Brit Noir and the Hinterlands of the British Isles

Using The Tunnel (2013–17) as an opening example, this chapter begins with the century-long discussion about the cognitive geography of the British Isles as connected to, yet detached from continental Europe. Before turning to three representative examples, we define Brit Noir as a complex and dynamic spatio-generic reference to crime narratives from the British Isles as a broad region, including Irish titles. Firstly, we analyse the BBC series Shetland (2013-) as a Scottish public service drama with significant attention towards the island peripheries of the Northern UK. Secondly, we read the Irish commercial series Blood (2018-) as family noir and a metonymic series from where the very local Irish periphery may be interpreted as representative for larger national and regional issues. Thirdly, we include an analysis of the Netflix series Stay Close (2021) as an example of how the global reach of the streaming service shows both an interest in tapping into Brit Noir for a local audience and, utilising Harland Coben’s US novels, using this as a model for reaching an international audience too. Lastly, we conclude by showing how television series may work as UK placemaking and to keep the UK together at a time of post-Brexit crisis.