Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo on ‘Criminal Record’, Moral Compromise, and a London That Keeps Score

Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo appeared on Kyle Meredith’s podcast this week to discuss the second season of Criminal Record. The Apple TV+ series picks up with the uneasy duo of DCI Daniel Hegarty and June Lenker, now drawn into a case that begins with a stabbing at a political rally and spirals outward. Their conversation avoided easy summaries. Both actors spoke about the show’s tightening grip on moral ambiguity, the kind that doesn’t announce itself until a choice is already made.

Capaldi described Hegarty as a figure who rarely reveals what he’s thinking. The complexity, he noted, lies in what the character withholds rather than what he shows. Jumbo focused on Lenker’s trajectory, a path where professional instincts and personal risk keep crossing in ways the character can’t fully control. Neither performance leans on redemption arcs. The drama finds its tension in the daily transactions of power and silence.

The podcast made clear how much the show’s writing now mirrors real fractures. Though the scripts were developed earlier, Capaldi and Jumbo acknowledged that certain scenes land with uncomfortable precision in 2025. They didn’t overstate the connection. The resonance was simply there, sitting quietly behind their answers. For a series that deals in compromised systems, that quiet matching of fiction and reality adds another layer to an already dense second season.

The full conversation is available now on all major podcast platforms.