The first series aired on ITV in 2020, followed by the second in 2021 (although the broadcast of the third episode of the latter was not broadcast until the following year). A third series was aired in 2022 (with said delayed episode forming part of that series, which required some scenes to be reshot as a couple of characters had been replaced). A fourth series was announced by ITV in March 2023.
The show provides examples of:
- The '80s: Invoked by the four main murder suspects in "The Man Who Wasn't There", all of whom are celebrities from that decade who are still riding high thanks to the profits of their heyday. Bonus points for one of them being played by Martin Kemp.
- Accent Slip-Up: In "Belvedere", Dodds becomes suspicious after an otherwise posh lady who claims to be from Surrey pronounces a word in the way a working class Northerner might say it. It turns out that she is actually from Manchester and is living in witness protection under an assumed identity.
- The Alcoholic: Jane, the Victim of the Week in "A Wilderness of Mirrors", is one of these.
- Always Murder: Yes indeed, although in some cases the Victim of the Week's demise is initially assumed to be something else (suicide in "A Wilderness of Mirrors", for example) although it's not long before someone (Dodds, usually) works out that it was actually murder.
- Artistic Licence – Biology: The biological information behind the title of "A Billion Beats" (that human beings are allotted only a billion heartbeats in a lifetime) is incorrect. With an average heart rate of 60 beats per minute and an average life expectancy of 70 years, anyone can expect their heart to beat over two billion times in a lifetime note .
- Artistic Licence – Sports: Averted somewhat with Team Addington, the Formula One team in "A Billion Beats". They are stated to be working on improving their pit-stop times, aiming to do one in under two seconds; in Real Life, the fastest pit-stops do take less than two seconds. Also, Watkins Glen really was used as a circuit during the 1979 F1 season (although as that circuit is over 200 miles inland, it would not be affected by coastal weather, as Archie Addington seems to imply).
- Awful Wedded Life: Al and Marielle, the couple who run the clinic in "The War of Rose", are going through a divorce. She announced that they were due to divorce in front of 200 people at an event where they were due to renew their wedding vows. It is implied that they have always been a Slap-Slap-Kiss sort of couple, but Al's infidelity led Marielle to initiate divorce proceedings.
- Balloonacy: Deconstructed in "The Man Who Wasn't There" as the murder happens when a hot-air balloon flight goes wrong — the suspects all claim that the victim actually jumped out in order to ensure that the balloon lost weight, thus saving their lives. A later attempt by Roy Gilbert to send Dodds to his likely death by launching him alone in a hot-air balloon is averted when several characters use their combined weight to stop the balloon from properly taking off.
- The Bard on Board: "The Fall of the House of Crockett" references King Lear.
- Batman Gambit: In "The Man Who Wasn't There", Roy Gilbert sabotages the hot-air balloon, figuring that one or more of Barbara, Gordon, Jackie and Mick will push Frankie Marsh out ... which is what happens. As Roy also happens to be the air accident investigator who gets assigned to the case, he's in a great position to remove crucial evidence from the crash site and use it to frame Mick, an experienced hot-air balloon pilot, as the saboteur.
- British Brevity: Two episodes in the first series, three each in the second and third (all episodes being one and a half hours long). Although owing to the afore-mentioned delay in broadcasting one of the episodes from the second series, ITVX (ITV's streaming service) lists the second series as having two episodes and the third series as having four.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Five years ago, Dodds helped catch a teenage robber. Dodds barely remembers the case and fails to recognize the thief when he runs into him in the present. To the young thief, Dodds ruined his life.
- The Chessmaster: Max Crockett in "The Fall of the House of Crockett"; he has been manipulating his daughters and their spouses for years, and does his best to obstruct and derail the investigation into a murder that we know he had a hand in thanks to the partial use of the Reverse Whodunnit trope in this episode.
- Comically Missing the Point: Dodds has no clue whatsoever about social media. His lack of knowledge of modern technology means that, when McDonald mentions Spotify
and Alexa, he has no idea about the former and assumes that the latter is a real person who lives with McDonald and her boyfriend. When McDonald mentions that she made said boyfriend give up his job as a barista due to a perceived lack of career development opportunities, Dodds is confused as to why she should have done this. Turns out, he is also unfamiliar with modern coffee-shops and so does not know what a barista is, and is therefore under the impression that she'd made him give up being a barrister (ie. a lawyer). - The Coroner: Appears in "The War of Rose", in which his verdict of death by misadventure in the case of the Victim of the Week turns out to have been wrong — triggering the murder investigation.
- Da Chief: Chief Superintendent John Houseman, who isn't fond of DS Dodds and is frustrated that DCI McDonald actually works well with him.
- Houseman is replaced in series 3 by Chief Superintendent Mary Ormond, who is much more supportive of both and clearly respects their capabilities.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: DCI McDonald towards DS Dodds, especially in the first series.
- The Ditz: A few examples.
- DC Craig can come across as this. At one point, he seems to seriously suggest alien abduction as a possible reason for how the Victim of the Week could physically get from where he was last seen alive to where his body was found in the short time-frame between those two events.
- McDonald's unseen boyfriend, who perennially gets locked out of their home and apparently thinks that there are two suns. While occasionally exasperated by him, she'd rather be with someone who's thick than someone who's unfaithful, which makes you wonder about the sort of men she'd previously dated.
- When it is pointed out in "We Need To Talk About Doreen" that Angela has the same birthday as Isambard Kingdom Brunel (which, as it turns out, is a significant plot point), she asks who he is, and wonders out loud if he was at the party the other night. It takes a lot of effort for her friends not to Face Palm.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: The murderer tends to be the one you'd least expect, or even someone you wouldn't have thought to suspect.
- That said, the writers rather gave the game away with the title of the Series Two episode "We Need To Talk About Doreen", which perhaps inevitably focuses the attention of the viewer on that character — who turns out to be the murderer.
- Played with in "A Billion Beats". Once the detectives run out of suspects, they discover a connection to the undercover policeman who has been assisting on the sides. They then realize that they are grasping at straws and re-examine their assumptions about the murder. It turns out that the real murder was the team owner who was a major character but always on the periphery of the investigation since he seemed to lack motive and opportunity to commit the crime.
- Taken to the extreme in "War of Rose" when the killer turns out to be the very last person one expected: the person everyone thought was the victim.
- Invoked by the killer in "Clouds Across the Moon" who confounds the police because there seems to be no connection that links the murderer to the victims and he can thus interact with the police without arousing suspicion.
- Driven to Suicide: In "Belvedere", Agnes Gillan comes to believe that son George killed Elodie. In order to protect him, she tells Dodds that she killed Elodie, but in front of no other witnesses so he has no-one else to verify what she said. Then, on the day of her 100th birthday, she kills herself — figuring that after her death, Dodds will simply assume that what she told him was the truth, and the case will be closed. Dodds, however, realises that she lied ... and finds out that George was not actually the murderer, meaning that Agnes's suicide was All for Nothing.
- In A Billion Beats Archie Addington's father committed suicide on Archie's fifteenth birthday, with the knowledge that the victory that shot Team Addington to glory having came about thanks to his son literally killing off the competition being too much for him to bear.
- Enfant Terrible: The killer in A Billion Beats is revealed to have first taken a life at fourteen years old (though he insists it was a case of Accidental Murder).
- Fanservice: Angela, the ditzy prime suspect in "We Need To Talk About Doreen", comes across as this. Especially when she's shown wearing a low-cut swimming costume in a spa.
- Fictional Counterpart: The West of England Police is this to the Avon & Somerset Police, the regional constabulary that actually covers Bath.
- In "We Need To Talk About Doreen", the Bath Eagles rugby team are this to the real-life Bath RFC.
- In "A Billion Beats", Team Addington is this to the Williams Racing, a British F1 team that first found success in the late 1970s (although that team is based in Oxfordshire).
- Fish out of Water: McDonald, who has transferred to Bath from London. Most apparent in the first episode, "The Fall of the House of Crockett", in which her strong-arming of well-connected suspects (one of whom is a local councillor who is on the police oversight committee) does not go over well.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: A couple of these...
- Frankie Marsh, the Victim of the Week in "The Man Who Wasn't There".
- Doreen in "We Need To Talk About Doreen" is treated like this by Angela, although the latter insists that she's her "bestie". Although in actual fact, Doreen is the one treating Angela like this.
- To a certain extent, Dodds is regarded as the colleague nobody likes by other police officers. In the first episode, Houseman makes it clear that he has been assigned to a murder investigation because he does not fit in at HQ (where he previously had a desk job) and that he should be persuaded to take early retirement. A few other colleagues appear to be of a similar view, although what Dodds did to antagonise them is not mentioned. McDonald, an outsider, takes a while to warm up to him.
- The Ghost: McDonald's boyfriend. Sometimes mentioned, usually in a way that makes him seem like a bit of a Butt-Monkey, but never seen. And never actually referred to by name, either.
- Happily Adopted: Dodds was raised by his aunt and had a happy childhood. When given a chance to find out more about his birth mother, he declines. His aunt raised him as if he was her own son and was the mother he needed.
- He-Man Woman Hater: A non-human example occurs in "The War of Rose"; Spike (the dog) only growls at women. Which actually provides the detectives with a clue regarding the "mystery nurse" who was in the clinic on the day of the murder.
- Hidden Depths: Dodds has an in-depth knowledge of women's clothing thanks to his having been raised by his aunt, who was a seamstress; this is revealed in "Belvedere" when he finds a hidden pocket on the vintage dress that the Victim of the Week was wearing when she died. Combined, unusually, with That Came Out Wrong as he gets a funny look from CS Ormond when he asserts that there's "nothing about women's clothing" that he doesn't know.
- High-Class Call Girl: Gender-flipped in "The Fall of the House of Crockett" when Jack Valentine is revealed to be a male escort who hires himself out to men for £200 an hour, or £2,000 for the night. According to dialogue, he started doing this as a student to make ends meet, and it has become his family's main source of income, masking the fact that the business he runs with his wife is a failure. For her part, she acts as his pimp, and thinks he actually enjoys it (which he denies).
- Let's Get Dangerous!: A downplayed case in the Season 3 opener. The team are persuing a knifeman and who disarms him? Dodds, with a swift kick to the kneecap after the guy gets up after Dodds tripped him. Justified as Dodds is a trained police officer and would have the ability to deal with the situation, but it does seem a bit out of character for him, especially given that he had a desk job for several years before being teamed up with McDonald.
- Indy Ploy: The murderer in "We Need To Talk About Doreen" always intended to murder Dominique in such a way as to make it look like Angela did it, but did not have a clear idea as to how she would do so — trusting instead that an opportunity would present itself and that, being smarter than everyone thought, she would be able to make the circumstances work for her. Which it, and she, did.
- Limited Wardrobe: Dodds's "rough terrain shoes", which he keeps in the boot of McDonald's car, look almost identical to his regular shoes.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: In "A Billion Beats", a racing driver was stabbed in the neck with the intent that he would die of the wound during a practice race and the subsequent car crash would hide the evidence. However, the driver instead died during a pit stop which meant that the police were left with clear evidence of murder.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Martin Silver, the medium in "Clouds Across the Moon", has quite a few clients who would appear to genuinely believe that he really can communicate with the dead. McDonald is most unconvinced, and when Silver claims on his website to be in communication with Hector Ingham (the second murder victim) before the police have even finished processing the murder scene, he goes to the top of the suspect list.
- The Mole: In "A Wilderness of Mirrors", Houseman suggests that McDonald uses DS Irene Ross as this by bringing her in as the "family liaison officer" for the addiction support group — all of whom are suspects. She's actually in league with them, though, which makes the decision to use her on the case a Contrived Coincidence.
- Montage: Dodds gets one of these when carrying out library-based research into Max Crockett's past in "The Fall of the House of Crockett".
- Mundane Solution: When the Victim of the Week's body is found in the Box Tunnel in "We Need To Talk About Doreen", Dodds spots a pentagram on the deceased's wrist and quickly concludes that this was an occult murder. An amused DC Craig points out that it's more likely to be a wrist-stamp from a Bath nightclub called Pentagram ... which is quickly shown to be the case.
- Murder by Mistake: A complicated double subversion in "The Fall of the House of Crockett". It's not long before the police find evidence that makes it seem like the victim was mistaken for Max Crockett (the two men were of a similar build, and the victim was not only in Max's house but wearing one of his suits and hats). Evidence, in the form of photos which connect the victim to the murder, is then found which indicates that the murder was intentional after all. Eventually, it turns out the killer actually did make a mistake but had been manipulated into doing so — Max had intentionally goaded her into killing him, in addition to which he set up the situation in which the victim would be confused for him, as part of a scheme to both be rid of the victim and get leverage on the killer.
- Mysterious Past: Dodds' history is vague, both personally and professionally. His mother was apparently in a mental health institution, although even he doesn't want to know any more about that. He had a wife who left him years prior to the series, but the circumstances of this are never explained. It is also never explained how he ended up on desk duty prior to being teamed up with McDonald, and nor is a reason given for Houseman's dislike of him.
- It is also never fully explained why McDonald transferred from London, although she hints that she did so as she would have had to wait longer for a promotion to DCI had she stayed; it is later revealed that her not knowing about her cousin's criminal past (and therefore not declaring it to an interview panel) was the reason for her being passed over for promotion.
- No Name Given: Dodds, who is only known by his rank (Detective Sergeant) and his surname; at one point it is even hinted that his initials might actually be "DS". We also have McDonald's boyfriend who, as well as being an unseen character, is never referred to by name. YMMV as to whether this is a deliberate gender-flip of the outdated practice of men referring to their wives as "the missus" or similar.
- Odd Couple: The title characters. DCI McDonald is a thoroughly modern, mixed-race, tech-savvy, smartly-dressed professional woman who's transferred to Bath from London in the first episode. DS Dodds is a local, set-in-his ways, details-obsessed middle-aged white man who dresses in dowdy clothes. Together, they fight crime.
- Playing Sick: Despite her age (she turns 100 during the course of "Belvedere"), Agnes Gillan is as sharp as a tack. Until McDonald has her brought into the police station to interview her under caution, at which point she feigns dementia. Whether her solicitor is in on the deception or taken in by it is unclear.
- Rail Enthusiast: In "We Need To Talk About Doreen", Dodds is revealed to be one of these; he's delighted to find a very detailed train-set in the house where the fatal party was held. Doreen is also much taken by it, although she has an ulterior motive for her interest.
- Raised Catholic: Dodds, whose beliefs still hold to the point where he and his ex-wife are not divorced (despite many years of separation) because they had a Catholic wedding; instead, he has been trying to petition the Vatican to grant him an annulment.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: CS Ormond, in contrast to her predecessor CS Houseman (who she replaces as of the third series). While she does go a bit Obstructive Bureaucrat in "Belvedere", she has good reason — it's because one of the suspects (who Dodds had come to suspect is not who she says she is) is living under a false identity as a result being in a witness protection scheme. And even then, she's prepared to back her officers until new evidence surfaces that leads the investigation in a different direction.
- Reverse Whodunnit: Partially done in "The Fall of the House of Crockett"; we know from the start that Max is in on the murder — not only is he the first person to find the body, he is seen to fake evidence for a break-in, in addition to stealing the statuette (to make it look like a robbery-to-order) and the victim's mobile phone (to hinder the investigation) before the police arrive. However, he has an unbreakable alibi for the murder itself, and the identity of the person who actually shot the victim is not revealed until the climax of the episode.
- Scenery Porn: So very, very much. McDonald & Dodds is set in the gorgeous city of Bath, a UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to its Roman and Georgian heritage. This is emphasised by the use of many of that city's landmarks — the Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, The Royal Crescent, Pulteney Bridge, etc — for street scenes and lingering overhead shots.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: At play with the Crockett family in "The Fall of the House of Crockett" — Max, the head of the family, is a rich man who is well-regarded locally, and one of his daughters is a respected city councillor who's married to a top lawyer. All of which makes him think he can arrange a murder and mess with the subsequent police enquiry with impunity.
- Sherlock Scan: Early on in "Belvedere", George Gillan — a professor of linguistics — pulls a verbal variant of this on McDonald, deducing exactly where in London she's from and what sort of school she went to by picking up on clues in her accent. She's unimpressed, although Dodds does comment on how accurate his assessment was.
- Shout-Out: A few.
- In "Belvedere", George Gillan refers to his South American travels, about which he wrote a book and gives public talks, as his "George of the Jungle adventures".
- "A Billion Beats" guests stars Paul McGann, Naoko Mori and Louise Jameson and has a few to Doctor Who, most notably Naoko's first line on entering the offices of Paul's character's business which is a dismissive comment: "It looks much smaller on the inside".
- Smarter Than You Look: With his dull dress sense and West Country accent, Dodds is an example of this rather than Obfuscating Stupidity.
- Smug Snake: Chief Superintendent Houseman — McDonald's boss in the first two series — comes across as one of these in addition to his Obstructive Bureaucrat tendencies.
- Special Guest: Or rather, a well-known British actor, and usually more than one per episode — Robert Lindsay, Hugh Dennis, Patsy Kensit, Martin Kemp, Rob Brydon, Sharon Rooney, Paul McGann, etc.
- Tattooed Crook: The victim in "The Fall of the House of Crockett" has the words "LOVE" and "HATE" tattooed on his knuckles, enabling McDonald to quickly deduce that he's probably done time in prison, meaning that his fingerprints will be on record and he can therefore be identified. She's right. Since this happens in her first scene in the show, it counts as an Establishing Character Moment for her, showing the viewer and the Bath police that this Fish out of Water from London knows her stuff.
- Title Drop: The title of each episode is worked into the dialogue of that episode, usually at a key moment.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Chips dipped in butter for Dodds. Unless they're oven chips.
- Urban Legends: Contrary to what Dodds says, it's not actually true that Brunel's birthday is the only day of the year when the rising sun shines directly through the Box Tunnel — although this is clearly a "fact" that viewers are meant to accept at face value as it turns out to be integral to the plot. In actual fact, the sun appears to do this at dawn on several mornings in early April — around the time of Brunel's birthday (9th April), but not exclusively on that date.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Max Crockett, whose public reputation as a genius inventor hides a strong manipulative streak.
- The West Country: Bath is in Somerset note , so yes. Dodds speaks with a mild regional accent.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: Most of the suspects in "We Need To Talk About Doreen" cannot remember what happened at the party at which Dominique was killed because they were all very drunk, having consumed some cocktails at a nightclub before going to the party where there was plenty more booze.
