Characters
The fan archive starts with the recurring ensemble. Profiles are written as character guides, not copied biographies or publicity copy.
Recognise the role before the portrait
Original object-based identities avoid borrowed publicity stills and make each character’s dramatic function visible.
Recognise the role without borrowing a likeness
Crossword, notebook, evidence board, family objects and police equipment make character function visible without depicting the cast.
The Taylors & Betts-Taylors
The puzzle setter
Reclusive, pattern-driven and deeply uncomfortable with ordinary social performance — which makes impersonating his detective twin a spectacularly bad idea that somehow works.
The investigator outside the station
James's wife and John's co-conspirator. Lucy drives much of the search for James while John is drawn deeper into solving murders.
The missing twin
A Cambridge DCI whose disappearance creates the series' central mystery. The site treats every James clue as evidence, not licence to invent answers.
The son who notices
Lucy and James's son — and a useful reminder that the family story matters as much as the weekly cases.
Cambridge police
The colleague
Part of the MIT world John has to navigate while pretending to understand James's relationships and routines.
Senior command
A key figure in the police hierarchy, and one of the characters whose office design is part of the show's hidden-puzzle visual language.
The detective
A recurring member of the investigative team and part of the ensemble that gives John's deductions a real police context.
The detective constable
Another core MIT presence whose case work can eventually be indexed episode by episode.
New recurring faces
Series 2 broadens the recurring world beyond the original station ensemble.
Gareth Fisher
Newspaper editor, played by Mark Bonnar.
Joanne Kemper
Local MP, played by Sian Clifford.
DC Ethan Cole
Played by Ben Ashenden.
DC Caitlin Sullivan
Played by Rumi Sutton.
DCC Clint Radley
Played by Michael Wildman.
Guest-star index
Episode-linked profiles for the programme's unusually strong guest cast.