What’s The Story With Crookhaven?

Looking for something fun to watch with the kids this spring? The BBC’s new series Crookhaven is being hailed as a clever, family-friendly ‘Hogwarts for thieves’ drama. It’s a high-concept mystery that kids, teens and adults can enjoy together. Based on JJ Arcanjo’s hit YA book series, the eight-part drama follows a secret school for young crooks who are trained to use their less-than-legal talents for the greater good. Here’s everything you need to know before tuning in. 

What Is Crookhaven About?

Crookhaven is set at Crookhaven School, a secret academy that recruits high‑achieving young crooks from around the world and teaches them disciplines such as Deception, Crimnastics, Forgery and Infiltration. Worried that this isn’t the moral line you’re hoping to show young viewers? There’s a twist. These students are being trained to channel their skills into bringing balance, justice and order to the outside world, rather than lining their own pockets.

At the heart of the story is Gabriel, a pickpocketing prodigy, and his sharp‑witted rival Penelope, the headmaster’s daughter, who are thrown together in competition for the coveted Crooked Cup. Alongside their classmates they navigate classes, alliances and betrayals as they begin to uncover Crookhaven’s darker secrets – including the mystery of Penelope’s missing mother, Gabriel’s own hidden past, and a shadowy enemy known as The Nameless.

Crookhaven (c) BBC

The Crookhaven Cast and Creative Team

The series is led by a young cast, with Lucas Leach as Gabriel and Carmel Laniado as Penelope. They are joined by an impressive line‑up of adult talent, including favourites such as Dougray Scott and Julie Hesmondhalgh, who add gravitas to the faculty’s roster of rogues.

Crookhaven was created for television by Justin Young, whose past credits include Death in Paradise and Sanditon, and produced by BBC Studios Kids & Family. With director Jon East (Killing Eve, Downton Abbey, The Last Kingdom) involved, the show is slick enough to keep adults entertained as they watch with the family.

Why It’s A Family Hit

Unlike many crime‑adjacent dramas, Crookhaven keeps the tone adventurous rather than grim, allowing younger viewers to be gripped by heists, cons and puzzles without parents worrying about scenes of violence or adult content. Older viewers will enjoy the show’s morally complex world: every teacher is a crook, every class tests the line between right and wrong, and the students’ journey is about how they use their questionable talents to do the right thing in their own way. Themes of found family, loyalty and identity run through the series, giving it emotional weight beneath the twists and turns. It’s a great opportunity to discuss using talents for good and evil with your children, too. 

Where Was Crookhaven Filmed?

Although the series is set in a secret, vaguely global ‘school for crooks’, Crookhaven was filmed on location across Northern Ireland, with support from Northern Ireland Screen. Production was based in and around Belfast and North Down. Speaking of filming in Belfast Heartstopper actor Leila Khan, who plays Amira (one of Crookhaven’s ‘Merits’ students) told The Belfast Telegraph Weekend, ‘I love it, I want to live here. I don’t care about the weather…It was raining so much a couple of Saturdays ago and I looked out and I was like: “This is the time.” I literally walked out and I romanticised the world, playing sad music, like this is the vibe… “Feel the rain on your skin.”‘

Northern Ireland’s architecture and atmospheric coastline provides the backdrop for Crookhaven’s sprawling school, lending it the feel of an off‑grid, old‑world institution with plenty of shadowy corners. 

Crookhaven (c) BBC

Will There Be a Crookhaven Series 2?

Yes – Crookhaven has apparently already lined up a second series. Reports in early 2026 revealed that the show was renewed ahead of its first‑series launch, with season 2 moving into pre‑production and a Belfast shoot pencilled in for spring 2026. While broadcasters have yet to heavily trail it to viewers, all indications are that more episodes are on the way, so fans can confidently expect Crookhaven series 2.

How Many Crookhaven Books Are There?

There are currently five Crookhaven books in J.J. Arcanjo’s series, following Gabriel through each year at the school for thieves. The titles are: The School for Thieves, The Forgotten Maze, The Island Heist, The Impossible Fortress and The Thieves’ Revenge. Early box sets featured the first three adventures, so the series is still occasionally referred to as a trilogy, but the world has since expanded into a full five‑book arc that mirrors a complete Crookhaven education. And will there be a Crookhaven book six? At the moment, there’s no sign of a Crookhaven book six being planned. The fifth novel, Crookhaven: The Thieves’ Revenge, is billed by publishers and booksellers as the ‘final book’ in the series, wrapping up Gabriel’s fifth and final year and the long‑running Nameless storyline.

How To Watch

Crookhaven airs on BBC One, CBBC and BBC iPlayer, with all eight episodes landing for viewers on 22 March 2026, for those who prefer a weekend binge. Whether you come for the ‘Hogwarts for thieves’ hook or for the promise of a twist‑packed mystery everyone in the house can get behind, Crookhaven looks set to become a new BBC family favourite. 

Watch all episodes on BBC iPlayer.