The Fate of Stephen Graham's Perfect Crime Series Has Officially Been Decided

Nairavoice | Nov 5, 2026 38m ago 0 0 6 min read

The Fate of Stephen Graham's Perfect Crime Series Has Officially Been Decided

Lade Omotade is a News and Features Author at Collider, covering everything from casting announcements and streaming trends to behind-the-scenes stories and the cultural impact of today’s biggest film and TV franchises. Since joining the team in 2024, she has written more than 1,000 news stories, with her work also cited by outlets like AOL and IMDb.

Only a week ago, Stephen Graham’s Apple TV crime drama premiered with two gripping episodes, both of which have been well received by fans and critics alike. Created by Rowan Joffé as an adaptation of Lars Kepler’s bestselling crime novels Lazarus and The Sandman, Nocturne is the 10/10 series currently taking over Apple TV globally. The psychological thriller is expected to conclude its first season after ten episodes on December 25, 2026, and has not yet been officially renewed for a second season.

In Nocturne, Graham delivers a compelling performance as Jurek Walter, a serial killer incarcerated in the basement of Riverside Psychiatric Hospital. He is joined by Liev Schreiber and Zazie Beetz, who portray Jonah Lynn, a former homicide detective, and Saga Bauer, an undercover FBI agent and Jonah’s surrogate daughter, respectively. Graham’s portrayal recalls his performance in a similarly unsettling crime series where he once again demonstrates his remarkable ability to bring depth and vulnerability to morally complex characters.

The BBC anthology prison drama Time, created and written by Jimmy McGovern, sees Graham portray Eric McNally, a highly respected veteran prison officer whose moral compass is shattered by tragic circumstances. The series premiered on BBC One on June 6, 2021, and ran for three seasons, concluding on October 18, 2026. Meanwhile, in the U.S., it wraps up Season 3 on November 5 on BritBox, and many have wondered whether it will return for a fourth run. Series creator McGovern has finally provided an answer during a recent chat with TV Insider.

Britain makes more detective television than any country has any
business making, and somehow almost all of it is good. Here is the one you belong in, what it says
about you, and the case for it being the best of the four.

You want the tea, the gossip and the vicar behaving oddly.
Midsomer is a county where the scenery is beautiful, the fete is on Saturday and the murder
rate is roughly that of a small war, and absolutely nobody involved thinks this is strange.

You are sociable, curious and the first to notice that somebody has changed their
routine.
It has been running since 1997 and sells to well over two hundred territories worldwide.
John Nettles handed over to Neil Dudgeon in 2011 and the show did not miss a step.
Your flaw is that the line between caring about people and enjoying the gossip is
thinner than you admit.

You feel other people’s grief as if it were handed to you
personally. Broadchurch is less a whodunnit than a study of what a small town does to itself
when it finds out that the answer was always going to be somebody everybody already knew.

You are the one people tell the truth to, and you carry all of it afterwards.
Olivia Colman won the BAFTA for Best Actress for the first series and David Tennant has
never been better.
Chris Chibnall wrote it before taking over Doctor Who, and took Jodie Whittaker with
him.
Your risk is absorbing so much of other people’s pain that nobody notices yours.

You go through things rather than around them. John Luther is the
best detective in London and a liability to everybody who works with him, and the show is
completely honest that those two facts are the same fact.

You are the one people call when the normal approach has already failed.
Idris Elba won a Golden Globe for it in 2012 and it made him a film star more or less
overnight.
Luther: The Fallen Sun arrived on Netflix in 2023 and took the character properly
cinematic.
Your weakness is that doing the right thing your way still leaves a mess for somebody
else.

You say the thing and you do not dress it up. Vera Stanhope turns
up in a hat and a mac, is rude to almost everybody, and is the only person in the room
prepared to ask the question that the family has been waiting years for somebody to ask.

You have no patience for performance, and the people who like you really like you.
Brenda Blethyn played her for fourteen series before stepping away, and ITV ended the
show rather than recast.
Ann Cleeves wrote the novels, and also wrote the books behind Shetland, which is the
same trick in a colder place.
Your flaw is that blunt and kind can be the same thing, but only if people already know
you.

Will There Be a ‘Time’ Season 4?

According to McGovern, Time won’t return for Season 4 because he believes there’s no story left to tell. “I don’t think there will be one,” the showrunner said. “I think we’ve done men’s, we’ve done women’s, and we’ve done the young, so there’s nothing else really.” He also revealed that the original plan was to do only one season in a men’s prison from the start. Apparently, the BBC didn’t expect the show to become very popular; hence, the success led to Seasons 2 and 3.

“When I first set off, it was only going to be one series of three episodes in a men’s prison. I know what the BBC were expecting. They were expecting it to be fairly well received, but not popular, because that’s my stuff. It was well received, and it was massively popular. So only after it was shown did they say to me, ‘Can we do another one, please?'”

“When I first set off, it was only going to be one series of three episodes in a men’s prison. I know what the BBC were expecting. They were expecting it to be fairly well received, but not popular, because that’s my stuff. It was well received, and it was massively popular. So only after it was shown did they say to me, ‘Can we do another one, please?'”

As an anthology, Time follows the prisoners, guards, and chaplain at a men’s prison in Season 1, a women’s prison in Season 2, and a young offenders institution in Season 3. The cast changes each season: Season 1 stars Graham and Sean Bean; Season 2 stars Jodie Whittaker, Tamara Lawrance, and Bella Ramsey; and Season 3 stars David Tennant. Siobhan Finneran has remained the prison chaplain, Mary-Louise, across all three seasons.

Time streams on BritBox, while Nocturne streams on Apple TV.