It starts with a heartbeat on a monitor — flatlining. A surgeon’s hands tremble over a scalpel. Then: a gunshot in the dark, a body dragged through London’s Underground tunnels, and a whispered promise: “No questions. Cash only.”
Welcome to Temple — the Sky-turned-Netflix crime-medical thriller that has stormed global charts, earned 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and left viewers screaming “BEST SERIES OF 2025!” in comment sections worldwide.
Originally a 2019 Sky One hidden gem, Temple exploded onto Netflix UK & US in September 2025, instantly hitting #3 in Top 10 and holding for six weeks. Two seasons (16 episodes) of high-stakes surgery, black-market medicine, and moral collapse have turned casual scrollers into binge-zombies, with one Reddit user confessing:
“Started at 9 PM. Finished Season 2 at 4 AM. Slept with the lights on. 10/10.”
This is the complete dossier on the show that’s being called “Breaking Bad meets ER in the London Underground” — from its Norwegian origins to the cliffhanger that has Netflix execs sweating.
ORIGIN STORY: FROM NORWEGIAN CULT HIT TO BRITISH PHENOMENON
Temple is a remake of Norway’s Valkyrien (2017) — a dark comedy-crime drama that won Best Nordic Series at Gothenburg Film Festival. Creator Mark O’Rowe (Boy A, Intermission) saw the original and thought:
“What if Walter White was a surgeon… and his lab was a WWII bunker under London?”
Sky greenlit it in 2018. Filming began in abandoned Tube stations (yes, real ones — Aldwych, disused since 1994). The result? A claustrophobic, neon-lit underworld where life-saving surgery happens next to drug deals.
THE PREMISE: A DOCTOR’S DESPERATE GAMBLE
Dr. Daniel Milton (Mark Strong) is a brilliant thoracic surgeon at a top London hospital. His wife, Beth (Catherine McCormack), is dying of a rare degenerative disease — no cure, no trial, no hope.
Daniel discovers an experimental treatment in Switzerland — £2.1 million. Insurance? Denied. NHS? Impossible.
So he does the unthinkable: Builds an illegal clinic in the tunnels beneath Temple Tube station.
The Rules of Temple Clinic:
- Cash upfront.
- No police. No records.
- Criminals welcome.
His first patient? A gangster with a bullet in his lung. His partner in crime? Lee (Daniel Mays), a paranoid doomsday prepper who owns the bunker.
What starts as one surgery becomes a criminal empire — treating Russian mobsters, corrupt cops, human traffickers, and desperate civilians the system forgot.
SEASON 1: THE DESCENT
| Episode | Key Moment |
|---|---|
| 1×01 | Beth collapses. Daniel performs open-heart surgery in a bunker with a headlamp. |
| 1×03 | A pregnant prostitute begs for an abortion. Daniel refuses — until she pulls a gun. |
| 1×06 | Lee’s wife Anna (Carice van Houten, Game of Thrones) discovers the clinic — and joins the operation. |
| 1×08 (Finale) | A botched robbery floods the clinic with gunshot victims. Daniel must choose: save a cop or a criminal? |
Cliffhanger: Beth wakes from a coma — but someone has stolen the experimental drug.
SEASON 2: THE FALL
The stakes skyrocket.
- Beth is awake — but addicted to painkillers and haunted by guilt.
- DI Kam Skarsgård (Tobi King Bakare) is closing in on the clinic.
- Jamie (Rhys Ifans), Lee’s unhinged brother, returns with a heroin empire and a vendetta.
- Anna performs brain surgery on a child trafficker — with a Black & Decker drill.
Key Episodes:
- 2×03: Daniel operates on a politician’s son — while the politician blackmails him.
- 2×05: A plague outbreak in the tunnels. Quarantine. No way out.
- 2×08 (Finale): Daniel is arrested. Lee burns the clinic. Beth vanishes.
CLIFFHANGER:
Daniel in a police van. Lee holding a USB drive labeled “TEMPLE 2.0”. Beth’s voice on a recorder: “If you’re listening, Daniel… I’m not done yet.”
THE CAST: HEAVYWEIGHTS IN A BUNKER
| Actor | Role | Iconic Line |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Strong | Dr. Daniel Milton | “I save lives. I don’t judge them.” |
| Daniel Mays | Lee | “This bunker’s my kingdom. You’re just renting.” |
| Carice van Houten | Anna | “Cut first. Ask forgiveness later.” |
| Catherine McCormack | Beth | “You built hell to save me. Now live in it.” |
| Rhys Ifans | Jamie | “Family’s like surgery — messy, but necessary.” |
Mark Strong on the role:
“Daniel isn’t a hero or a villain. He’s a man who crossed a line… and kept walking.” — Collider, 2025
CRITICAL ACCLAIM: “TARANTINO MEETS THE NHS”
| Outlet | Quote |
|---|---|
| Evening Standard | “Early Tarantino with dodgy coppers and incompetent criminals.” |
| The Times | “A clever little piece of programming.” |
| The List | “Three stories merge in a fine opening episode.” |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 75% critics · 92% audience |
| IMDb | 7.5/10 (22K votes) |
Netflix Top 10 (Oct 2025):
- #3 UK
- #7 US
- #1 Ireland, Australia, Norway
VIEWER REACTIONS: “I’M HOOKED!”
Social media is on fire:
@CrimeBingeQueen: “10 seconds in and I was SOLD. Temple is perfection.” @DrWhoFan87: “Best series of 2025. Fight me.” @LondonUnderground: “Filmed in REAL abandoned Tube stations?! Chills.” Reddit r/Television: “Season 2 finale broke me. NEED Season 3.”
TikTok:
- #TempleNetflix: 1.8M posts
- “Daniel Milton hot”: 420K videos
- “Lee bunker tour”: fan-made maps of the clinic
SEASON 3: WILL IT HAPPEN?
Mark O’Rowe has written 3 episodes + full treatment. Sky & Netflix in “active talks” — per Deadline, October 2025.
Strong on the cliffhanger:
“We left it wide open. Daniel’s in custody. Lee’s on the run. Beth’s… somewhere. Season 3 could go anywhere.”
Fan theories:
- Beth starts her own clinic in Manchester.
- Lee sells the USB to a Russian oligarch.
- Daniel escapes prison with help from Jamie.
THEMES: MEDICINE, MORALITY, AND THE UNDERGROUND
Temple asks brutal questions:
- How far would you go to save someone you love?
- Is the NHS failing the desperate?
- Can a good man run a criminal empire… and stay good?
It’s Breaking Bad with scalpels instead of meth. ER with gunshot wounds and no insurance forms.
WHERE TO WATCH
- Netflix: Both seasons (16 episodes)
- Subtitles recommended — thick London accents
- Trigger warnings: Graphic surgery, violence, drug use, suicide ideation
FINAL VERDICT: A MASTERCLASS IN TENSION
Temple isn’t just a crime drama. It’s a pulse-pounding ethical thriller set in the beating heart of London’s forgotten tunnels.
Mark Strong’s ice-cold surgeon will haunt you. Daniel Mays’ paranoid prepper will make you laugh — then gasp. The cliffhanger will ruin your sleep.
As one viewer wrote:
“I came for the crime. I stayed for the heartbreak. I’m begging for Season 3.”
Netflix, renew Temple. The Underground is waiting.
