The Long Call

Detective Matthew Venn returns to the small North Devon community he grew up in with his husband and begins investigating a murder whilst coming to terms with his own traumatic past, having been excommunicated by his family and the church community they lived in.

The Long Call (2021) is a British four-episode limited series created by Kelly Jones for ITV1, a crime drama built on a grounded police procedural framework. Ben Aldridge plays DI Matthew Venn, a detective who returns to the small North Devon community he grew up in with his husband and finds himself investigating a murder while confronting the traumatic past that led his family and the church community to cast him out. Pearl Mackie plays his junior partner DS Jen Rafferty, and Juliet Stevenson and Martin Shaw appear among the principal family and community figures whose loyalties complicate the inquiry. The engine of the story is a tense investigation pressing against a close village where everyone knows everyone and old silences run deep, so each episode peels back another layer of faith, belonging and grief. Set in the present-day English West Country, its atmosphere is brooding, intimate and melancholic, with a quiet tension that rewards patient viewers. Adapted from a novel by Ann Cleeves, it will appeal to fans of Broadchurch, Shetland and Unforgotten, who favor character-driven British mysteries where the crime opens onto personal reckoning.

• Broadchurchshared small community murder investigation with a detective confronting personal and religious past
• Shetlandshared British small town crime drama with a detective returning to a close community
• Unforgottenshared quiet British police procedural tone with grounded emotional weight and a murder at its center

Created by

Kelly Jones

Release Date

2021-10-25

Episode runtime

46 min

Rating

6.6 / 10 (32)

What is The Long Call about?

A gay detective returns to the North Devon village that excommunicated him to investigate a murder that tests his faith in his family and past.

What is The Long Call like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Long Call as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.

Is The Long Call violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Long Call as moderate.

Which shows are like The Long Call?

Shows with a similar feel include Broadchurch, Shetland, and Unforgotten.

How long is The Long Call?

The Long Call: 1 season, 4 episodes.

Is The Long Call still running?

No, The Long Call has ended.

Where can I watch The Long Call?

In United States, The Long Call streams on Britbox Apple TV channel, BritBox, BritBox Amazon Channel.