Sky’s Iris Affair, the 8-part psychological thriller premiering October 15, 2025, has already set pulse rates racing with a trailer that’s racked 12 million views, plunging viewers into a vortex of chases and mind games darker and sharper than Luther’s brooding best, starring Tom Hollander as the enigmatic anti-hero whose White Lotus wit warps into wicked when a seemingly perfect affair unravels into a web of obsession and betrayal. Directed by Luther creator Neil Cross and penned by Bodyguard‘s Jed Mercurio, the series—filmed in London’s labyrinthine lots from January to July 2025—features Hollander, 57, as Dr. Iris Hale, a charming therapist whose “affair” with a patient spirals into a sinister game of cat-and-mouse, with Niamh Algar as the “hunted” detective whose pursuit peels back layers of “jaw-dropping” deception. “It’s Luther’s edge with a sharper scalpel – intense, inescapable,” Cross tells Radio Times, his atmospheric visuals amplifying a “breathless” gasp of guilt and ghosts.
The saga’s sinister surge? Spellbinding: Episode 1’s “The Spark” thrusts Iris into the fray, a “harmless” flirtation with patient Nora (Algar, The Virtues‘s vulnerable virtuoso) igniting a chain of chases through rain-slicked streets, where “mind games” manipulate memories and motives. Hollander’s Iris? A “masterclass in malice,” his wry smiles warping to weary watchfulness, unraveling a ripple of regrets where a lover’s “suicide” surfaces as sabotage. Algar’s Nora? A “vixen of vigilance,” her steely spine cracking under the creep of control. Co-stars carve the chaos: Siobhan Finneran as the “suspicious sibling” with a sting, Tom Burke as the “haunted husband” with a grudge, and Indira Varma as the “calculating” colleague with secrets. Mercurio’s script quivers with quips – “Affairs aren’t affairs if the heart’s not in it” – but the “brutal” brutality bites: A botched bedroom burial buries a body, a VVIP viper’s venom turns ally to assassin.
The “sharper than Luther”? Seismic: Mercurio’s adaptation amps the “pacy” probe with “spooky” soundscapes and “authentic” accents, Cross’s direction a “gripping” gasp of “grim themes” in London’s “eerie charm.” The Guardian‘s Lucy Mangan raves “very well-made, pacy drama” with Hollander’s “reliably likeable” levity; The Independent‘s Ed Power hails Algar’s “Icily Glamorous” iciness and the “understated and spooky” score. Evening Standard‘s Vicky Jessop praises the “overall confidence, style and authenticity.” Skeptics? “Mired in darkness,” but the 1-in-2 clue-to-cliff ratio hooks, BARB metrics outgunning The Jetty.
This isn’t whodunit wallpaper; it’s a web-weaving whirlwind, Iris Affair‘s affair a scalpel to the soul where loves lie and liars love. Iris’s intrigue? Insidious. Nora’s nerve? Nerve-wracking. October 15? Not a drop – a delirium. Binge it; the chases chill, the mind games madden. Hollander’s haze? Haunting. Algar’s acuity? Audacious. The obsession? Overnight, inescapable.
