Are you after a new mystery to sink your teeth into? If you enjoy a rugged coastal backdrop and sinister-murder-cases-rocking-small-towns (think Broadchurch meets The Bay) – we’ve got your next series sorted. Black Sands is the heart-in-mouth detective drama taking us over to the dark and beautiful volcanic beaches of southern Iceland – and you can watch it now.
Introducing Aníta (Aldís Amah Hamilton), a police officer who returns to her hometown 14 years after she left. A body is discovered on the beach and what at first appears to be the result of a hiking accident, unfurls into so much more.
With the episodes available to watch now, here’s everything you need to know about Black Sands, including the plot, cast and how to watch it.
What is Black Sands about?
The Nordic noir, which first aired in Iceland in 2022, introduces us to troubled police officer, Aníta (Aldís Amah Hamilton) who returns to her tiny hometown from the capital of Reykjavik, when the discovery of a tourist’s body changes everything. After much deliberation, the death is deemed to be more than a simple accident and Aníta is lead to the disturbing trail of a serial killer, who’s passed undetected for years. On top of her work investigation, Aníta must confront her troubled past, including a complex relationship with her mother and a very messy love life.
Series 2 is arguably even darker and picks up 14 months later, as the remote town is still reeling from the killings. An old woman dies suspiciously, another murder happens and it seems the serial killer was just the tip of the iceberg. Aníta joins the father of her child, Gústi (xÆvar Þór Benediktsson), to uncover a conspiracy linked to the town’s dark history of abuse and negligence linking back to a foster home.
Who’s in the cast of Black Sands?
The cast of Black Sands includes:
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- Aldís Amah Hamilton (The Christmas Quest) as Aníta Elínardóttir
- Þór Tulinius (Volcano) as Chief Police Inspector Ragnar,
- Steinunn Ólína Þorsteinsdóttir (Cop Secret) as Elín
- Ævar Þór Benediktsson as Detective Gústi
- Kolbeinn Arnbjörnsson (Reykjavik 112) as Salómon Túlinius
- Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir (Let Me Fall) as Fríða Melsteð
- Aron Már Ólafsson (Blackport) as Detective Tómas
- Dan Cade (The Hard Way) as Stephen Mayer
Is Black Sands any good?
Yes – one reviewer praised the series as: ‘Nordic noir at its very best’, and we couldn’t agree more. As we mentioned, fans of Broadchurch and The Bay will want to add this to their watchlist. Black Sands opens similarly to the former, with the discovery of a body on the beach, and has the same eerie small-town secretive elements of both (with a stylish Nordic twist). If you like a dark and atmospheric drama where the characters’ complex back stories are equally as important as the plot – you’ll want to watch this next!
How can I watch Black Sands?
You can watch Black Sands now on U and Channel 4.
What other detective dramas can I watch now?
If you’re in the mood for something even darker, we’d recommend Channel 4’s The Marnow Murders. Set in the German city of Schwerin, the atmospheric drama sees detectives Lona Mendt (Petra Schmidt-Schaller) and Frank Elling (Sascha Alexander Geršak) team up to solve murder cases. You can watch The Marnow Murders now on Channel 4. Want to travel somewhere equally as remote for a chilling mystery? We’d point you towards From Darkness, where we meet Claire Church (Anne-Marie Duff), a former police officer who relocates from Manchester to the Western Isles for a fresh start, until bodies linked to an old case on her former patch are uncovered. You can watch From Darkness now on U.
