Dept. Q at the Bloody Scotland Festival 

A conversation with Rob Bullock, Scott Frank, Matthew Goode, Alexej Manvelov, Kate Dickie and Leah Byrne 

It was back in June 2026 when it was first announced that the Bloody Scotland literary festival would be hosting a discussion panel with the Dept. Q showrunner and main cast on Sep 20^th, and what excellent timing because the event happened to be right smack in the middle of a two-week holiday in the Lake District I had already booked.  

A two and a half hour drive up to Stirling seemed perfectly doable, if perhaps not the sanest thing to do, but I’ve done crazier things in my life and this just seemed too good an opportunity to miss. Now that it’s been a week since the event, I can definitely say it was the best possible decision, because the drive went swimmingly, the panel was wonderful and I met some lovely fellow fans in person in the process. And I even got to meet the crew and cast afterwards! 

But let’s start at the beginning. The location for the event was the Albert Hall in Stirling, a venue close to the city centre that is known for hosting concerts, performances and community events. I got there early to meet up with Marie from Belgium and we started queuing up ahead of time so we’d get good seats since the event was sold out. Right there with us in front of the entrance doors were a lady from Spain and two other fans from Germany, incl. the very lovely lady running Matthew Goode Source . Some conversations ensued and time passed quickly until the doors finally opened. 

We found seats to the right of the middle aisle in row three or four, I don’t recall exactly, with a good view of the stage. We eagerly awaited the actual event, but first we were given a sneak preview of a crime novel from writer Alison Aitchison who read the first few pages of her new DS Tracy McGregor book to us.  

And then it was time for the Dept. Q folks to take the stage to the sound of a large round of applause from the audience! 

Executive producer Rob Bullock of Left Bank Pictures started it all off by introducing the esteemed guests: Showrunner Scott Frank and actors Matthew Goode, Alexej Manvelov, Kate Dickie and Leah Byrne – all mic’ed up and sitting down in their seats up on the stage. With the room well filled and the audience eager and engaged, the excitement in the room was definitely tangible. 

Rob had a list of interesting questions prepared, and for the next 40 minutes, we heard from everyone about their takes, opinions and experiences of working on the show. Everyone was very animated, there were lots of giggles and laughter, both from the audience and the guests, and atmosphere was very energetic and positive. 

The panel was being streamed live and recorded, so that people who purchased an online ticket could follow the whole thing from home as well as access the video for a limited period of time afterwards. If you’d like to read up on what exactly was said, I have put up a text transcript of the whole panel here, so I’ll just give you a brief summary of what was discussed below: 

• Origins of the adaptation: Scott explained how Jussi Adler-Olsen’s first Department Q novel reached him 15 years ago and why its combination of mystery, horror and the character of Carl appealed to him. 

• Journey to the screen: Scott told the story of how Rob approached him in 2019 to get the series made in Britain and how they relocated it to Edinburgh before its Netflix debut in 2025. 

• Casting the ensemble: Scott shared his view on the choosing Matthew, Kate, Leah and Alexej as actors, stressing that successful casting is central to directing and showrunning. The cast also recalled their auditions, calls with Scott and reactions to being offered their parts. 

• Finding the characters: Each actor identified scenes or experiences that helped them define Moira, Rose, Akram and Carl during filming season 1

• Writing and directing: Scott explained why he prefers to direct his own writing, how collaboration reshapes the original idea and why the continuity with actors matters to him. 

• Building the first episode: Scott said the “why” of a mystery matters more than simply identifying the culprit, and that strong character investment from the audience is essential. 

• Preparation and leadership on set: Rob mentioned that Matthew had fully memorised the first two episodes for the first read-through, while Kate highlighted that Matthew is an excellent lead actor who sets the right tone and helps make the production a positive environment. 

• Akram’s stillness and trauma: Alexej described Akram’s calm exterior as a contrast to Carl and as the character’s way of dealing with unresolved trauma. 

• Leah’s first day: Leah recalled intense nerves, over-preparing her first lines and learning from Scott to trust the writing and her own performance skills. 

• Developing Moira: Kate explained how her own love for flowery language and arachnophobia influenced Moira’s swearing and fear of spiders. 

• Why the series connected with audiences: It was discussed how the success of the series may be attributed to the Adler-Olsen novels, that layered writing is important to create emotionally engaging characters, while the mystery functions as the framework around it. 

• Season 2: Playful hints were given, saying the new season would build on what audiences liked in season 1 and reveal more about characters including Akram and Moira. 

• Edinburgh as a filming location: Scott discussed that he sometimes chooses to prioritise cinematic composition over geographical accuracy, adding that they expanded filming beyond Edinburgh in season 2 to include cities like Aberdeen. 

• Leith and local settings: As an answer to an audience question why they chose Leith as the location for Carl’s flat, Scott explained it was suggested to him and he liked it. 

• Humour during dark material: When asked how they deal with long hours and demanding shoots, the cast all confirmed that they get along great and that a positive atmosphere and support from a great crew helps them maintain levity on set. 

• Production design and sets: The Dept. Q sets were praised by the cast for their masterful design and extraordinary detail, crediting production designer Grant Montgomery and the wider art department. 

• Creative freedom at Netflix: Scott described a collaborative relationship based on shared intentions and trust, busting the myth that Netflix imposes specific creative direction or “Netflix lighting” on its productions. 

• Writing with actors in mind: When asked which deceased actor Scott thinks of when he writes his characters (a callback to a topic discussed earlier), he named Steve McQueen as the late actor he often writes for. 

• Plotter vs. Pantser: Scott confirmed he’s definitely a ‘pantser’ (i.e. flying by the seat of your pants) rather than someone who plots out every detail ahead of time and joked that he has yet to finish writing the script for the last episode. 

• Expanding on Moira’s character: Kate shared that the helicopter scene in episode 9 was exciting for her to shoot since Moira didn’t leave the office much. She also teased that we will get to see more of Moira’s personal life in season 2, including her home. 

• Rachel Irving: Scott confirmed that Kelly MacDonald would not be returning for season 2 because of scheduling conflicts with the HBO production Lanterns. 

• Book-to-screen adaptation: Matthew said the cast were asked not to read the novels because the television version was changed significantly and the scripts would speak for themselves. 

In conclusion, I’m very glad that I took the trip up to Stirling to attend the panel in person, not only because I got to ask one of the audience questions (the one about the memorable locations, which only Kate responded to), but also because the energy in the room was amazing and there was an albeit very brief opportunity to meet the panel members after the event. 

True to form, Matthew was animated and happy to have photos snapped with people who had come to the stage before he was ushered out. A few fans had assembled round the side of the building where the panel members were waiting to be taken back to Edinburgh. Everyone was happy to spend another few minutes to speak to fans and take pictures, which was wonderful. 

I have no selfies or photos of my own to show for since I prefer enjoying the experience with my own eyes rather than concentrate on capturing it on camera, but I got one of my fanart posters signed and exchanged a few sentences with Rob, Scott, Leah and Kate, who were all lovely. You can probably find accounts of the encounter from other fans on the various social media platforms if you care to investigate (e.g. Gina M. posting about her meeting with Alexej in the Nordic/Scandi FanFocus Facebook group). 

As for my own take-aways, and this is just my personal impression, I get the overall sense that there is very little interest from anyone involved in the production to connect with fans or follow how the fans engage with the series or the characters. I’ve been in fandoms where this has been considerably different, which is usually a lot more fun and engaging for the fans, but this may also have to do with the general policy of Netflix not to desire or have to rely on fan support, or perhaps also the fragmentation and decentralisation of fandom and the overall change in social media etiquette these days.

What I also got a sense of during the discussions is that season 2 will veer away from the content of book 2 quite significantly, and that very likely Scott only retained the bare essence of the story and changed many of the settings, environments and characters to fit his own version of the narrative – perhaps more so than what he did with book 1 in the first season. So for everyone who’s hoping to get a fairly close account of book 2, it may be helfpul to adjust that expectation. 

Last but not least, I would like to echo Rob Bullock’s statement that I’m very grateful that the panel members sacrificed a day off to come out to Stirling and share their stories and experiences with us. Even with season 2 is still being a ways away, it helped create some more excitement and buzz with the long wait between seasons. And although Scott seemed to be unsure of whether season 2 can replicate the success of season 1, I’m hopeful that he’ll deliver something gripping and suspenseful for us to dig our teeth into, come 2027.