Cooper & Fry: First Look at the New Peak District Crime Drama
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Last Updated on November 5, 2025 by Stefanie Hutson
A former Doctor Who companion and a Downton Abbey favorite are teaming up for a new Peak District crime drama – and the first look at Cooper & Fry suggests a cozy-but-not-TOO-cozy mystery fans will want on their radar.
What is Cooper & Fry about?
Set in the rugged, misty beauty of England’s Peak District, Cooper & Fry follows two young detectives who could hardly be more different. DC Ben Cooper is a well-liked local, deeply rooted in the rural community he serves. DC Diane Fry is a guarded newcomer, transferred from Leeds under circumstances no one’s quite talking about yet.
The first case begins when a body is unearthed on a Derbyshire farm during renovations. Cooper is assigned to lead the investigation and, to his quiet irritation, told to show Fry the ropes of countryside policing. What starts as an awkward professional pairing quickly becomes a test of methods and instincts: his grounded, intuitive style versus her sharper, more defensive approach. As the series continues, their personal lives start to overlap and a wary working relationship grows into something closer to friendship – but never without friction.
Based on Stephen Booth’s novels
The series is adapted from Stephen Booth’s bestselling Cooper & Fry books, long-running favorites among British crime readers. Season 1 will comprise four feature-length episodes (each around two hours), each based on one of his early novels:
- Black Dog – A missing-person case in a Peak District village that exposes buried resentments and old tragedies.
- Dying to Sin – Sinister discoveries on an isolated farm bring local history and modern prejudice crashing together.
- Blind to the Bones – A disappearance tied to a close community where everyone seems to know more than they admit.
- Dancing with the Virgins – A strange incident near a prehistoric stone circle leads to a case steeped in local folklore.
The TV version keeps the core pairing of a local detective and an outsider colleague, using each case to probe both the landscape and their evolving partnership.
Who’s in it?
Robert James-Collier plays DC Ben Cooper, the affable Derbyshire detective who knows every back road and family connection in the area. Many will recognize him from Downton Abbey, where he played Thomas Barrow, and more recently from thriller The Inheritance.
Mandip Gill, best known as Yasmin Khan in Doctor Who, stars as DC Diane Fry, freshly arrived from Leeds and clearly carrying some baggage from her previous posting. On the surface she’s controlled and efficient; underneath, she’s wary of getting too close to colleagues or communities.
The show is produced by Clapperboard and distributed by STUDIO TF1, with Paramount UK’s Channel 5 positioning it as one of their key new character-led mysteries. The idea is very much “two strong leads, one atmospheric setting, and cases that feel substantial enough to fill movie-length episodes”.
When and where to watch
In the UK, Cooper & Fry premieres on Channel 5 on Tuesday 18th November at 8pm, with episodes airing weekly.
For North American viewers, no US broadcaster or streamer has been announced yet. Given how popular British crime dramas – and both leads – are on this side of the Atlantic, we’d expect it to land somewhere in due course, but nothing is confirmed. Once a US home and launch date are announced, we’ll update with full details on where you’ll be able to watch.
