# Code 404 (2020)

> A gunned-down undercover detective returns as a glitchy artificial intelligence and must hunt his killer while proving himself to a suspicious force.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/85725

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 18
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: science fiction, crime, comedy
- Network: Sky One, Sky Comedy
- Cast: Daniel Mays, Stephen Graham, Anna Maxwell Martin, Amanda Payton, Rosie Cavaliero, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Steve Oram, Emily Lloyd-Saini
- TMDB rating: 6.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9169784/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: witty, sardonic, bruised, playful, melancholic

## What critics say

Audience reception is mixed, with a moderately positive response to its blend of police comedy and science fiction premise.

## Synopsis

Code 404 (2020-2022) is a British science fiction crime comedy series created for Sky One and Sky Comedy, running three seasons of six episodes each before its cancellation. Daniel Mays plays DI John Major, an undercover detective shot dead during a botched sting, who is revived through an experimental artificial intelligence project and returns glitchy and unstable. Stephen Graham plays his gruff partner DI Roy Carver, and Anna Maxwell Martin plays Kelly, the wife whose marriage and trust Major must try to repair. Set in a near future Britain where police technology is still unproven, the engine of the show is Major's double task: hunt the person who shot him while convincing a sceptical force that he is still worth keeping on the job. Each episode mixes case work, workplace politics and awkward domestic moments, with the comedy drawn from malfunctioning software and a rough-edged partnership. Fans of RoboCop, Life on Mars and Altered Carbon will find resonance in its blend of near future policing, human identity and bruised, funny buddy-cop energy. The tone stays brisk, playful and sincere, with a quietly melancholic undercurrent about what remains of a man once he is rebuilt.

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