While the experimental, psychological drama promises tantalizing character studies of both the suspects and the investigators from the likes of David Tennant and Hayley Atwell , you won’t be able to find the details of these crimes outside of these fictitious police precincts. It would come as no surprise if the writers of Criminal were inspired by true crimes; however, the crimes all four teams of investigators are attempting to solve are works of fiction. Each episode is written and directed by teams from the countries in which the series is set with the overall vision executed by showrunners from Killing Eve and Endeavour , George Kay and Jim Field Smith, reports Deadline.