How many episodes are in The Dark?

The Dark has 6 episodes in this listed season.

When does The Dark premiere?

The Dark premieres on 2026-07-12.

Is The Dark a new series?

The Dark is a new series (Season 1).

NEW

The Dark(2026)

Archived · ITVX

6 eps

S01

CrimeThriller

ON AIR: JUL 12Season 1Archived listing

What to Expect

PremiereLens read

The Dark is a Scottish rural crime procedural built around a staged body and the slow unraveling of a tight community once locals realize the killer is one of their own. The investigation moves through accumulating paranoia, secrets surfacing under pressure, and a cat-and-mouse pursuit that grows more dangerous as the body count threatens to rise.

Detective Monica Kennedy's past doesn't stay past. Her own history begins to corrode her judgment precisely when clear thinking matters most, and that erosion puts not just the case but her family in direct danger. The mother-daughter relationship gives professional failure a personal price, grounding the psychological pressure in something concrete and close.

Best for

rural serial killer, cat and mouse and Crime

Story lane

Crime and Thriller

Commitment

Season 1 · 6 episodes

Where

ITVX

Official Premise

When the body of a young man is found eerily staged in the idyllic Scottish wilderness, detective Monica Kennedy fears this is just the beginning of a terrifying campaign that will strike the heart of a rural community.As paranoia rises, suspicions and secrets are forced into the light, and the locals start to realise that there is a serial killer hidden amongst them. With her experience of dealing with the darkest of humanity Monica Kennedy quickly becomes entangled in a heightened game of cat and mouse with a cunning killer. Only she can stop this monster before he claims any more victims.But when her own history creeps up on her, she begins to lose trust in her own judgement. Will it be her own actions that are the biggest risk to herself and her family?

Watch Next If This Is Your Lane

Start with the closest match, then check out two more shows with a similar feel, pace, mood, or theme.

The Bombing of Pan Am 103

BBC One • Jul 30, 2026

DramaCrime

Based on the events surrounding the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. Lockerbie will focus on the investigation into the crash on both sides of the Atlantic and the devastating effect it had on the small town and the families who lost loved...

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Strongest Match

The Bombing of Pan Am 103 brings The Dark’s slow-burn dread into a real case, where grief and procedure tighten episode by episode. Expect methodical investigation scenes, small-community fallout, and a relentless search that keeps pressure on the people closest to the tragedy, darker and more historical than The Dark’s rural serial-killer hunt.

The Chestnut Man

Netflix • May 7, 2026

DramaCrime

The Chestnut Man is set in the quiet suburb of Copenhagen, where the police make a terrible discovery one blustery October morning. A young woman is found brutally murdered in a playground and one of her hands is missing. Above her hangs a small man made of chestnuts. The ambitious young detective Naia Thulin is assigned to the case, along with her new partner, Mark Hess. They soon discover a mysterious piece of evidence on the chestnut man evidence connecting it to a girl who went missing a year earlier and was presumed dead - the daughter of politician Rosa Hartung.

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Why this pick

The Chestnut Man and The Dark both thrive on cold, evidence-driven tension that keeps tightening around ordinary people. A grieving mother’s presence, restrained detective work, and dread that grows through physical clues deliver the same paranoia-forward pacing, but The Chestnut Man leans more Nordic noir and less rural-cat-and-mouse.

The Ridge

BBC Scotland • Jul 27, 2026

DramaMystery

Mia, a Scottish doctor, in trouble at home, arrives in New Zealand to take refuge with her sister only to find her sister has died. Shock turns to mounting horror as she's drawn into a small town's web of lies and secrets.

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Why this pick

The Ridge shares The Dark’s gift for turning a close-knit Scottish setting into a pressure cooker of secrets and suspicion. Quiet scenes, deliberate pacing, and an outsider facing disbelief create the same creeping paranoia, while the mystery stays more intimate and grief-focused than The Dark’s serial-killer chase.

Want the bigger picture?

Get recommendations from a show you love See 3 more shows like The Dark

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