Is Professor T based on a book? Inspiration behind the British crime drama, explored

ITV's British crime drama series Professor T is back with Season 4 for the American audience on PBS. The crime series, created by Matt Baker and Malin-Sarah Gozin, was earlier renewed for a fifth season.

The show follows Professor Jasper Tempest, a genius criminologist at the University of Cambridge. After his former student, DI Lisa Donckers, asks him to assist with challenging cases as a police consultant, Jasper becomes entangled in the violent and dangerous world of crime. His obsessive-compulsive disorder and an overbearing mother further pose challenge for his new role.

Professor T is not based on a book, but is inspired by an eponymous Belgian TV series that ran for three seasons. Set in the University of Antwerp, the Belgian version also follows a similarly eccentric professor, Jasper Teerlinck.

Death in Paradise star Ben Miller plays the titular character of the professor in the British adaptation. Other supporting cast for Professor T includes Emma Naomi, Sarah Woodward, Rhian Blundell, and Juliet Aubrey.

Dries Vos, one of the directors for the original series, is also a director on the PBS adaptation, bringing his unique vision to a British setting.

More on this in our story.

Professor T is based on a popular Belgian series

The Ben Miller-starrer British crime drama series is based on an eponymous Belgian series created by Paul Piedfort. The original Belgian show, which ran for three seasons (from 2015-2018), also inspired many other adaptations in addition to this British one. The adaptations include German, Czech, and French versions.

In an interview, as quoted by Screen Global Production, Walter Iuzzolino, one of the executive producers for the British adaptation, discussed the inspiration behind the show as:

“Professor T is my all-time favourite detective – a tortured genius wrestling with a mystery childhood trauma. It’s a unique crime series with a core of wonderful warm characters at its heart and I am delighted to be working with our hand-picked European production team to make this for ITV and international audiences.”

The original series is set at the University of Antwerp, where Professor Jasper Teerlinck (Koen De Bouw) is an accomplished professor of criminology. After his former student Annelies Donckers joins the Federal Judicial Police, she regularly summons her ex-professor as a consultant on difficult cases, leading to many exciting partnerships between the former student and teacher.

Belgian vs British Professor T: Key differences and similarities

The British adaptation impressively captures the aesthetic and premise of the Belgian series, taking the titular protagonists' tale to an iconic UK location, ie, the University of Cambridge.

While the Antwerp setting was iconic to the Belgian TV series, the British adaptation incorporates the key geographical change to make the story feel more at home to its British audience. Additionally, almost all the central characters from the original series appear in some form in British Professor T, but as Anglicised versions. For example, Professor Jasper Teerlinck in the Belgian version becomes Professor Jasper Tempest in the UK adaptation.

Miller's professor contains all the quirks and eccentricities of his Belgian counterpart, and the British version also handles its protagonist's OCD and social awkwardness with sincerity, like the Belgian version. While Belgian actor Koen De Bouw essentially became iconic as the titular professor for the Belgian audience, Miller successfully transitioned into the role, bringing a unique British flavour to the character.

In addition, the Pilot episode of the British series follows a similar case to that of the Belgian Pilot, where a student is violently attacked on the University campus. After Lisa Donckers suspects that the assault is similar to a previous case, she asks her former professor to help with the case.

Professor T began streaming Season 4 on PBS on August 24, 2025, and will release weekly episodes every Sunday.

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