Inside Man — how to watch, cast, plot, trailer and everything you need to know about the BBC and Netflix thriller

Inside Man - Stanley Tucci
Atkins Estimond (left) and Stanley Tucci (centre) in Inside Man. (Image credit: BBC/Hartswood)

Inside Man is a BBC and Netflix miniseries created by BAFTA and Emmy award-winning writer Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock).

First announced way back in March 2021, Inside Man sees him reuniting with the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. Together, the pair worked on some of the most highly-regarded episodes of Doctor Who including Blink and The Girl from the Fireplace for a very different kind of show.

It sees Tennant playing Harry Watling, a vicar from an English town who's life becomes tangled up with that of a death row inmate (played by Stanley Tucci), an investigative journalist, and a maths tutor in the most unimaginable way.

Here's what you need to know about Inside Man.

Inside Man release date

Inside Man was a big part of the BBC's Autumn TV 2022 schedule and is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer and on Netflix.

How many episodes of Inside Man are there?

Inside Man is four episodes long, and each episode is approximately one hour long.

Inside Man cast

Inside Man cast (L-R) David Tennant, Dolly Wells, Lydia West, Stanley Tucci.

David Tennant, Dolly Wells, Lydia West and Stanley Tucci (L-R) star in Inside Man. (Image credit: Gareth King (BBC))

Steven Moffat assembled a truly impressive cast for the series. American director and actor Stanley Tucci leads the cast as Jefferson Grieff, a US prisoner on death row who is the titular "Inside Man".

The original cast announcement also included David Tennant (Doctor Who, Des) alongside It's A Sin's Lydia West and Dolly Wells (Dracula, The Pursuit of Love).

Later on, we learned that Lyndsey Marshal (Dracula), Atkins Estimond (Hightown), Mark Quarterly (Cursed), Tilly Vosburgh (Maigret), Louis Oliver (Midnight Mass), Kate Dickie (The Witch), and Dylan Baker (Hunters) would also feature. 

Steven Moffat and his wife Sue Vertue (executive producer at Hartswood Films, the production studio working on the show) said: "This is the best ensemble we've ever had the chance to work with. It's a rare privilege to see scripts come to life as beautifully as this."

Inside Man plot

Not much was known about the show's plot as everything was kept tightly under wraps ahead of the Inside Man's debut. 

When the show was originally announced, Netflix's Chris Sussman said "it's impossible to say too much about Inside Man without giving away spoilers", and Director of BBC Drama Piers Wenger explained that "everything is in place for a series that will have the nation gripped" ahead of its debut.

The series revolves around a prisoner on death row in the US (the "inside man"), a vicar in a quaint English town, and a maths teacher who has somehow ended up trapped in a cellar, whose lives will somehow crossover in the most unexpected way possible. 

You can see some of the cast in action in the first-look images below:

Is there a trailer?

"Everyone is a murderer... you just have to meet the right person." Those are the chilling words delivered by Jefferson Grier in the Inside Man trailer, and the clips we see from the show make it clear that something is about to go very, very wrong for our main cast. Check it out below.

Who directed Inside Man?

All four episodes of the show were directed by Scottish film and television director, Paul McGuigan. He has previously helmed episodes of Sherlock, Marvel's Luke Cage, Big Sky, and Dracula and the BAFTA-nominated movie Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.

Martin Shore
Staff Writer at WhatToWatch.com

Martin was a Staff Writer with WhatToWatch.com, where he produced a variety of articles focused on the latest and greatest films and TV shows. Now he works for our sister site Tom's Guide in the same role.

Some of his favorite shows are What We Do In The Shadows, Bridgerton, Gangs of London, The Witcher, Doctor Who, and Ghosts. When he’s not watching TV or at the movies, Martin’s probably still in front of a screen playing the latest video games, reading, or watching the NFL.