Strike (also known as C. B. Strike internationally) is a British crime drama television programme based on the book series Cormoran Strike by J. K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The programme was first broadcast on BBC One on 27 August 2017, after receiving an advance premiere at the British Film Institute on 10 August 2017.
The programme follows Cormoran Strike (Tom Burke), a war veteran turned private detective operating out of a tiny office in London's Denmark Street, who uses his unique insight and his background as a Special Investigation Branch investigator to solve complex cases that have eluded the police along with his assistant, subsequently business partner, Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger).
Nineteen episodes across six series have been broadcast to date, each series adapting a novel: The Cuckoo's Calling (2013), The Silkworm (2014), Career of Evil (2015), Lethal White (2018), Troubled Blood (2020), and The Ink Black Heart (2022) respectively.
A seventh series, based on the book The Running Grave started filming in Autumn 2025, and is scheduled for broadcast on BBC in 2026.
Contents
Cast and characters
Main cast
Tom Burke as Cormoran Blue Strike
Holliday Grainger as Robin Venetia Ellacott
Recurring cast
Kerr Logan as Matthew Cunliffe
Ben Crompton as Shanker
Natasha O'Keeffe as Charlotte Campbell
Killian Scott as DI Eric Wardle
Ann Akin as Vanessa Ekwensi
Sargon Yelda as DI Richard Anstis
Caitlin Innes Edwards as Ilsa Herbert
Kierston Wareing as Leda Strike
Jack Greenlees as Sam Barclay
Sarah Sweeney as Lucy
Ruth Sheen as Pat Chauncey
Tupele Dorgu as Midge Greenstreet
Stephen Hagan as DCI Richard Murphy
Guest cast
Siân Phillips as Lady Yvette Bristow
Martin Shaw as Tony Landry
David Avery as Nico Kolovas-Jones
Leo Bill as John Bristow
Tara Fitzgerald as Tansy Bestigui
Amber Anderson as Ciara Porter
Kadiff Kirwan as Guy Somé
Bronson Webb as Evan Duffield
Elarica Johnson as Lula Landry
Brian Bovell as Derrick Wilson
Dorothy Atkinson as Kathryn Kent
Monica Dolan as Leonora Quine
Dominic Mafham as Jerry Waldegrave
Tim McInnerny as Daniel Chard
Peter Sullivan as Andrew Fancourt
Jeremy Swift as Owen Quine
Lia Williams as Liz Tassel
Sarah Gordy as Orlando Quine
Andrew Brooke as Niall Brockbank
Emmanuella Cole as Alyssa
Jessica Gunning as Holly Brockbank
Matt King as Jeff Whittaker
Neil Maskell as Donald Laing
Production and development
On 10 December 2014 it was announced that the Cormoran Strike novel series, written by J. K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, would be adapted for television by the BBC for broadcast on BBC One, beginning with The Cuckoo's Calling. Two years later it was confirmed that the series would total seven episodes of sixty minutes, with shooting to begin in London in the autumn of 2016. Tom Burke was announced in the role of Cormoran Strike in September 2016, and Holliday Grainger in the role of Robin Ellacott in November 2016.
Ben Richards adapted The Cuckoo's Calling, and Tom Edge adapted The Silkworm, Career of Evil, Lethal White, Troubled Blood, The Ink Black Heart and The Running Grave. Richards stated that the series is "very different tonally and visually from other crime dramas". He compared Strike to the British detective television series Morse. Similarly, Edge commented that "people use old-fashioned as a pejorative word, but to me that's part of why these books, and, I hope, the TV series, works so well."
Episodes
Series 1: The Cuckoo's Calling (2017)
The Cuckoo's Calling was released on DVD on 27 November 2017.
Series 2: The Silkworm (2017)
The Silkworm was released on DVD on 19 February 2018.
Series 3: Career of Evil (2018)
Career of Evil was released on DVD on 16 April 2018.
Series 4: Lethal White (2020)
Lethal White was released on DVD on 23 November 2020.
Reception
The Cuckoo's Calling received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an approval rating of 85%, based on 20 reviews, and an average score of 6.8/10. The website's critics’ consensus reads "The TV adaptation of C. B. Strike delivers an entertaining detective series that faithfully and effectively adheres to genre tropes." Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy, who reviewed the first episode, praised both Burke's and Grainger's performances, calling Burke's performance "a revelation".
Similarly, the adaptation of The Silkworm was met with positive reviews, with critics again praising Burke's and Grainger's performances. However the first episode was criticised for showing a suicide scene on World Suicide Prevention Day, making some viewers claim that this scene was insensitive.
Career of Evil holds an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 8 reviews, and an average score of 7/10.
Lethal White holds a 73% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews, and an average score of 5.6/10.
Troubled Blood holds a 93% approval rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 26 reviews.
The Ink Black Heart holds a 51% approval rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews.
After the Ink Black Heart began airing on HBO on 23 January 2025 the show was one of the top ten streamed series on the streaming service Max following the broadcast of the second episode.
International broadcast
The programme premiered on 1 June 2018 in the United States on Cinemax and in Canada on HBO Canada. Following the fourth series, the programme was exhibited in the United States on HBO.