Criminal is a series of four Netflix police procedural anthology TV series set in four countries. The four series are Criminal: France, Criminal: Germany, Criminal: Spain, and Criminal: UK. The series was devised by its showrunners George Kay and Jim Field Smith,^[1] and produced by their company Idiotlamp Productions.^[2] Although the showrunners are based in the UK, each of the local three-part series is written and performed in that country's native language by native actors,^[3][4] but all four individual local series were shot on the same set in Madrid, Spain.^[5] All four series were released simultaneously in September 2019.^[6] A second series of Criminal: UK, consisting of four episodes, was released on 16 September 2020.^[7]

Each episode is a stand-alone psychological drama, consisting of the interrogation of an individual by a team of police investigators. Every scene is confined to just three areas in a single location; a police interrogation room, a darkened viewing room that looks into the interrogation room through a one-way mirror, and the hallway and stairwell outside the rooms.^[5]