Best crime and detective shows to watch

New crime dramas to watch include Criminal Record, True Detective and The Way

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After the Flood

"The publicity made this one sound like a standard police procedural, with added water", said The Guardian, but it soon "gets really good". In the aftermath of a river bursting its banks, a murder mystery unfolds "sparked by the discovery of a man's body in a lift in an underground car park". At first presumed trapped by floodwater, the post mortem revealed that he died at least three days before that. Out to investigate is Jo (Sophie Rundle), a heavily pregnant police officer who "races against the clock to solve the murder case before her baby arrives", said Radio Times. "You'll want to stick around to find out how this messy business concludes." 

Where to watch: ITV   

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The Way

Making his directorial debut, Michael Sheen also stars in this three-part drama, set in "his beloved hometown of Port Talbot", said the Mirror. This "dystopian drama" is the tale of a Welsh family forced to flee their small Welsh town for the English coast following civil unrest, broadcast "just weeks after real-life demonstrations" in Port Talbot after Tata Steel announced its closure. Adding to the narrative is "skilfully used" archive footage. The first episode is "different and fresh", said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian, with a "slightly dreamlike (or nightmarish) off-kilter quality" that "surely makes you sit up and take notice". 

Where to watch: BBC iPlayer   

Criminal Record

This "gripping police drama" is centred on two "warring star detectives", played by Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo, in a "twisting story" that explores institutional racism, sexism and malpractice in the Metropolitan Police force, said The Independent. "Squaring off as adversaries", Capaldi and Jumbo are "mesmerising", said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. "If ever there is going to be an award invented for best joint performance, make it this year, for them." The eight-parter leads us to ask "whether we should hold officers of the law, and whether they should hold themselves, to higher standards than the rest of us". This, of course, "resonates amid the onslaught of real-life headlines about police corruption and disregard for (particularly women's) rights and safety". 

Where to watch: Apple TV+

True Detective: Night Country

Set in Alaska, north of the Arctic Circle, during the dark days of winter, this "spectacular, terrifying and unforgettable" fourth season of "True Detective" comes a decade on from the first, said The Telegraph. It stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as the detectives who, "true to all of the best cop-buddy pairings, loathe each other". This latest instalment, "chilling in every sense", deals with the disappearance of eight research-station staff, and is helmed by Mexican filmmaker Issa Lopez. "Minds are playing tricks, or maybe there really is some force – ambivalent at best, but most likely malevolent – stalking this town," said Vanity Fair. Lopez has "a notably different approach to the supernatural, a background motif of past instalments that here becomes a central theme", said Variety. Now

Kin

The story of drug-running Kinsella family, "Kin" broke onto the scene in 2021, boasting a stellar cast that included Charlie Cox, Aidan Gillen and Ciarán Hinds. As its title might suggest, it is not just a tale of gangland violence, but "also a finely drawn story about family relationships and how they split and distort under the pressure of their amoral trade", said The Arts Desk. "One of its most striking qualities is its self-assuredness", said Ed Power in The Irish Times of the first season. "A long way from thrill-a-minute", Peter McKenna's "pressure-cooker tale of dynastic rivalries in Dublin's criminal underworld isn't for everyone", he wrote, but it "has the confidence to tell the story it wants to tell – and in its own good time". Season two, which aired in Ireland last year and started on BBC One last night, has been a big hit as RTÉ's flagship crime drama grows in global popularity. Awarding it five stars out of five, the Irish Independent said with the second season "the best Irish drama series in years has just got even better". BBC iPlayer

Fool Me Once

Topping the Netflix chart at the start of 2024, this Harlan Coben thriller based on the book of the same name by the "master of twists and turns" is a hit, despite "negative reviews from many critics", said The Independent. Starring Michelle Keegan, Richard Armitage and Joanna Lumley, it focuses on a family trying to cope following two violent deaths, in "a plot that moves like a slinky on steroids", said Ed Power in The Telegraph. "This is not TV to watch with your full attention," said The Independent. "It is TV to watch while you think about that letter from HMRC, or you chop potatoes for your Sunday roast, or manicure your dog's claws." Netflix

Suburræterna

Serving as a sequel to the "immensely successful" three-season "Suburra: Blood on Rome", said TickerTV, Netflix's spin-off series continues the "gripping" and "gritty" storyline of the Italian capital's criminal underworld. "Spiritually", said Johnny Loftus on Decider, "Subterraeterna" has picked up right where "Suburra" left off. It extends the "Suburra" universe in "typically entertaining fashion", with lots of testing of family bonds, bold action on lasting vendettas, and an "overarching stretch of political theatre that reaches all the way into the Vatican". The city of Rome feels like it's "about to explode". Netflix

Irvine Welsh's Crime

It's another "cheery tale of sex, drugs, death and madness", said Alison Rowat in The Herald, as Irvine Welsh's "Crime" returns for a second season. Playing the lead role of DI Ray Lennox, Dougray Scott is the "best thing" in this Edinburgh-set thriller, "as he was in the first run". Fans of "gritty storytelling" and "powerhouse performances" should turn to "Crime", said Anthony Morris on SBS. But "don't let the generic title fool you". With a story by "Trainspotting" author Welsh and with Scott in the lead, there's "more to this TV series than meets the eye". ITVX 

Shetland

Described by the BBC as the "dark side of one of the most beautiful places on earth", Scottish crime drama "Shetland" is back for an eighth season and sees Ashley Jensen lead the cast as DI Ruth Calder, following the departure of DI Jimmy Perez (played by Douglas Henshall). Jensen's arrival proves the hit crime drama "doesn't need a leading man", said Jack Seale in The Guardian, especially when paired with the "brilliant" Alison O'Donnell, who plays DI "Tosh" McIntosh. BBC iPlayer

Lupin

French language mystery thriller "Lupin" has returned for a third series. Inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, the hit show created by British writer George Kay stars Omar Sy as Assane Diop, Netflix's "most suave gentleman thief", said Morgan Jeffery on RadioTimes.com. The first series of "Lupin" was one of the most successful ever on Netflix and part three is the "boldest and bloodiest yet", said Leila Latif in The Guardian. "Super-suave" lead Sy is "such a born action star" that "he could be the next Bond". Netflix

Top Boy

The final series of "Top Boy", Netflix's hit London street crime drama, has "gone down well with TV critics", said Paul Glynn on the BBC. This series picks up where the last left off: with the murder of an upstart who had been tipped to take over the drugs empire presided over by gangster Dushane (played by Ashley Walters). Now, Dushane faces further problems with the arrival of a crew of fearsome Irish gangsters (led by Brian Gleeson and Barry Keoghan). At just six episodes, season three is a "frenetic final outing", said Morgan Jeffery on RadioTimes. The swan song is "pacy and powerful", but "leaves you wanting more". Netflix 

Gangs of Oslo

Gangs of Oslo

(Image credit: Netflix)

What else does Netflix "have up its sleeve" to fill the void left by "Top Boy", asked Paul Speed on The Mirror. Well, "look no further" than Norwegian crime drama "Gangs of Oslo", called "Blodsbrødre". This show is a "rare breed indeed" – it's both "hard-hitting" yet "uniquely vulnerable in equal measure". Watch "Gangs of Oslo" now, said Ricky Gervais on X, it's "my favourite series of the year" and "up there" with "Gomorrah" and "4 Blocks". It's like a "Scandi" version of "The Wire". Netflix 

Hijack

This "intense" Apple TV+ series is set in "real time", said Alan Sepinwall in Rolling Stone, and sees Idris Elba’s "ace negotiator" navigate a hijacked flight from Dubai to London. Created by George Kay ("Lupin") and Jim Field Smith ("Litvinenko"), "Hijack" is "no-frills fun", said Angie Han in The Hollywood Reporter. Its premise is "as straightforward as its title", and were it not for, "you know, its terror-at-35,000-feet concept", the "24"-style seven-hour mini-series would be the "TV equivalent" of a classic plane read: "slick, exciting, unfussy". As it stands, it’s "ideal for a lazy weekend planted firmly on the couch". Apple TV+

Wolf

Based on the book by Mo Hayder, "Wolf" is easily "the most harrowing thing I’ve had to watch" in years, said Sean O’Grady in The Independent. The drama centres around Jack Caffery (Ukweli Roach), a young detective haunted by his brother’s abduction when they were children. As he tries to get to the bottom of what happened, he gets entangled in the kidnap and torture of a well-off family at their Welsh holiday home. "Appalling violence of an apparently motiveless kind is a leitmotif", but the series is worth sticking with – provided "you’ve the stomach for a fright". BBC iPlayer

Annika

The second series of this Scottish cop drama sees the "excellent" Nicola Walker return as "wry" homicide detective Annika Strandhed, said Phil Harrison in The Guardian. Inspired by BBC Radio 4's audio drama "Annika Stranded", the show revolves around the fictional Glasgow-based "Marine Homicide Unit", said Patrick Cremona on RadioTimes.com, who are  "tasked with solving various gory crimes". Alibi

The Sixth Commandment

Starring Timothy Spall and Anne Reid, this four-part true crime drama on the BBC explores the deaths of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin in the village of Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, and the events that unfolded over the following years. Screenwriter Sarah Phelps gives a "rigorously respectful retelling" of the true story of the victims and their connection to murderer Ben Field, said Ed Power in The Daily Telegraph. Made with the blessing of the families, this series "refuses to be dazzled" by its killer – and "never forgets his victims". It's "hard to imagine" better television – "more dignified, more noticing" – than "The Sixth Commandment", said Rachel Cooke in The Observer, and Spall's "extraordinary" performance "lifts" it to a "different level". Even "if you hate" true crime, you should watch. BBC iPlayer

Steeltown Murders

Philip Glenister ("Life On Mars") and Steffan Rhodri ("Gavin & Stacey") lead the cast of the BBC's "prestige drama", said David Craig on RadioTimes.com. Set in both 1973 and the early 2000s, "Steeltown Murders" centres on the hunt for the killer of three young women in the Port Talbot area. It also tells the story of how – in the first case of its kind – the mystery was solved almost 30 years later using pioneering DNA evidence. The hunt for the "Saturday Night Strangler" could not be more "timely TV", said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian.This "illuminating" four-part series and its "deep dive" into police venality "really hits a nerve". BBC iPlayer

Poker Face

Showing in the UK on Sky Max and streaming series NOW, "Poker Face" is Peacock's "first truly great original series", said Charles Pulliam-Moore on The Verge. Chronicling the adventures of Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), an "industrious former poker player" who is "definitely not a cop", this series is "aflush with intrigue, great storytelling, and a constellation of knockout guest stars". Following the success of his "Knives Out" and "Glass Onion" movies, director Rian Johnson has become "synonymous with the murder mystery genre", said Max Covill on RogerEbert.com. And with his first television series, Johnson "pays homage" to another classic murder mystery format: "the crime-of-the-week shows that were popular in the '70s and '80s". Those shows "relied on audience connection with a charismatic crime-solving star", and Johnson finds his in Lyonne. They make a "perfect team". Sky Max and NOW

The Nurse

If you're in the mood for a "chilling true crime drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end", then look no further than "The Nurse", said Morgan Cormack on RadioTimes.com. This Danish thriller comes from the producers of another "chilling streamer hit", "The Chestnut Man". Much like "The Good Nurse" before it, the Scandi mini-series "dramatises the disturbing true story of one nurse's connection to a series of deaths at her hospital and how her crimes were brought to light", said Rebecca Cook on Digital Spy. Netflix

Blue Lights

The BBC's six-part cop drama thriller is a cracker. Written by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, "Blue Lights" doesn't have "a duff line or an overcooked scene", said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. The drama centres on three rookie constables in Belfast negotiating their more experienced colleagues on one side, the city's criminals on the other, and dodgy intelligence officers in between. BBC iPlayer

The Night Agent

This political thriller, based on Matthew Quirk's 2012 novel, is "propulsive, slicker-than-slick fun", said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. FBI agent Peter Sutherland (played by Gabriel Basso) saves a bunch of "ordinary joes" from a bomb on a subway train. Then he's put on desk duties in the basement of the White House, "doing admin while he waits by a helpline phone that undercover operatives can call to let the powers-that-be know they are in trouble". Netflix

Six Four

"How do you create a unique police drama nowadays?" asked Charlotta Billstrom in the Evening Standard. With the "ever-growing choice" of streaming platforms comes an "equal amount of crime shows". But this glut "isn't necessarily a bad thing", especially when the set-up is "as juicy as the one" in "Six Four". Inspired by Hideo Yokoyama's best-selling novel by the same name and set in Glasgow, it "follows a story of corruption, kidnappings and an uncompromising search for the truth". Kevin McKidd ("Grey's Anatomy") and Vinette Robinson ("Sherlock") star. ITVX

A Town Called Malice

The 1980s "sound like a great time to be a criminal" – especially in the world of "A Town Called Malice", said Vicky Jessop in the Evening Standard. The premise of the Sky Max show is that the police are "spectacularly incompetent", the outfits are "fabulous" and the music is "banging". And at the "first whiff of the law", you can "scarper off to Spain to avoid extradition entirely". This cocktail of crime thriller and family saga follows the Lords – a family of south London gangsters who've fallen to the bottom of the criminal food chain – and they're not happy about it. Sky Max

Redemption

In this six-part crime drama set in Dublin, DI Colette Cunningham (played by Paula Malcomson) is determined to get to the truth when her long-estranged daughter is found dead. "Redemption" offers "all the tropes of crime drama we know and love", said Kate Rice in the Evening Standard. While it is "by no means revolutionary", it' s a "worthwhile contribution" to the much-loved genre. ITVX

Unforgotten

Season five of "Unforgotten" was released on ITV and even without Nicola Walker, the "much-loved gaffer" who was "killed off at the end of the last series", it is still a "cracking" crime drama, said Rebecca Nicholson in The Guardian. Starring Sinéad Keenan and Sanjeev Bhaskar, Chris Lang's show is as "taut and tense and pleasurable as ever". ITVX

The Gold

BBC One's six-part crime drama "bubbles away with the vigour of a red-hot crucible", said Nick Hilton in The Independent. Its subject is the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, when a gang of thieves broke into a depot near Heathrow expecting to steal £1m in foreign currency, but found £26m in gold bullion instead. The heist itself is swiftly dealt with: it's what happened next that interests writer Neil Forsyth. The thieves turn to Kenneth Noye (Jack Lowden) to fence the gold; he enlists a smelter (Tom Cullen), a crooked businessman (Sean Harris) and a dodgy solicitor (Dominic Cooper) to help. Can they outwit the law, in the form of DCI Brian Boyce (Hugh Bonneville)? "Filled with twists and turns, and a cast who veer between likeable and villainous, "The Gold" is pure primetime fun." BBC iPlayer

Happy Valley

"Can it really be seven years" since the last season of "Happy Valley"? "It doesn't feel that way", said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph,"and yet the sweet little boy who played Sergeant Catherine Cawood's grandson is now a lanky teen", and Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), who was "once a skinhead", has spent so long in jail that he now resembles "an errant member of Aerosmith". All other aspects of the BBC series, though, are unchanged: the characters and sense of place remain rock solid, and Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) is still "one of television's finest creations". At the start of this third and final series, when Cawood is about to retire, human remains have been found in a reservoir. The discovery will bring her back into the orbit of the psychopath Royce, though not especially quickly: writer Sally Wainwright "takes her time" in building the plot and introducing her characters, without leaving us in any doubt that she's still the finest writer working in British television today. BBC iPlayer

Kaleidoscope

New heist series "Kaleidoscope" represents "nothing less than a bold new vision of storytelling", said Stuart Heritage in The Guardian. There are eight episodes in total, "but here's the thing", you can watch them "in any order you like". In fact there are "40,320 ways" to watch the show. Giancarlo Esposito, Jai Courtney, Tati Gabrielle and Rufus Sewell star. Netflix

Kleo

If you're "pining for more 'Killing Eve'", then this German thriller "may be the next best thing", said Wired. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, a former East German spy sets out to find out who betrayed her and why, using her deadly skills to exact revenge. A second season is coming in 2024, "so now's a perfect chance to catch up". Netflix

Slow Horses

Directed by Jeremy Lovering, Apple TV+'s drama stars Gary Oldman as the spy boss Jackson Lamb. Slow Horses is, by my reckoning, "the best reason there is for remembering whether you have an Apple TV+ password", said Hugo Rifkind in The Times. Yes, the plots are convoluted, "but the characters are crystal clear and the dialogue just sings". Oldman isn't the only draw, either: there is also Kristin Scott Thomas as a well-groomed spy supremo. Apple TV+

A Spy Among Friends

Roger Allam stars as investigative judge Antoine Verlaque, who along with his partner Marine Bonnet (Nancy Carroll), unpick the murders, mysteries, and dark underbelly of their idyllic home in the south of France. Adapted from the Verlaque and Bonnet novels by Canadian author M.L. Longworth, the role of the judge "could almost have been created for Allam", said Sean O'Grady in The Independent.  He makes this great drama "sublime". With three two-hour episodes, "Murder in Provence" is "chic, sun-dappled" and set in France, yet it is the "most English drama on TV", said Anita Singh in The Telegraph. The "beautiful backdrops" of Aix-en-Provence are "more scintillating than the pedestrian plots", but Allam is "as watchable as ever". ITVX

Black Bird

Taron Egerton as Jimmy Keene in Black Bird

Taron Egerton as Jimmy Keene in Black Bird
(Image credit: Apple TV+)

The premise of "Black Bird" is so neat, it sounds like something dreamed up by scriptwriters; but in fact, it's rooted in a true story, said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) lived the high life as a drug dealer, until he was caught, and given a 10-year jail term. Then the FBI offered him a deal: if he elicited a confession from a suspected serial killer, he could walk free. Keene agreed to the challenge, and over six episodes, we find out if he pulled it off. The Apple TV+ show weaves together two timelines: Keene's dealings with the killer, Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser); and the investigation into Hall. The most moving performance comes from Ray Liotta in his final TV role: his turn as Jimmy's "regret-filled father" is a powerful testament to his range as an actor. Apple TV+

Sherwood

James Graham's six-part BBC drama is the television equivalent of "bowling a strike", said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. "Everything you could hope for is here": a writer who knows the "setting and themes in his bones"; a dream cast; and "beautiful" direction, by Lewis Arnold and Ben A. Williams. The story draws on two real-life murders that took place in Nottinghamshire in 2004, close to where Graham grew up. Alun Armstrong plays Gary, an ex-miner who is killed by a crossbow bolt not far from the home he shares with his wife (Lesley Manville). When local detective Ian (David Morrissey) is tasked with solving the murder, it seems straightforward enough – until he learns that Gary's arrest records have been "inexplicably redacted". BBC iPlayer

Peaky Blinders

With its sixth and final season, "Peaky Blinders" bowed out in "a blaze of glory" in April 2022, said Michael Hogan in The Guardian. The epic gangster saga left "plenty of feuds for the future", so "see you on the big screen, Peakys". Starring Cillian Murphy as crime boss Tommy Shelby, the show has been an "absolute British triumph of television" and "one of the best things the BBC has made in years", said Marc Chacksfield on Shortlist.  "If 'Gangs of New York' had a sequel and that sequel was set in Birmingham, this is what it would be." BBC iPlayer

Killing Eve

Another TV smash hit, "Killing Eve", also came to an end in 2022. Starring Jodie Comer as psychopathic Villanelle and Sandra Oh as intelligence agent Eve Polastri, the show is "funny, sexy and the source of numerous already brilliant actors' best work", said Jack Seale in The Guardian. After four seasons of "cat-and-mouse" between Villanelle and Eve, it doesn't mean fans have seen the last of the two characters, said Kadin Burnett on Bustle. "AMC is working closely with 'Killing Eve' producers Sid Gentle Films to produce potential spinoffs to expand the show". BBC iPlayer

Trigger Point

Vicky McClure stars in this ITV police drama. Full of bomb factories and banter, "Trigger Point" is "utterly preposterous", but "what a blast", said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. "Just go in thinking CSI: Peckham or Line of Bomb Duty and you'll have a great time. " From the makers of "Line of Duty", Jed Mercurio's fingerprints are "all over this explosive thriller", said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. But despite the "identikit casting", this turns out to be a different show. ITVX

Landscapers

"Landscapers" "shouldn't work", said Barbara Ellen in The Observer. Sky Atlantic's four-part drama is pretentious, wayward, hyper-conceptual; it breaks all the rules of true crime, "including the good ones". And yet it's also extraordinary and disquieting: "television as art". Olivia Colman and David Thewlis star as real-life couple Susan and Christopher Edwards, the "Mansfield murderers" who, in 1998, killed Susan's parents and buried them in a garden. They then used their money to buy celebrity memorabilia, while spinning a web of lies explaining their disappearance. We meet the killers in France, where they're on the run. Their cocoon seems on the verge of shattering, and it does. The show then becomes a "writhing screen-Hydra" of techniques and moods, from black-and-white court scenes to a Western sequence. Apple TV+

Time

Jimmy McGovern's three-part BBC prison drama "Time" is "just about perfect", said Hugo Rifkind in The Times. It stars Sean Bean as a middle-class teacher, Mark, jailed for causing a death through drink driving, and Stephen Graham as a prison guard, Eric. Mark is an older man guilt-stricken about his crime, and is "immediately clocked as a victim by vicious young inmate bullies"; Eric is a decent person coerced into bringing in drugs by a gang. A common theme unites their stories and a handful of equally "deft" subplots: how is it possible "to atone for past inhumanity" in a system that "perpetuates inhumanity anew"? The acting is superb, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian, and the drama becomes more moving and "enraging" at every turn. "Time well spent." BBC iPlayer

Showtrial

"Showtrial" starts, of course, with a murder: Hannah (Abra Thompson) is a student, found dead after a ball in Bristol. Chief among the suspects is her ex-friend Talitha Campbell (Celine Buckens) – rich, arrogant and "deeply unpleasant to everyone she meets", said Alison Rowat in The Herald. "I thought it was great," said Hugo Rifkind in The Times. Away from the students, much of the drama concerns technical wranglings between the police and the Crown Prosecution Service; there's also an abuse storyline and a "grief subplot" centring on the victim's mother. All these strands could have stood alone, but here they are "twisted together". It's Buckens, though, who steals the show, turning in a mesmerising performance "right on the edge of ham" as a rich kid with emerald nails "clearly destined to break". BBC iPlayer

Mare of Easttown

Kate Winslet is mesmerising in HBO crime drama "Mare of Easttown", said Carol Midgley in The Times. Make-up-free and "permanently sour-faced", she plays Mare Sheehan, an "unhappy, junk-food-eating" detective in a small Pennsylvania town that "reeks of poverty and dead ends". At the outset, she's working on the case of a 19-year-old woman who disappeared a year ago. And then the body of another teenager, a young mother, is found. Written by Pennsylvania native Brad Ingelsby, this is "a perfectly conjured study of a community", said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian, focusing as much on how the locals endure these terrible events as on the process of finding the culprits. Everything and everyone feels "real", and you care about "every tiny part" – not least Mare's new relationship with an author and college lecturer, played by Guy Pearce, whom she picks up in a bar. Sky Atlantic

Line of Duty

Kelly Macdonald, known for "Trainspotting", joined the cast for the sixth and final series of "Line of Duty". Macdonald plays DCI Joanne Davidson, a "senior investigating officer of an unsolved murder, whose unconventional conduct raises suspicions at AC-12". Martin Compston (DS Steve Arnott), Vicky McClure (DS Kate Fleming) and Adrian Dunbar (Superintendent Ted Hastings) reprise their roles as the key investigators. BBC iPlayer

The Serpent

True-crime drama "The Serpent" helped give BBC iPlayer viewing figures a "dramatic boost" when it was released in early 2021, said Digital Spy. It tells the disturbing real-life story of Charles Sobhraj, the chief suspect in a series of "grisly unsolved murders of attractive young female backpackers across Asia in the mid-1970s", Dead Good reported. Netflix

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