‘Art Detectives’ First Look: Stephen Moyer Introduces New Crime-Solving Pair in Acorn TV Drama (PHOTO)

“What I like about Mick is that he’s kind of broken, but nobody sees it,” Stephen Moyer (True Blood) said of the art loving Detective Inspector Mick Palmer when TV Insider visited the Belfast set of Art Detectives last November. The witty and mesmerizing new crime drama, premiering on Acorn TV on Monday, June 9, centers around the Heritage Crime Unit, which investigates cases connected to art and antiques – with plenty of murder thrown in.

Our exclusive first look photo is from the series premiere, where lone wolf Palmer meets straight-talking Detective Constable Shazia Malik (Nina Singh, The Lazarus Project). “Mick sees in her a sort of ambitious, young, kindred spirit, and he asks her to come and join him. And it’s the first time that he’s sort of let anybody in,” Moyer told us after a day of shooting at the Ulster Museum, where he and Singh filmed a scene searching for clues around a crime scene dominated by a massive sarcophagus.

Besides Egyptian antiquities, their cases involve Old Master paintings, Banksy street art, medieval manuscripts, collectible vinyl, and much more. “Palmer and Malik are there because of what’s happening within the case of fraud or art, and they stumble upon things. Through good detective work, they find out that there’s a body,” Moyer revealed.

As the two tackle murder cases in the rich, colorful art world, which is driven by greed, obsession, lust, and revenge, Palmer also navigates a romance with museum curator Rosa (Sarah Alexander, Coupling) and the reappearance of his dad, Ron (Larry Lamb, EastEnders) — a notorious forger.

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But the detectives’ quirky and entertaining partnership is at the heart of it all. Moyer told us with a laugh, “Shazia is astute and active and smart, and she drives like a lunatic, which really scares Mick.”

Art Detectives, Series Premiere, Monday, June 9, Acorn TV