About “Down Cemetery Road” in a few words:

Down Cemetery Road is a tense British thriller set in a seemingly peaceful Oxford neighborhood. After a house explodes and a little girl vanishes, Sarah Trafford (played by Ruth Wilson), one of the neighbors, becomes obsessed with finding her. She brings in private investigator Zoë Boehm (Emma Thompson), and together they dig into a dark conspiracy — one that reveals people thought dead might actually be very much alive.

Meet the characters from Down Cemetery Road

Zoë Boehm

Zoë is the kind of protagonist who bursts into a room with a notebook in one hand and a half-eaten pastry in the other, simultaneously annoyed and delighted by everything. She’s curious to a fault — will poke at locked graves, ask strangers uncomfortable questions, and adopt strays (people and animals) like it’s a hobby. Quiet nerves under a very loud exterior; she says she hates cemeteries but somehow knows the names of the oldest headstones by heart. Also, she collects buttons and has a laugh that sounds suspiciously like a tea kettle, which is probably irrelevant but somehow makes her unforgettable.

Sarah Trafford

Sarah is the town’s unofficial historian and professional knower-of-secrets, all tweed jackets and sharp eyes, except when she’s baking and then she’s suspiciously sweet. She guards the past like a librarian guarding a dragon, but there’s a soft, ridiculous side — she cries at advertisements and has an impeccably curated hat collection. People think she’s cold, but she shows her care in tiny, curiously invasive ways, like leaving annotated photocopies of old maps on your doorstep. Occasionally she’ll drop a scandalous rumor mid-conversation and then apologize profusely, which is both terrifying and endearing.

Hamza

Hamza is the calm center of chaos — part fixer, part poet, and entirely someone you want on your side at 3 a.m. He can mend a rusted gate with a butter knife and offer a line from Rumi while doing it, and yes, he absolutely talks to plants and probably to the mailbox too. There’s an old wound that makes him keep things close, but he’s also the first to volunteer for ridiculous midnight stakeouts or comfort anyone with bad takeout. Fun fact (maybe): he hates the sound of church bells unless it’s raining, which he will defend to the death.

Downey

Downey is the charmingly mysterious stranger who shows up just when you’ve stopped expecting plot twists — leather jacket, unreadable grin, and a tendency to leave half-finished chess games in weird places. He knows more than he should about local legends and will offer cryptic advice like a slightly infuriating fortune cookie. Despite the aloof vibe, he’s surprisingly domestic sometimes — can make a mean grilled cheese and hums show tunes at midnight. Also he’s annoyingly consistent about wearing the same cologne, which people swear they can smell before they see him, so that’s probably his superpower.

Amos Crane

Amos is the grumpy-grandpa-neighbor archetype but more layered — part town curmudgeon, part soft-hearted keeper of secrets, and wholly devoted to the odd rituals of the place. He hoards jars of buttons and labels everything, yet can recite the full names of everyone’s ancestors at the drop of a hat. He’ll grumble about modern nonsense and then slip you a hand-made charm when you’re not looking; there’s a stubborn kindness that’s almost absurd. Oh, and he trains crows, which is either a hobby or a small-scale espionage operation, your pick.