When ITV's The Suspect ends and what it's about

Dark new thriller The Suspect, which is based on Michael Robotham’s 2004 novel, premiered on ITV in August 2022.

Although the show “didn’t set out to reinvent the weekend thriller” – leading man Aidan Turner has been praised for his “star wattage” performance.

Nonetheless, some viewers are beginning to express annoyance at the show, which aired a “frustrating” penultimate episode this week.

How many episodes of The Suspect are there?

The Suspect is currently in its first series. There are five episodes in the series, with one left to air at the time of writing.

Series one will end on Tuesday 27 September on ITV, however the broadcasters have not confirmed whether the show will return for a second series yet.

Although receiving acclaim from reviewers, it has been met with a variety of reviews from those tuning in to watch the show.

What is The Suspect about?

The Suspect follows the story of a clinical psychologist – Joe O’Loughlin, who is played by Poldark’s brooding Aidan Turner.

The official synopsis reads: “Dr Joe O’Loughlin is a psychologist with a successful private practice and a published book to his name. He also has a loving wife and a young daughter, but a recent life-changing medical diagnosis [Parkinson’s] has thrown him off-balance, and Joe is feeling reckless.”

The plot begins when a woman’s body is found buried in a shallow grave in a west London cemetery. When the post-mortem examination reveals that the woman has died from 21 self-inflicted stab wounds, O’Loughlin is drafted in for advice.

However the psychologist morphs into a suspect in the case after the police discover that the dead woman is one of his former patients.

Turner talked of his experience playing a Parkinson’s sufferer in an interview with the Radio Times: “World Productions were very good and gave me some interesting reading material. But they also put me in touch with Drew Hallam, a young man, 39 now, the same age as me, but he was diagnosed at 35.

“We met up a few times and he told me it was difficult because there aren’t support groups, really, for younger people. He’d go to support groups, and everyone would be almost twice his age. And it was hard. Drew is a musician, a really accomplished guitarist. And that all went away quite fast. He just talked to me about the medication, how it works, mood swings, how his sleep can be disrupted. I asked him what some of the most difficult things were and he said, ‘I couldn’t trust myself to hold my kids.’”