Culprits is a darkly funny drama series on Hulu and Disney Plus that follows a good old fashioned British heist by a gang of misfits, who then get a deadly comeuppance over the eight episodes.
The eight-parter stars Gemma Arterton, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Eddie Izzard, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Niamh Algar. Created by Character 7, it has acclaimed executive producer Stephen Garrett (The Undoing, The Night Manager) and film-maker J Blakeson (I Care A Lot, The Disappearance of Alice Creed) among its creative team.
So here's everything we know so far about Culprits on Disney Plus and Hulu...
Culprits release date
Culprits had its world premiere on Saturday 7 October 2023, at the 67th BFI London Film Festival. The eight-part series then launches on Wednesday November 8 on the Star brand of Disney Plus in the UK and Ireland and on Hulu in the US also streaming from November 8.
Is there a Culprits trailer
Yes a trailer for Culprits by Disney+ and Hulu and it looks like a fun but tense watch. Take a look below...
Culprits plot
Culprits isn't your run-of-the-mill normal crime drama...there's a twist! The eight episodes follow what happens after a big heist when the crew have gone their separate ways.
Criminal mastermind Dianne Harewood (Gemma Arterton) brings together a hand-picked group of specialists to carry out the heist of a lifetime but the robbery is only the beginning of the story. After carrying out their plot, the group agrees to spread out across the world and live under new identities with their share of the loot, with no intention of ever seeing each other again.
"The idea of having a lot of money and the ability to become whoever you want is really interesting," writer and director J. Blakeson told us. "There are interesting moral and ethical choices that each of the characters has to make as they start a new life."
For one of the crew, Joe Petrus (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), the answer is surprisingly modest — three years later, he’s living in suburban America with his fiancé Jules (Kevin Vidal) and their two children, planning to turn a defunct hardware store into a neighbourhood bistro.
However, Joe’s plan to live the rest of his life in quiet anonymity is scuppered when he learns that a former member of the group has been assassinated in Italy, making him wonder if their getaway wasn’t quite as clean as they had assumed. Fearing that his cover is about to be blown and his family put at risk, Joe realises he has to return to the UK to track down Dianne and the rest of the gang.
They are then being targeted by an assassin one-by-one, so the question is... who's is bumping them off and why? Is there a traitor in their midst or is it an enemy from outside the heist gang? No doubt when the killings begin, the paranoia among the group is ramped up by the remaining members.
The eight-part series jumps backwards and forwards in time, flipping between the present day and the build-up to the crime
Culprits cast — who plays who
The Culprits cast is extensive. Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits) plays the lead role of Joe while Gemma Arterton (The King’s Man, Made In Dagenham) plays Dianne and Eddie Izzard (Stay Close, Victoria and Abdul, Six Minutes to Midnight), also called Suzie Izzard, is playing Vincent.
Other stars include Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Cruella) who plays Officer, Niamh Algar (Raised by Wolves) is Psycho, Kamel El Basha (The Insult) plays Youssef, newcomer Tara Abboud is Azar, Kevin Vidal (Working Moms) is Jules and Ned Dennehy (Good Omens) will play Devil.
Gemma Arterton on playing Dianne Harewood
Cuplrits star Gemma Arterton, 37 says: "I wouldn’t say Dianne is the villain of the piece, but she’s very cold, brutal and meticulous. She’s a super-smart, vengeful person, and quite different to anything I’ve played before. She’s a pretty cool customer.
"There were a few scenes where I had to explain the plan, like you see in all the heist movies,’ she smiles. ‘That was a new thing for me to do, and Dianne is very organised, which is so opposite to me. I’d just come off playing a big comedic character [in Funny Woman] so it was really nice to drop down into the cold, cold facts – Dianne just gets on with things.
"They’re all professionals, and they only address each other by code names so they don’t get too close to one another. But as the story goes on, certain things happen and people make alliances.?
"The preamble to the heist takes place all over London, so you see many facets of the city - grimy backstreet London and the polished, super-rich part! We’ve been to some very cool, secret underground places for filming.
"Culprits is not like your usual British drama: it’s almost comic book-like in certain aspects, and it’s high-spec - the visuals are very strong and everything’s elevated. It’s exciting to be on a par with the big American shows, and still be homegrown!"
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett on playing Joe Petrus
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, 37, told us: "There’s such an innocence to Joe. He wants normality and comfort, and by the nature of the world that he’s chosen to be in, he doesn’t have any of that. He yearns for the things most of us take for granted – family and security. There’s something very relatable about the simplicity of his dream."
Joe’s codename on the team is ‘Muscle’, and his character’s physical prowess meant that Stewart-Jarrett had a lot of action sequences to get stuck into. "Running around and doing loads of stunts is not something I’ve done before,’ he says. ‘I went on this physical regime because of what was required to play Joe, and that was wonderful. It’s such an action-packed show – I hope people are going to be entertained and have fun watching."
Behind the scenes and more on Culprits
Culprits is executive produced by Stephen Garrett & J Blakeson, created by J Blakeson, directed by J Blakeson and Claire Oakley (Make Up) and produced by Morenike Williams (Killing Eve). Culprits is a Character 7 production and is executive produced by Johanna Devereaux for Disney+
