Sartaj Singh
ITV has added another compelling police procedural to its catalog! The Cinemaholic can reveal that the network has greenlit ‘The Dark,’ a television adaptation of the popular ‘Monica Kennedy’ novel series by G. R. Halliday. Matt Hartley is on board the project as the writer, and he will likely adapt each of the three novels in sequence, beginning with ‘From the Shadows.’ The show will enter production in Glasgow, Scotland, in the summer of 2025.
The show’s first season revolves around Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy as she takes on a confounding case of a teen’s murder set against the stunning and atmospheric backdrop of the Scottish Highlands. As she appraises the mutilated dead body near the coast of Inverness, her finely honed intuition tells her that the killing is part of a case that stretches into the past and future. The boy had arrived home late and gone into his bedroom without so much as a word to his father, only to somehow wind up in the desolation of the misty coast. Despite being a single mother to a four-year-old daughter, Monica becomes far too involved in the gruesome case.
As the narrative progresses, Monica’s considerable skills are put to the test. Meanwhile, social worker Michael Bach is apprehensive about the whereabouts of a client, Nichol Morgan, whose only contact has been through an ambiguous text. When he reports the disappearance to the police, Monica breaks protocol and confesses that their resources are devoted to finding Robert’s killer. Still, she points Michael in the right direction and encourages him to follow the breadcrumbs and keep in touch with her. Determined to track down Nichol with the leads provided by the detective, Michael hopes to get to his client before the increasingly bold killer does.
Hartley is a screenwriter and director with immense experience in the thriller genre. He wrote and directed ‘Apotheosis,’ a murder mystery told from the unique perspective of the accused’s shadow, and ‘Cult Following,’ which follows a documentary film crew who gets a little too close to an evil cult in their occult investigation. The filmmaker also helmed the mind-bending sci-fi film ‘Silhouettes,’ which centers on an astronaut on the international space station being taken for a tour across time by an extraterrestrial presence.
G.R. Halliday is an author based in Scotland known for his crime novels, which include three ‘Monica Kennedy’ books and a fourth set to be published in June 2025. He is very familiar with the landscapes his characters inhabit as an outdoorsman who loves exploring the Scottish Highlands through mountain climbing and other activities. ‘The Dark’ will rely on atmospheric landscapes while filming in and around Glasgow. Other similar films and shows shot in the city include ‘Annika,’ ‘Taggart,’ ‘Crime,’ and ‘In Plain Sight.’
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