Marc Warren returns as Piet van der Valk in the fourth series of the ITV detective drama, which begins tonight. The new season follows three homicide cases, with Van der Valk's team racing to solve them.
Cast and characters
Maimie McCoy is back as Inspecteur Lucienne Hassell, Azan Ahmed plays Sergeant Eddie Suleman, Darrell D'Silva returns as team pathologist Hendrik Davie, and Emma Fielding stars as Chief Commissaris Julia Dahlman.
Based on the original programme that ran between 1972 and 1992, the modern version of Van Der Valk debuted on ITV in 2020. The third series aired in 2023 before this fourth run.
What the cast said about returning
Maimie McCoy said in a press pack: “Coming back together is always lovely. It’s a bit disparate, because Emma Fielding, who plays Dahlman, comes back for the odd day, and I feel like something changes when she arrives, because then everybody is there. It’s a lovely thing. It always surprises me how you can slot back in very quickly, even though I hadn’t seen any of the main cast for over a year. Straight away, it felt like no time had gone on. I think that’s a testament to what we’ve created.”
Azan Ahmed added: “Coming back to the Van der Valk family this season in particular was, very exciting because the family is under threat multiple times. You see us get a lot closer and you see a lot more heart. To have that whilst also being a detective show was an incredible experience. It’s such a privilege to be able to learn from these actors and these characters.”
What to expect in series four
Marc Warren said season four “feels like a bigger show.” He explained that the opening episode involves a crime family and a whistle-blower, as well as a large explosion, witness protection and the return of an old flame for Van der Valk. He added: “I was there when they filmed the explosion and saw it with my own eyes. It was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, and they made sure that we were all quite a long way back.”
“Episode two was interesting because it was about a group of environmental campaigners but it also tied in with a missing person, a pop star who had been presumed dead,” Warren said. He described the third episode as an investigation involving a medical breakthrough, adding: “We’ve got a billionaire Elon Musk-type character in it. It’s quite flashy. We had some good sets in that one.”
Van der Valk airs Sunday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
