BBC viewers are ‘hooked’ after bingeing all 8 episodes of series about aspiring criminals

The latest product of the book-to-TV pipeline is Crookhaven, adapted from the series of the same name by JJ Arcanjo and now on the BBC.

The new eight-parter – which is already all on iPlayer for greedy eyes – is set at a school which is what it says on the tin, a haven for crooks.

Far from your average school, this is a place where the lessons are less concerned with schooling you in the classics and more focused on the art of thievery.

This is a secret school – think Nevermore Academy in Wednesday – where the teachers are seeking to turn young crooks good, so they can beat the bad guys at their own game.

Except, in a school brimming with wrongdoers and robbers (otherwise known as Crooklings), who can really trust whom?

The BBC has promised the show will deliver a ‘gripping, morally complex, twisty mystery rooted in identity, loyalty and found family’, which is perfect regardless of your age.

The show is centred around pickpocket mastermind Gabriel (Lucas Leach), who can do some pretty interesting tricks with a coin, and his polar opposite (who is also the headmaster’s daughter) Penelope, played by Carmel Laniado.

Alongside the two of them, there are eight very different, young international students going head-to-head to compete in the renowned Crooked Cup – think Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

All of a sudden, that’s the least of their worries, when a real, terrifying enemy makes itself known.

Sort of.

They’re called The Nameless, so can they ever really be known?

Vigil’s Dougray Scott plays Caspian, who heads up this academy for juvenile delinquents, aided by his wife in the show and real life, Meet Joe Black star Claire Forlani.

Describing his character as ‘enigmatic’, Scott decided to stay in the mind of the headmaster for the duration of the shoot in Northern Ireland.

‘It’s just easier to do it that way because going in and out of character just gets confusing for an actor,’ he said.

‘So you just stay in it all the time.

But it’s fun to do that as well.

That means no one bothers you, no one asks you questions about you.

It’s convenient!’
Crookhaven is already going down well with those who have tuned in since it dropped over the weekend, with Ellis on IMDb gushing that the action had them ‘hooked’.

Meanwhile, Gianluca admitted they had gone in with ‘low expectations’ but had been left ‘genuinely impressed’ by the show.

POLL

Does Crookhaven sound like one for you?

• Definitely

• No thanks