Nicola Walker has built a formidable reputation in British crime drama, but one of her most distinctive detective performances is getting another chance to find an audience after becoming available on Netflix.
The Scottish-set Annika puts Walker at the head of a specialist homicide team investigating deaths connected to Scotland’s waterways.
Yet murder cases and spectacular scenery are only part of what makes it unusual.
Throughout the investigations, Walker’s DI Annika Strandhed suddenly turns toward the camera and talks directly to viewers — sharing observations, literary references and thoughts she does not necessarily reveal to the people standing beside her.
Some viewers have called the device “genius,” saying it makes them feel less like spectators and more like participants in the investigation.
Nicola Walker leads Glasgow’s Marine Homicide Unit
Inspired by the BBC Radio 4 drama Annika Stranded, the television adaptation first aired in 2021.
Walker stars as Detective Inspector Annika Strandhed, who takes charge of the newly created Marine Homicide Unit in Glasgow.
The specialist team investigates murders linked to Scotland’s waterways, giving the series a striking visual identity far removed from the streets and interrogation rooms that dominate many conventional police dramas.
But Annika is as interested in its detective as it is in the crimes she investigates.
Viewers are given unusual access to what is happening inside her head.
Annika talks directly to the audience
Breaking the fourth wall is common in comedy, but considerably less familiar in a detective drama.
Annika makes it one of the foundations of the series.
During cases, Annika will look directly at the camera and address viewers as though they are confidants following the investigation alongside her.
Those conversations can involve the case itself, but they also allow her to wander into personal observations and analogies.
One IMDb reviewer particularly praised the approach.
“I love that Annika breaks the 4th wall,” they wrote. “You feel as though you are a participant in the script.”
They also praised the analogies accompanying the episodes and described Scotland’s scenery as “breathtaking.”
Viewers call the format ‘genius’
The unusual storytelling device has become one of the most frequently praised elements of the show.
Another viewer described the series as the “best acted” they had seen and singled out Walker’s conversations with the audience.
“The way Annika shares with the viewer is genius,” they wrote, describing the series as both “endearing and well written.”
They even hoped it would eventually enjoy the kind of longevity achieved by Murdoch Mysteries and Midsomer Murders.
That wish, unfortunately, has not been fulfilled.
Annika concluded after two seasons, and it was confirmed in August 2025 that there were no current plans for a third.
A different kind of detective drama
Another viewer called the series “superb,” praising it as “witty and engaging” and a refreshing variation on the familiar crime formula.
They highlighted both the direct-to-camera conversations and the natural humor between the characters.
That lighter, more conversational element helps distinguish Annika from many relentlessly bleak murder mysteries.
The crimes can be serious, but the show does not require its protagonist to be permanently grim.
Walker’s performance allows Annika to be intelligent and perceptive while retaining an eccentric, humorous and deeply personal way of looking at the world around her.
The series became a major success for Alibi
The unconventional approach found an audience when the series originally aired.
Annika became Alibi’s most-watched drama for at least seven years, demonstrating that viewers were willing to embrace a detective who did not behave like the genre’s traditional brooding investigators.
Walker was already well known to crime-drama audiences, but Annika offered her a noticeably different type of leading role.
Instead of keeping the detective emotionally distant from the audience, the series effectively makes viewers her confidants.
The television adaptation moved the story to Scotland
The original BBC Radio 4 drama Annika Stranded was set in Oslo.
For television, the action was relocated to Glasgow while retaining elements of the character’s Norwegian background.
That move allowed Scotland itself to become an important part of the series.
Filming took place around Glasgow and the River Clyde as well as locations throughout Argyll.
The Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock was used as the Marine Homicide Unit’s headquarters, while Annika’s home was located beside Loch Lomond.
The result is a crime drama filled with dramatic coastlines, lochs and waterways that naturally complement the work of its specialist police unit.
Annika’s life away from murder matters too
The detective’s personal life forms another major strand of the series.
Silvie Furneaux plays Morgan, Annika’s teenage daughter, allowing the show to explore the challenges she faces away from police work.
Paul McGann also appears as Jake Strathearn, a child therapist who becomes Annika’s partner.
Those relationships give Walker material beyond solving weekly crimes and provide another reason for her direct conversations with viewers.
The audience is not simply following a detective.
They are being invited into Annika’s private thought process as she tries to navigate work, motherhood and relationships at the same time.
Only two seasons were made
The disappointing part for viewers discovering Annika on Netflix is that there is currently a finite amount to watch.
Despite the enthusiastic response and its earlier ratings success, the drama ended after two seasons.
As of the August 2025 update, there were no plans for a third series.
For newcomers, however, that also makes Annika a relatively contained crime drama to discover without committing to the enormous episode counts of long-running shows such as Midsomer Murders.
And its unusual storytelling device means it offers something noticeably different from the countless other detective series competing for attention.
For Nicola Walker fans — or anyone searching for a Scottish crime drama that does not simply repeat the familiar formula — Annika may be one of the more distinctive additions currently waiting on Netflix.
Annika is streaming on Netflix.