Apple’s New Mystery Show Starring Harry Potter Alum Debuts With Solid Rotten Tomatoes Score

Harry Potter alumnus Emma Thompson is enjoying critical success in a new mystery series on Apple TV.

Thompson’s Down Cemetery Road premieres on October 29, and critics have thus far been positive about the show, which debuts on Rotten Tomatoes with a 75% fresh rating. Only 8 reviews have been compiled as of this publication, so the show’s score could still see a lot of fluctuation.

The series stars Thompson as private investigator Zoë Boehm, the main character in four books by Mick Herron, who in this story is hired by a concerned suburban woman named Sarah Tucker (Ruth Wilson) after a neighborhood child goes missing on the same night as a mysterious explosion.

Down Cemetery Road author Herron’s Slough House books serve as the basis for Apple TV’s Slow Horses, which just released its season 5 finale.

ScreenRant’s own rave Down Cemetery Road review praises the show’s cast and writing, saying, “Nothing is ever rushed or skipped over, and the thrills, while subtle, are all the more stressful thanks to the show’s consistent pacing.”

Other positive reviews laud the series’ leads, Thompson and Wilson, noting how well they work together, with one calling the pair “magnificent.” Some critics enjoyed the show’s twisty plot, but not all of them bought into the series’ thriller mechanics.

A few negative reviews are keeping Down Cemetery Road from posting a higher RT score than its current 75%. These critics call the show out for being predictable, even corny, and the very negative ones beat it up for what is deemed to be its forced feminist messaging.

Though the show may be too message-heavy for some critics, others call it entertaining, even if it sometimes stumbles in delivering its twisty plot.

Down Cemetery Road arrives as Thompson’s thriller movie Dead of Winter is hitting VOD, giving the Oscar-winner’s fans a pair of intriguing new projects to stream. Thompson’s co-star, Wilson, is herself a veteran of the small-screen, having starred in series like The Affair, Luther and His Dark Materials.

Thompson and Wilson previously starred together in the movie Saving Mr. Banks.

It’s yet to be seen if Down Cemetery Road will catch on with viewers like Apple TV’s other show based on a book series by Zoë Boehm creator Herron, but the streamer is certainly hoping for another Slow Horses-sized hit as they adapt more works from the man who dreamed up Jackson Lamb.

Slow Horses can continue for quite a while, as there are 12 books in the Slough House series, but any franchise built out from Down Cemetery Road will be more limited in scope, as Herron has written just four Zoë Boehm books.

The first two episodes of Down Cemetery Road are now available to stream on Apple TV, with new episodes premiering weekly each Wednesday.