Zen

Zen is a British television mini series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the BBC, co-produced with WGBH Boston for its Masterpiece anthology series, Mediaset and ZDF. It stars Rufus Sewell and Caterina Murino and is based on the Aurelio Zen detective novels by Michael Dibdin. The series was filmed on location in Italy, but the dialogue is in English. The series, which comprises three 90-minute films, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sunday evenings from 2 January 2011 on BBC One. The three films were based on the books Vendetta, Cabal and Ratking.

Zen (2011) is a British-Italian-German television crime miniseries created for BBC One, adapted from Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen detective novels. Rufus Sewell plays Aurelio Zen, a weary, principled Italian police detective whose investigations pull him through a tangle of politics, organized crime and private betrayal. Caterina Murino appears as Tania Moretti, and Stanley Townsend, Ben Miles and Ed Stoppard fill out the principal cast around him. The engine of the story is Zen's stubborn pursuit of the truth in cases that powerful people would rather bury, with each of the three ninety-minute films following a separate investigation that deepens his unease about the institutions he serves. Filmed on location in Italy, the series keeps its English dialogue natural and its atmosphere grounded, with sun-bleached streets and shadowy offices carrying as much weight as the plot. Its tone is measured, melancholic and quietly tense, more interested in moral fatigue than in spectacle. Fans of Montalbano and Wallander will find resonance in its patient mystery, its wounded detective and its sense of a corrupt world seen from the inside. The run is a complete three-film limited series that resolves its central cases while leaving the protagonist shaped by what he has seen.

Audiences rate the miniseries positively, praising its Italian locations, lead performance and crime-mystery plotting.

• Montalbanoshared european crime procedural tone, flawed detective protagonist, sun-drenched location mystery
• Wallandershared gentle yet cerebral detective drama, mystery of corruption, British-led period-free crime plotting
• Inspector Montalbanoshared melancholic detective lead navigating institutional corruption and personal loss

Release Date

2011-01-02

Episode runtime

90 min

Rating

7.7 / 10 (50)

What is Zen about?

A Rome-set detective, Aurelio Zen, navigates corruption and murder in a three-film British-Italian mystery adapted from Michael Dibdin's novels.

What is Zen like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Zen as measured, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is Zen violent?

Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Zen as mild.

What did critics think of Zen?

Audiences rate the miniseries positively, praising its Italian locations, lead performance and crime-mystery plotting.

Which shows are like Zen?

Shows with a similar feel include Montalbano, Wallander, and Inspector Montalbano.

How long is Zen?

Zen: 1 season, 3 episodes.

Is Zen still running?

No, Zen has ended.

Where can I watch Zen?

In United States, Zen streams on Britbox Apple TV channel.