee, Daniel's father and former director of MacAfee Construction. * Michael Nardone as Detective Inspector Neil McKinven, a friend of Professor Gordon who has insight on the Marie Monroe case. *Phil McKee as Jimmy Levin, husband of Marie Monroe and Emma's stepfather. *

John Gordon Sinclair John Gordon Sinclair (born Gordon John Sinclair; 4 February 1962) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for playing Gregory in the 1981 film '' Gregory's Girl''. There was a Gordon Sinclair already registered with Equity, so he took John Gordon ...

as Drew Cubbin, Emma's father and ex-partner of Marie Monroe. *Morayo Akandé as Detective Constable Trina Adeboyo, colleague of DI McKinven at Police Scotland. *Jamie Marie Leary as Skye Alessi, Emma's childhood best friend. *Carly Anderson as Marie Monroe, Emma's mother who was murdered in 2001, and whose case remains unsolved. *

Laurie Brett Laurie Brett (born 28 March 1969) is a Scottish actress, best known for her roles as Jane Beale in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Christine Mulgrew in the BBC One drama series '' Waterloo Road''. Early and personal life Brett was b ...

as Izzy Alessi, best friend of Marie Monroe, and mother to Emma's childhood best friend Skye. *Joana Borja as Pia Salvador, forensic scientist and love interest of Professor Torrence. *Andrea Hart as Janine Muir, SIFA's receptionist. *

Anna Leong Brophy Anna Leong Brophy is a British comedian and actor. Early life Leong Brophy grew up in Brent, North West London. She is of Irish and Sino-Kadazan descent. Career Leong Brophy presents the ''Still Legit'' podcast A podcast is a Radio progr ...

as Louise Chiu Jones, chemist and Emma's colleague at SIFA who works alongside her in the lab. *

Neve McIntosh Neve McIntosh (born Carol McIntosh; 9 April 1972) is a Scottish actress. Early life Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, McIntosh grew up in Edinburgh, where she attended Boroughmuir High School. She was a member of Edinburgh Youth Theatre in the lat ...

as Julie Hedges, Emma's maternal aunt, who adopted her after the murder of her mother and took her to Manchester. *

Janey Godley Jane Godley Currie (20 January 1961 – 2 November 2024), known professionally as Janey Godley, was a Scottish stand-up comedian, actress, writer and political activist. She began her stand-up career in 1994, and won various awards for her come ...

as Clare Tindall, a criminal defence lawyer who represents Daniel.

Production

''Traces'' is set in and around Dundee, but the majority of the series was filmed in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

. The theme tune is a cover of

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

's "

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is a song written by Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott and Sol Marcus for American singer-songwriter and pianist Nina Simone, who recorded the first version in 1964 for her album '' Broadway-Blues-Ballads''. "Don't Let ...

" by Valerie Broussard.

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (2019)

Series 2 (2022)

Critical reception

Stuart Heritage reviewing on behalf of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' rated the series three out of five, and whilst acknowledging the series is loaded with talent, said "this is what happens when TV runs out of new shows". ''The Times'' awarded the series two out of five, with Carol Midgley saying that "the biggest crime here so far is a lack of flavour".

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 9788012 2019 British television series debuts 2022 British television series endings 2010s British crime drama television series 2020s British crime drama television series BBC crime television shows Television shows set in Scotland Television series by Red Production Company UKTV original programming BBC television dramas British thriller television series British English-language television shows