McDonald & Dodds series 3 once again stars Tala Gouveia and Jason Watkins as the unlikely detective duo. Returning to ITV for a third season, in the summer of 2022, the four-part drama follows DCI McDonald and DS Dodds in Bath as they tackle more intriguing mysteries. They are now joined by a new boss, Chief Superintendent Ormond, played by Outnumbered actress Claire Skinner.
McDonald & Dodds series 3 kicks off with the baffling case of a young woman who dies in a deckchair in the middle of a busy park, with a strange smile on her face. As always the show boasts an impressive array of guest stars, including Siân Phillips, ex Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley and comedian Alan Davies.
“It’s just delightful to be back,’ says Jason Watkins, who plays bumbling genius Dodds. "He's such a great character to play, I always enjoy it. He’s such an interesting man – seemingly quite straight-forward, but actually rather complicated and I think audiences enjoy that about him. He's often the one who you think is least likely to solve the case and yet he ends up having the little bit of insight that cracks it. It's great to go back to Bath again and it’s always a joy to see what's happening in the next script. It’s a nice feeling that the show is finding its audience, it’s sold in 120 different countries now and that’s a compliment to everyone's hard work. We're not complacent, we know what the strength of this show is, but it's a matter of looking after it...”
Tala Gouveia adds: "It’s a really great season, and it was so much fun to film. The second film is based around Formula 1 — there’s a murder in a race and it’s all set in that world, it’s fast and sexy. There’s a really nice McDonald storyline in that film too, where someone from her past comes back into her life and is involved in this case. You get to see a bit more of her personal life and another side of her, I really enjoyed that."
So here’s everything you need to know about ITV's third season of McDonald & Dodds…
McDonald & Dodds release date
McDonald & Dodds season 3 is a four-part series that begins on ITV on Sunday June 19 at 8pm, with each episode airing weekly. Episodes will also be available to stream on the ITV Hub. We'll update here with an international and US air date in 2022. Seasons 1 and 2 of McDonald & Dodds can be seen on BritBox in the US, so we expect season 3 to arrive on that channel in the US too.
Is there a trailer for McDonald & Dodds season 3?
ITV hasn't released a trailer for the third series of McDonald & Dodds just yet, but we'll be sure to post when it arrives. In the meantime for a refresher on the pair of sleuths, take a look at the McDonald and Dodds series 1 trailer below...
McDonald & Dodds series 3 cast — Jason Watkins and Tala Gouveia on playing the sleuths from Bath
Jason Watkins returns for series 3 of McDonald and Dodds, playing the shy but brilliant DS Dodds again, while Tala Gouveia is back as the ambitious DCI McDonald.
Jason Watkins has played Harold Wilson in The Crown and has also starred in ITV serial killer drama Des, Around the World in 80 Days, W1A, Hold The Sunset and Trollied. He’s also been in films such as Tomorrow Never Dies, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Nativity and The Golden Compass.
Jason says, “I love playing Dodds. This time, I think it's fair to say that he's embroiled in some of the cases. Obviously, he hasn’t committed a crime, but he's targeted a bit by the criminals involved. His personal life is being toyed with and for him, as a very private, shy person, that brings in another dimension. So, you've got these great crime puzzles but also a strong personal element for both of the characters this time.
"There’s such a good opening to this series — you get to see a chase scene through Bath and both characters are in their element. Dodds is a thinker, he's not an athlete, so he thinks his way around the situation instead of running down the street like a maniac!”
Tala Gouveia — who's back as DCI McDonald — started her career in EastEnders, playing Nurse Green. She went on to appear in Tracey Ullman’s Show, Plebs, Holby City and Before We Grow Old. She also played Gemma Murphy in Cold Feet. “I think McDonald has more fun in general now — she came in really hard when she first arrived, with a lot to prove and wasn’t necessarily as likable as she is now,” says Tala. "I think she’s probably more secure these days, which means there’s a bit more cheekiness to her, as she’s developing.
"It was really nice going back and knowing what the show is and what people like about it. I’ve relaxed a lot more since the days of series one— we’ve still got to do a great job, but now we know there is an audience that likes the show and there’s not the same pressure to prove yourself, so I get to have more fun! We’ve got a lovely crew that comes back each year and we know them, it’s like a family, so we have a good support network, and it’s always so enjoyable to work with Jason. McDonald and Dodds have developed a rhythm in their partnership, and as their relationship has grown, so has mine and Jason’s alongside that — we know how each other operates now and can work in a really quick way. My favorite scenes are always the comedy moments that come from McDonald and Dodds being together and what comes out of their relationship — we always love doing the comedy and creating those really nice moments."
McDonald & Dodds series 3 new regular cast — Claire Skinner on starring as as Chief Superintendent Ormond
Claire Skinner joins the McDonald & Dodds cast for series 3 as the no-nonsense Chief Superintendent Ormond. Best known as the mum in the long-running BBC1 sitcom Outnumbered, she's also played Clare in Life Begins and starred in the TV series Sense & Sensibility. She’s also starred in Inside No. 9, Next of Kin and Vanity Fair.
Claire says: “I was really pleased when I was offered Ormond — she’s a boss, she’s mysterious and there’s room for me to really create someone interesting. She is quite contained and mysterious because she’s very private, so she seems quite fierce at first. She comes in and appears to be quite tough, but over the episodes, you do see that she is very committed to the job and there’s a warmth there somewhere, deep down. She’s very good at mobilizing and delegating the team, but she does get her own moments of brilliance too. She’s an extra pair of hawkish eyes for the team. She sees something special in McDonald — she notices her as an original thinker, who just needs to be reined in a bit and she admires her. When it comes to Dodds, it looks like she’s critical of him, but she starts to see that he just has different thought processes. Once she works out that he does things in a very different way I think she rather admires that as well, his staying power. Ultimately, she does see past his quirks.
Jason and I are the same age, but Dodds is an older figure in that workspace and he does seem eccentric to her at first, but I think in the end she gets it."
McDonald and Dodds season 3 cast — guest stars
McDonald and Dodds always has great guest stars cropping up and season 3 is no different.
Episode one features Catherine Tyldesley who found fame playing Eva Price in Coronation Street. She’s also been in Trollied, Emmerdale, Scarborough and Viewpoint. Catherine, who plays Kate Porter in the crime drama, says: "This is a character who is leading a double life — she hasn’t always been the woman that she is now or seems to be, and she’s a great actress. She has come from a very different background to the life that she lives now. For me as an actor, it was just an absolute joy to play such a complex character, who is in essence living a lie. At the heart of everything she is striving so hard to be a good mum, but she’s got so much that she’s trying to cover up and she’s trying to move on with her life. She’s really complex and that was the main pull for me on this job. At the heart of it, it’s always character-led writing that appeals to me, which they do so well in McDonald & Dodds."
Comedian Alan Davies plays Professor George Gillan in the same episode as Catherine, He’s known for Jonathan Creek, Bob and Rose, Damned, Whites and The Brief. His mother, Agnes, is played by Siân Phillips. She has an impressive acting CV which includes the 1976 hit I, Claudius, How Green Was My Valley, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Vanity Fair, Dune, The Borrowers, Good Omens and Strike.
The second episode features former Holby City star and Doctor Who actor Paul McGann plus Emmerdale and Strictly star Kelvin Fletcher. The third boasts Stay Close’s Sarah Parish, Rhashan Stone (Finding Alice, Hollington Drive), Skyfall star Nicholas Goh and Outlander’s Rosie Day. In the final episode Max Bennett (Poldark) and Gerran Howell (Catch-22) guest star.
McDonald and Dodds season 3 episode guide
Episode 1
McDonald and Dodds are thrown into the mysterious case of a young woman who dies in a busy park in broad daylight, with a smile on her face. Their investigation leads them to Belvedere, a sprawling mansion that is home to linguistic anthropologist Professor George Gillan (Alan Davies) and his cantankerous mother Agnes (Siân Phillips) who is days away from her 100th birthday. They also meet single mum Kate Porter (Catherine Tyldesley) who is new to the area and clearly has secrets she is desperate to hide.
Episode 2
Formula 1 fan McDonald finds herself drawn into that fast and furious world when an up-and-coming driver, racing for the British motorsport dynasty the Addingtons, dies during a pit stop. McDonald refuses to let patriarch and team coach Archie Addington run rings around her but she’s thrown when someone from her past gets dragged into the investigation.
Withnail and I and Luther star Paul McGann heads up the episode while former Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher also stars.
Episode 3
Lifestyle influencer Rose Boleyn checks into Bath’s exclusive Ford & Flynn clinic for a nose job but when the routine procedure goes horribly wrong, she dies on the operating table. McDonald and Dodds must separate fact from fiction and delve into whether Rose’s life really was as glamorous as it seemed. And do the bickering owners of the clinic, Al and Mariel know more about her death than they are letting on? Guest stars include Sarah Parish, Rhashan Stone, Nicholas Goh and Rosie Day.
Episode 4
On the dawn of All Soul’s Day, the body of a successful Bath businessman is found in the shadow of Glastonbury Tor. This leads McDonald and Dodds to suspects Martin Silver, a medium who found the body and claims to be able to speak to the dead, and local artist Hector Ingham. However, as more cryptic clues keep coming to light, one name keeps cropping up in paper trails, credit card statements and on the lips of witnesses — that of Dodds himself. Guest stars include Poldark's Max Bennett and Gerran Howell.
