The Capture season three

When the second season of BBC conspiracy thriller The Capture aired four years ago, the depiction of covert profiling appeared simultaneously both portentous and dated. In an age of tech proliferation in the form of AI, 2022 seems like aeons ago. It may have been a long wait, but the show’s third season couldn’t have come at a more opportune time, expanding on the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence.

The fantastic Holliday Grainger returns as the erstwhile DI Rachel Carey, now Commander Carey. She enters a Kafkaesque nightmare when her counterterrorism unit’s facial recognition programme begins to display signs of vulnerability, putting the British public at risk. As one would expect from a show as labyrinthian as The Capture, there is a shocking twist that will leave fans aghast.

The series continues the legacy of big-budget counterterrorism thrillers like 24 and Spooks. As one would expect from a high-stakes drama, the show is built for the streaming age with its slick production. The heightening of suspense is captured with editing finesse, and Blur drummer Dave Rowntree’s tense incidental soundtrack perfectly complements the modern noir tone.

Once again, Grainger is a formidable lead; she and Paapa Essiedu, reprising his role as MP Isaac Turner, complement each other with their assured performances. Newcomer Killian Scott, whose mysterious character is introduced in the first episode, offers a brooding, enigmatic presence.

Where the series falters is in its vaguery surrounding deepfake technology, which is used solely as a dramatic convenience. Accordingly, it’s a means to an end devised to create gripping TV, as opposed to an opportunity to interrogate the prescient subject. Anyone looking for a critique debating the pitfalls of an age increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence will find that it’s difficult to know the showrunners’ stance on these issues. For the purposes of drama, however, it makes for moreish, compelling entertainment that demands engagement.

With its blockbuster aesthetic and suitably edge-of-your-seat episodic structure, The Capture is sure to beguile fans of classic conspiracy thrillers. A deepfake enigma, wrapped in a mystery, inside another deepfake enigma, the twisty series will leave viewers guessing.