Strike: BBC drops first look at The Ink Black Heart - when it will release

• Strike will return with a new season as part of BBC’s festive line-up.
• The new episodes will adapt The Ink Black Heart.
• Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger return for the latest season.

The first look at the new batch of Strike episodes has been revealed - as the release date is confirmed.

Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger are back as PI duo Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacot for another devilish mystery. The new season will air over the festive period, it has been announced.

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Strike is part of the BBC’s Christmas TV schedule - joining the likes of Gavin and Stacey, Wallace and Gromit and Casualty. Here’s all you need to know:

BBC confirms Strike return date

BBC/ Bronte Film & TV/Rob Youngson

The crime drama will be back for its first series in two years this December. It will return on Monday December 16 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

The next episode will air the following day on Tuesday December 17. The final two will be broadcast on Monday December 23 and Tuesday December 24.

All of the episodes will start at 9pm, the BBC has confirmed.

Which book does Strike adapt?

The new series of the BBC crime drama will adapt the sixth Cormoran Strike book, 2022’s The Ink Black Heart. The book series is penned by JK Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

What has been said about the new Strike season?

In a synopsis for the new season, the BBC said: “When frantic, desperate Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn't know quite what to make of the situation. The co-creator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie's true identity.

“Robin informs Edie that the agency is too busy to take on her case and thinks nothing more of it until a few weeks later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of The Ink Black Heart.

“Robin and her business partner Cormoran Strike become drawn into the quest to uncover Anomie's true identity. But with a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to navigate, Strike and Robin find themselves embroiled in a case that stretches them to their limit.”

Will you be watching Strike this festive season - what do you think of the previous seasons? Share your thoughts by emailing me: [email protected].