Kit Harington Is Coming To Netflix For His First Role After 'Game Of Thrones'

Some may say Netflix's trailblazing spirit of rethinking TV has gone by the wayside in recent years. The streaming service that invented the marathon-watch release schedule with House Of Cards and greenlit six seasons of The Crown in one go has of late seemed content to be more conventional. But those people aren't watching Criminal, made up of four interconnected series, each set in a different country: the UK, Germany, Spain, and France. Now, in a new announcement, the UK series will add an actor familiar with changing up television for the new season, as Kit Harington will star in Netflix's Criminal Season 2.

When each of the four series dropped their trio of episodes in September 2019, most of the marketing here in the U.S. focused on the UK cast, which featured Doctor Who star David Tennant and Captain America heroine Hayley Atwell. But the series was far more diverse that just that. Though the show creators and showrunners George Kay and Jim Field Smith were UK-based and the show was shot in Madrid, each portion of the series was acted and written by residents of the country it was set in. (For example, German writers and actors for Criminal: Germany, French writers and actors for Criminal: France.)

For now, only Criminal: U.K. is returning to the streamer for Season 2, but there is some good news, as the second season arrives with another cast packed with A-listers.

The new season sees no changes to the police interrogation lineup, which includes Nicholas Pinnock (Marcella), Katherine Kelly (Last of the Summer Wine), Rochenda Sandall (Line of Duty), Shubham Saraf (Bodyguard), and Lee Ingleby (The A-Word). But the suspects are a brand-new set, part of a brand-new crime investigation.

Of the new faces, Kit Harington is by far the best known. This will be his first television role since Game of Thrones ended in 2019, and fans are eager to see him take on something that not quite so sword-and-wolf centric. He'll be joined by Sophie Okonedo (The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses), Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory), and Sharon Horgan (BoJack Horseman).

Criminal Season 2 will follow the same structure as the first one, with the tale being told via an interrogation with the suspect and those in the adjoining observation room. As for versions set in Germany, France, and Spain (or even here in the U.S.), fans will have to wait and see what Netflix decides to do.

The second season of Criminal premieres on Netflix on Sept. 16, 2020.