Apple TV Plus has a brand-new crime thriller - and it's a must-watch

Apple has a knack of putting together top-tier TV shows. And its latest, Criminal Record, is no different.

Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo are detectives looking into an old murder case in Criminal Record.

Capaldi’s Daniel Hegarty solved the case years ago. Or did he? Cush Jumbo’s June Lenker has new evidence that suggests the murderer, who came with confessional and all, may not be the killer at all.

While this may sound like the stuff of a pretty conventional crime show, Criminal Record rises above the norm and constantly makes you question whose side you should be on.

This kind of next level crime show sensibility has seen Criminal Record get a pretty riotous reception from both critics and audiences. It has a 90% positive rating over at Rotten Tomatoes, and an 87% Audience score.

“Like a good novel, questions are answered in a satisfying manner. Nothing in life is entirely black and white, and Criminal Record knows how to dance in gray,” says ScreenAnarchy.

There’s a bit more going on in Criminal Record than the average police procedural, as the Irish Independent review suggests.

“Folding such heavy themes into a thrilling drama is no easy task but Rutman and his team work hard, and Criminal Record is a smarter, slicker series than most,” the review reads.

This one seems to be more of a slow burner terms of drawing in an audience, though. According to Flixpatrol, Criminal Record is the fourth hottest TV show on Apple TV+, and is only the number one show in two places: the UK and Swaziland.

The first seems an obvious spot for Criminal Record to pick up some heat, given the show is based in London.

Elsewhere, it’s being flattened by Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and For All Mankind. But we can’t get too upset about that given the quality of those shows.

Criminal Record was created by Paul Rutman, who picked up early credits in his career writing for some of the most-loved UK crime TV shows, including Vera, Lewis, Marple and New Tricks.

The first two episodes of Criminal Record started streaming on January 10, and the rest are due to drop one a week, up until late February.

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