Stephen Moyer Is an Incredibly Charming Nerd In Acorn TV Mystery Series Art Detectives

Very few things seem certain in this world, outside of death, taxes, and the perennial appeal of British crime dramas. These beloved procedurals and their familiar case of the week formulas are as comforting as a cup of tea after a bad day, offering some much-needed escapism that just so happens to come with a healthy dollop of murder on top. Uninterested in gore and over-the-top violence, these are stories in which figuring out whodunnit is part of the fun, and viewers revel in plot twists, red herrings, and other unexpected revelations along the way.  Streamer Acorn TV’s latest offering in this vein is a six-part drama called Art Detectives, another in a popular subgenre of mystery series that revolve around investigators with jobs that don’t seem as though they could possibly be real. (And yet somehow are, in the best possible way.)

A story that’s as interested in art and history as it is crime and punishment, the series follows the delightfully offbeat DI Mick Palmer (Stephen Moyer), an adorably idiosyncratic nerd who heads the Metropolitcan Police’s Heritage Crime Unit whre he’s charged with investigating everything from theft and forgery to straight up murder—as long as it’s tied to the world of art and antiquities, it’s his domain. Technically, he’s the group’s only member until he manages to recruit the quick-thinking DS Shazia Malik (Nina Singh) during a case in the series’ first episode.

A largely case-of-the-week style procedural, Art Detectives follows the newly formed duo of DI Palmer and DS Malik as they investigate murders with a decidedly historical or artistic flair. Some of the cases are more of a stretch than others— Titanic memorabilia, really?—but for the most part, the mysteries are opportunities for Mick (and the show) to nerd out over everything from Vermeers and Viking treasure to rare and ultra-high-end wine. Since we barely know any of the victims or suspects in these cases, this sort of show is only as good as its lead character. Thankfully, Mick is Art Detectives’ best and most fully realized element, regularly rattling off what often feels like an endless stream of art-based fun facts without ever feeling like he’s lecturing the audience.

The stories are predominantly standalone mysteries, with a fair amount of twists and turns in each. Episodes are loosely connected through Palmer and Malik’s strengthening bond as partners, along with a few minor subplots. These predominantly involve Mick’s clumsy, if sweet, attempts to date a local museum curator named Rosa (Sarah Alexander) and the unexpected reappearance of his father, Ron (Larry Lamb), a well-known criminal forger who has largely been absent from his life for the past fifteen years.

Palmer is presented as charmingly weird throughout, geeking out over relics, lesser-known artists, and offbeat bits of history. One case sees him sniffing a bookshelf for clues, another investigating slave ship manifests, a third breaking down animal sounds in a popular band’s backing track. He’s detail-oriented and tends to notice things the little clues others don’t, but in a way that generally reads as more enthusiastic professor than the arrogant Sherlock Holmes-type we so often see in this genre. He’s not trying to convince anyone of his genius, he’s just a guy who really, really loves his job. And his nerdy joy about it all is fairly infectious, even when there are dead bodies involved.

Moyer seems to be having a ball playing Mick, throwing himself into Palmer’s nerdiest tics and esoteric history monologues with the glee of someone who has previously spent most of their career playing villains of various stripes. Given the chance to be the overtly good guy for a change, he’s brimming with warm charisma and charm, even when a few of the stories around him—a midseason slog through an hour about feuding bandmates and musical memorabilia, for example—are less interesting than they should be. (Even if the music is clearly meant as a nod to Oasis, which I, as a fan, appreciate.) The show gradually layers in bits about Mick’s life and past—beyond his difficult relationship with his father and new partnership with Singh, he has an ex and an adopted daughter who appear to have vanished to Canada, though we don’t learn much about them beyond an offhand mention in an early episode.