BBC takes aim with Strike – The Running Grave

FIRST LOOK: Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger have reunited for The Running Grave, the latest, upcoming instalment of the Strike series based on JK Rowling’s novels written as Robert Galbraith. It is due to air on the BBC in 2026.

The seventh Strike story, this five-part series opens when Sir Colin and Sally Edensor approach Cormoran Strike (Burke) and Robin Ellacott (Grainger), desperate to reconnect with their estranged son, Will. The Edensors enlist the detectives to gather evidence to discredit the Universal Humanitarian Church, a religious cult who have indoctrinated Will and siphoned off his trust fund.

Led by the charismatic Jonathan Wace, the church is shielded by a charitable façade, celebrity backers and aggressive lawyers who have silenced critics. To investigate allegations of ill-treatment and abuse, Robin goes undercover at the cult’s secluded Norfolk headquarters, Chapman Farm. At the centre of the church’s twisted mythology is the story of the Drowned Prophet, Daiyu, believed to be divinely reincarnated.

While Strike gains valuable insights from former members on the outside, Robin finds herself facing unprecedented psychological and physical duress on the inside. Solving the mystery of the Drowned Prophet’s death becomes key to the case but leads the detectives into dangerous, unchartered territory.

The cast includes James Fleet as Sir Colin Edensor, Nichola McAuliffe as Shelley Heaton, Keeley Forsyth as Mazu Wace, Fabian McCallum as Will Edensor and John Lynch as Jonathan Wace.

Ruth Sheen will return as Pat, Strike’s office manager, alongside fellow returning cast members Jack Greenlees as Sam Barclay, Tupele Dorgu as Midge, Natasha O’Keeffe as Charlotte, Sarah Sweeney as Lucy, Ben Crompton as Shanker, Stephen Hagan as DCI Richard Murphy and Caitlin Innes Edwards as Ilsa.

Sue Tully returns to direct Strike – The Running Grave, her fourth time working on Strike. Her credits include Strike – The Ink Black Heart, Strike – Troubled Blood, Too Close, Maryland, Line of Duty, Tin Star, The A Word and The Musketeers.

Strike – The Running Grave is adapted by writer Tom Edge (Vigil, You Don’t Know Me), who also adapted previous Strike instalments The Ink Black Heart, Troubled Blood, The Silkworm, Career of Evil and Lethal White. Alex Rendell returns as producer.

Executive producers are JK Rowling, Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts alongside Nick Lambon for the BBC.

HBO has North American rights and Warner Bros is selling the show internationally.

tagged in: BBC iPlayer, BBC One, HBO, Holliday Grainger, Strike – The Running Grave, Sue Tully, Tom Burke, Tom Edge