Mysterious World

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When the first season of crime anthology True Detective hit our screens, it was instantly hailed for its searing portrayal of two flawed detectives investigating child abuse and murder in the swamplands of Louisiana over a period of 17 years.

Quite rightly, the drama picked up a BAFTA for Best International Programme, while its leading men, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, both received Emmy nominations for Best Actor (though they lost out to Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston).

Although season two – starring Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn in a story of vice and corruption in California – didn’t scale the same heights, there are high expectations of the third instalment, which begins with a double bill on Sky Atlantic this week, as it returns to the winning formula of season one.

Created by writer-producer Nic Pizzolatto, the eight-part series features multiple timelines and follows Arkansas detective Wayne Hays, who’s played by Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, as he investigates a macabre case involving two missing children in the 1980s, with the mystery playing out over three decades.

The series is set in the Ozarks, a mountainous region that spreads over Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, and Pizzolatto says the backdrop is vital to the drama.

‘Having lived in the Ozarks for four years, I know the area to be extremely evocative, and I wanted to film there for a long time,’ he says. ‘I realise that Netflix drama Ozark is set in the region, but it’s actually filmed elsewhere, so this was our chance to show the place to the world – a bit like we did with Louisiana in season one.