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Arts & Culture

PROFESSOR T: Season 1 (Season Finale Sunday!)

Professor T
Courtesy of Sofie Gheysens
Professor T

Sundays, July 11 - Aug. 15, 2021 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV / On Demand

Seasons 1 -3 are available to stream with KPBS Passport!

Every aspect of Professor Jasper Tempest’s life is precisely calibrated and rigidly structured. Impeccably dressed and meticulously punctual, he lectures daily at the Cambridge Institute of Criminology, teaching students imaginatively, if pedantically, about the science of crime.

Each evening, he returns home to his apartment which is as sterile and systematically ordered as a science lab. Thanks to this strictly regimented approach, his OCD and germaphobia are under control.

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But Professor T’s buttoned-down world is slowly undone when he is persuaded by one of his former students, Detective Sergeant Lisa Donckers, to assist her in investigating a serial rapist who has started attacking young women again after a 10-year hiatus.

The Professor’s encyclopedic knowledge of criminal psychology and his brilliant mind prove invaluable to the under-resourced CID team, but the cracks in his carefully constructed emotionless carapace also begin to show.

Working with the police — and the fiery, instinctive, and occasionally chaotic Lisa, in particular — drags Professor T far from his comfort zone and forces him to confront his painfully suppressed feelings for an old flame, Detective Chief Inspector Christina Brand.

Lisa Donckers in PROFESSOR T.
Courtesy of Lawrence Cendrowic
Lisa Donckers in PROFESSOR T.
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After deciding in an uncharacteristically irrational moment to move into his dusty and derelict family home, he also finds it increasingly difficult to escape the influence of his imperious mother, Adelaide, with whom he shares a harrowing family secret that casts a long shadow over both their lives.

PROFESSOR T is a classic crime procedural, featuring a brilliant criminologist and amateur sleuth who solves a succession of quirky and baffling cases. At the same time, it explores the complex private lives of a diverse and engaging cast of characters, not least Professor T himself and the troubling effect that childhood trauma invariably has on adult psychology.

Professor T and Detective Sergeant Lisa Donckers
Courtesy of Sofie Gheysens
Professor T and Detective Sergeant Lisa Donckers

EPISODE GUIDE:

Episode 1: “Anatomy Of A Memory” airs Sunday, July 11 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV - Professor T is persuaded by a former student now a police detective, to help her investigate a serial rapist. When he discovers his mother is trying to sell his long-abandoned family home, T makes a momentous decision.

Professor Jasper Tempest
Courtesy of Jonathan Ford
Professor Jasper Tempest

Episode 2: “A Fish Called Walter” airs Sunday, July 18 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV - When a blameless librarian is poisoned at a reception at the Museum, Professor T is called upon to help narrow down the list of possible suspects, but not everyone on the police team is happy with Professor T’s involvement in the investigation.

Professor T in "A Fish Called Water."
Courtesy of Sofie Gheysens
Professor T in "A Fish Called Water."

Episode 3: “Tiger Tiger” airs Sunday, July 25 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV - Professor T becomes embroiled in a hostage situation, but his unconventional negotiating tactics do not go down well with the police. Old flame Christina reveals all is not well with her marriage.

Adelaide Tempest and Ingrid Snares in a scene from PROFESSOR T “Tiger Tiger.”
Courtesy of Lawrence Cedrowicz
Adelaide Tempest and Ingrid Snares in a scene from PROFESSOR T “Tiger Tiger.”

Episode 4: “Mother Love” airs Sunday, Aug. 1 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV - Professor T is called upon to help investigate the disappearance of a 6-year-old girl. Tensions rise between DI Paul Rabbit and Professor T until they finally come to blows.

The Dean Wilfred Hamilton and Adelaide Tempest in a scene from PROFESSOR T “Mother Love."
Courtesy of Sofie Gheysens
The Dean Wilfred Hamilton and Adelaide Tempest in a scene from PROFESSOR T “Mother Love."

Episode 5: “Sophie Knows” airs Sunday, Aug. 8 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV - Professor T befriends a vulnerable girl and is convinced she is the key witness to a murder. Dan and Lisa agree to go on a date, but when her boss confronts her about their inappropriate relationship, Lisa makes a bold decision.

Ingrid Snares and Sophie in a scene from PROFESSOR T "“Sophie Knows.”
Courtesy of Lawrence Cendrowic
Ingrid Snares and Sophie in a scene from PROFESSOR T "“Sophie Knows.”

Episode 6: “The Dutiful Child” airs Sunday, Aug. 15 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV - When an attempt is made on a billionaire businessman's life, Professor T suspects the culprit may be much closer to home than the police suspect. It's Professor T's birthday and with it comes a haunting childhood memory.

Adelaide Tempest in a scene from PROFESSOR T “The Dutiful Child.”
Courtesy of Lawrence Cendrowic
Adelaide Tempest in a scene from PROFESSOR T “The Dutiful Child.”

Watch On Your Schedule:

Episodes from Seasons 1-3 are available to stream on demand for a limited time. Extend your viewing window with KPBS Passport, video streaming for members supporting KPBS at $60 or more yearly, using your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire or Chromecast. Learn how to activate your benefit now.