McDonald & Dodds: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

McDonald & Dodds is set in Bath and follows the wildly ambitious DCI McDonald, who is partnered with the shy, modest DS Dodds. While McDonald has transferred from the mean streets of South London to leap up the career ladder, Dodds has happily languished on the shelf for most of his working life.

McDonald is a tough, driven, battering ram of a cop who cracks cases through sheer force of will; Dodds – the tortoise to her hare – is quiet, unassuming and enigmatic. But thrust back into frontline action for the first time in a decade, he discovers a hidden talent for deciphering puzzles. Two contemporary Britons, seemingly with nothing in common, thrown together, boss McDonald and loyal sidekick Dodds forge a rumbustious, entertaining and ultimately – give or take a few setbacks – effective partnership.

Series details

• Title: McDonald & Dodds
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Crime
• Premiere date: 2020-03-01
• Final broadcast date listed: 2024-08-04
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Web channel listed by TVmaze: BritBox
• Typical episode runtime: 104 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.6/10
• TVMaze ID: 46337
• IMDb ID: tt10720914
• TVDB ID: 377023

Cast and credited roles

• Jason Watkins — DS Dodds
• Tala Gouveia — DCI Lauren McDonald
• Lily Sacofsky — DC Milena Paciorkowski
• Claire Skinner — DSI Mary Ormond
• Charlie Chambers — DC Samuel Goldie
• Jack Riddiford — DC Darren Craig
• James Murray — Chief Supt. John Houseman
• Danyal Ismail — DC Martin Malik
• Bhavik C. Pankhania — DC Lee
• Pearl Chanda — DC Laura Simpson

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2020-03-01; final listed air date 2020-03-08; episode order: 2.
• Season 2: premiered 2021-08-03; final listed air date 2021-08-17; episode order: 3.
• Season 3: premiered 2022-06-19; final listed air date 2022-07-10; episode order: 4.
• Season 4: premiered 2024-05-23; final listed air date 2024-08-04; episode order: 3.

Source and licence

Adapted from McDonald & Dodds on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.