The Dark, a six-part television thriller set in the Scottish Highlands, opens with the discovery of a naked teenager's body, strangled and staged face down in the wilderness. The series, an adaptation of GR Halliday's novel From The Shadows, follows a masked serial killer terrorising a remote community.
Cast and Setting
Outlander actress Laura Donnelly stars as DI Monica Kennedy, while Paisley-born Mark Rowley plays her new partner, DC Connor Crawford. The cast also includes Friends star Helen Baxendale as Bethany Morgan, a distraught English mother of two caught in the centre of a close-knit rural community haunted by dark secrets. Filmed in Glasgow, Greenock, and around Inverness, the series uses real Scottish homes weathered by harsh conditions to create an atmosphere of isolation and menace.
Mark Rowley, 36, known for roles in The Last Kingdom, SAS: Rogue Heroes, Trigger Point, and Karen Pirie, moved to the Highlands after 13 years in London. He said: “I’ve been living in the Highlands for over three years and feel like a new person. Nature switches your brain off. You don’t hear cars and buses, instead it’s birds singing. It just dilutes all the bad stuff out of your life.”
Preparation for the Role
To prepare for his role as eager detective Connor Crawford, Rowley sought advice from Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley. He joked: “We always have a thing where we battle against each other on Google so if he says something crazy it goes to the top.” Though plans to shadow officers fell through, an online police retirement organisation in Scotland connected him with a superintendent from Inverness who served as a mentor. Rowley described the experience as “overwhelming,” noting that officers are expected to return to normal life despite carrying traumatic stories.
Community and Production
Rowley praised the production company Poison Pen for ensuring Scottish talent was represented both in front of and behind the camera. He also highlighted the difference in community spirit in the Highlands compared to London: “In London we didn’t know our neighbours but when there was the big storm last year we weren’t there and a neighbour called to say ‘It’s all right we’ve secured your property’. That doesn’t happen anywhere else.”
Laura Donnelly, who trained at Glasgow’s Royal Conservatoire, expressed delight in returning to Scotland for the role. She said: “I love working in Scotland. It’s very much a home from home for me. It is such a beautiful place even more when it’s rainy and misty and looks damp you can see everyone is damp. That really aligns with the atmosphere we were hoping to create in this.” Donnelly noted that she often fought for more layers in costume decisions made by people in London versus those in Scotland, adding: “I can’t imagine this story being set anywhere else.”
Future Seasons and Source Material
The Dark is based on the first of the Monica Kennedy novels, leaving room for further seasons. Rowley expressed hope for a second series, noting that the second book is set in sunshine. He said: “I’m hoping we get a second series. The second book is set in the sunshine. At the moment in the Highlands the birds are singing, it’s so green and vibrant and the tourists are happy.”
Helen Baxendale, 56, known for Cold Feet, took on the role of Bethany Morgan, stepping outside her comfort zone. She said: “I don’t usually watch a lot of these serial killer-type things but this was gripping. It seemed really different.” The series follows Bethany and her husband Barclay (Emun Elliott) as they struggle with the disappearance of their eldest son while police investigate concerns about their younger boy. In one scene, Bethany wields a shotgun while breaking into a social worker’s home, convinced it holds answers.
The Dark is coming soon to STV and ITV, and will also be available to stream on STV Player and ITVX.
