Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger return for Strike series 6

Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger are returning for the next instalment of BBC One drama Strike.

Strike – The Ink Black Heart is the sixth story of the BBC’s hit crime series, based on J.K. Rowling’s best-selling crime novels written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

Tom Burke, known for his roles in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Souvenir, reprises his role as the private detective Cormoran Strike. Holliday Grainger, celebrated for her performances in The Capture and Animals, returns as Robin Ellacott, Strike’s partner.

The series also features a host of acclaimed British actors, including David Westhead, Christian McKay, Emma Fielding, Tupele Dorgu, and James Nelson-Joyce, among others.

Ruth Sheen returns as Pat, Strike’s office manager, alongside other returning cast members such as Jack Greenlees, Natasha O’Keeffe, and Caitlin Innes Edwards.

The series introduces viewers to a new case when Edie Ledwell, a frantic and dishevelled co-creator of the popular cartoon The Ink Black Heart, seeks the detective agency’s help. Ledwell is being targeted by a mysterious online figure known as Anomie, leading to a complex investigation after her murder in Highgate Cemetery.

Strike has been one of the UK’s most-watched dramas, with its previous instalment Troubled Blood averaging 8.4 million viewers.

Sue Tully returns to direct Strike – The Ink Black Heart, her third time working on Strike. Strike – The Ink Black Heart is adapted for the screen by writer Tom Edge (Vigil, You Don’t Know Me) who also adapted previous Strike instalments Troubled Blood, The Silkworm, Career of Evil and Lethal White.

The Strike series, originating from J.K. Rowling’s novels written as Robert Galbraith, has been a major success both on screen and in print. The books have topped bestseller lists worldwide, selling over 20 million copies and being translated into 43 languages.