(Credits: Netflix)

Netflix has been on a roll lately with its content expansion. But a streaming glance at this year’s additions is enough to make out that the streamer has developed a soft corner for crime thrillers. Amid the routine arrival and departure schedule of Netflix flights, Department Q, a crime series based on Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen’s book series, took a flight on the OTT platform on May 29th, 2025.

Starring Matthew Goode as a former ace detective, Carl Morck, Department Q on Netflix follows him and his ragtag team of officers. They transform an Edinburgh basement office into the underbelly of mysteries, dedicated to cracking the most bizarre and impossible cases that come their way. Although it is based on Olsen’s book series, Department Q makes a clear departure from its source material in the Netflix series. Instead of setting the story in Copenhagen, Denmark, the show is set in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Speaking of his decision regarding the defamiliarity, director Scott Frank explained how Edinburgh beautifully blends the “modern and the medieval.” Goode even praised Frank’s meaningful transposition, acknowledging that though Edinburgh is smaller compared to Copenhagen, both are “port cities.” Additionally, Edinburgh’s gothic architecture and the fact that it is the “judicial centre of Scotland” felt pitch-perfect.

Edinburgh plays a crucial role in Department Q, not only as a mere backdrop. It adds value through its cultural pertinence, relevance, and resonance. Locations traversed in Department Q include the Calder area of Wester Hailes, seen in the opening salvo of the Netflix series, called ‘Leith Park’ in Department Q. In one of the tensest scenes, Merrit Lingard is found at St John’s Churchyard at Princes Street (via Edinburgh News).

The Edinburgh basement where Department Q operates is an old job hotspot. Here, the bottom of Johnson Terrace meets Castle Terrace. A few outdoor shots were filmed in the Edinburgh City Chambers courtyard, while most interior shots reportedly took place at FireStage Studios at Leith Docks on Bath Road. The Royal Mile is also featured a number of times in the Netflix series, especially before and after Merrit Lingard appears in court.

As for the house in which Matthew Goode’s character, Carl Morck, lives in Department Q, it is located on Leith Links at Links Gardens. Besides these, a property situated at 22 Lennox Street in New Town has also been featured in the Netflix show. An after-courtroom sequence of the Netflix crime thriller was filmed in Cockburn Street, an Edinburgh Old Town street.

Pictures of Department Q shooting surfaced on the Internet last year in May at The Volunteer Arms, AKA Staggs bar in Musselburgh. Lastly, in a scene where Carl Morck dismounts a Lothian bus, he is seen getting down on Melville Street.

The Edinburgh filming locations of Netflix’s Department Q

• The Calders
• Princes Street
• Castle Terrace
• Edinburgh City Chambers
• Leith Links
• New Town
• Leith Docks
• The Royal Mile
• Cockburn Street
• Musselburgh
• Melville Street