Netflix has had plenty of big hits in the years since it first started to make it own original projects (both movies and series), but there's no doubt that one of its biggest was Knives Out. The superb mystery-comedy starring Daniel Craig already has one sequel with another on the way, but that hasn't stopped Netflix from keeping things moving.
The best way to disrupt your competition is to be your own rival, after all, and Netflix has a new series arriving this week that seems to very directly be inspired by Knives Out. The Residence will take a longer-form look at its own idiosyncratic detective, but you can expect similarly thrilling moments of deduction.
The show starts on 20 March, making it one of Netflix's most imminent launches, and will centre around a very, very famous crime scene. On the night of an important state function, there will be a murder in the White House itself, with countless suspects all milling around the place, from guests to staff and even members of the government.
It's going to be up to one key person to figure the whole thing out, sifting through mounds of evidence, conflicting accounts and dubious explanations – Uzo Aduba as detective Cordelia Cupp. That name is quite something, straight out of the Clue or Cluedo playbook as far as I'm concerned.
With the show now just a matter of hours away (even if it's quite a few hours), you can check out the briefing that Netflix has put live, which I've embedded further up the page. It gives you a look in more detail about what will unfold, including interviews with cast and crew members to explain how fun it was to work on the show.
Fun is the right word, in fact – The Residence seems to ooze fun from every pore, with a real sense of impishness in its script and direction. Here's hoping it can match the reception that greeted Knives Out. If it does, it'll leave Netflix in the improbable position of having two hit detective franchises to manage, which will leave its rivals jealous as they strive to be the best streaming service going.
