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True Detective returns with macabre murder case

The third series of the crime drama series is here, with recent Golden Globe winner Mahershala Ali in the starring role.

True Detective series three. Pic: Sky Atlantic
Image: True Detective series three stars Mahershala Ali. Pic: Sky Atlantic
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Award-winning drama True Detective is back on our screens with its long-awaited third series.

Starring recent Golden Globe winner Mahershala Ali alongside Stephen Dorff and Carmen Ejogo, the first two episodes were aired in the early hours as they debuted in the US, but will be watched by most UK fans on Monday night.

This time round, the story focuses on a child murder case, and plays out over the course of 35 years.

The first series of the HBO drama, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson and set in Louisiana, was a huge hit with critics and fans when it launched in 2014.

The show has been nominated for a total of 13 Emmys, winning five.

True Detective series three. Pic: Sky Atlantic
Image: The series is set in the Arkansas Ozarks. Pic: Sky Atlantic

The second season, starring Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Vince Vaughn and set in LA, did not go down as well and the new series is being hailed as a return to the show's roots.

Once again, there is a change of cast and location. It returns to the Deep South, with the setting in the sprawling Arkansas Ozarks.

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The story is told over three separate time periods, starting with the disappearance of a 12-year-old Will Purcell and his 10-year-old sister Julie in the town of West Finger, Arkansas, in 1980.

Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in True Detective
Image: Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey starred in the hit first season

Ali stars as detective and Vietnam veteran Wayne Hays, who originally investigated the case with his partner Roland West (Dorff), and has been haunted by it ever since.

The story takes the viewer to from 1980 to 1990, when a shocking discovery reignites interest in the case, and then to a true-crime documentary in 2015, in which the retired Hays unpicks the details.

Told over eight episodes, it reveals how one tragedy has shaped the lives of many people.

With the first episodes setting the pace, Sky Atlantic says the drama is set to unfold further in the third show.

:: Episodes one and two of series three of True Detective are on at 9pm and 10.10pm on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV