Nocturne was reported at No. 1 on Apple TV’s worldwide chart the day after its two-episode premiere. FlixPatrol’s reported 983 points put it ahead of Dark Matter, Slow Horses and Ted Lasso—but the figures show chart performance, not audience size or the reason for the jump.
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What the FlixPatrol numbers show
An October 31 report citing FlixPatrol listed Nocturne first worldwide and reported it at No. 1 in the United States and United Kingdom, as well as countries including Australia, Canada and France.
13 A separate report on the October 31 worldwide chart gave Nocturne 983 points. Dark Matter was listed second with 819, while Slow Horses and Ted Lasso were third and fourth, also with 819 points each.
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That makes Nocturne’s reported lead 164 points. These totals reflect chart performance across countries; they are not subscriber totals or viewing hours.
23 They can describe the ranking, but not the number of people watching or the cause of the result.
The available reports do not independently verify the claim that Nocturne began at No. 5 on the U.S. chart before reaching No. 1. Nor do they show what specifically drove the reported rise. It is more accurate to describe a reported chart result than to attribute it to word of mouth, promotion or a particular performance.
The premise: a detective, an agent and a killer
The 10-episode crime drama adapts Lars Kepler’s The Sandman and Lazarus and moves the story to Pennsylvania.
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3 Liev Schreiber plays Jonah Lynn, an ex-soldier and homicide detective who leaves Philadelphia for a quieter life in a small Pennsylvania town. Stephen Graham plays Jurek Walter, a serial killer held in a psychiatric hospital. When a victim turns up alive, Jonah searches for the person still missing, while Zazie Beetz’s FBI agent Saga Bauer goes undercover to get answers from Walter.
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Episode release schedule
The series premiered globally on Friday, October 30, 2026, with two episodes. The announced plan was to release one new episode each Friday through December 25.
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11 That schedule puts the remaining episodes on:
- Episodes 3–6: November 6, 13, 20 and 27
- Episodes 7–10: December 4, 11, 18 and 25, with the finale on December 25
What critics think of Nocturne
A recurring point in early reviews is that Graham’s portrayal of Walter makes a stronger impression than the thriller’s familiar or uneven elements. The Sydney Morning Herald gave the series three stars and said Graham’s menacing performance elevated an otherwise “indistinct thriller.”
17 The A.V. Club also highlighted the character’s resemblance to Hannibal Lecter, while a critics’ roundup quoted Guardian critic Lucy Mangan comparing Graham’s impact with Anthony Hopkins’s famous serial-killer role.
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22 Those are individual critical comparisons, not evidence of a universal consensus.
The broader response is mixed. The A.V. Club described the opening as slow but intriguing, and Black Girl Nerds criticized the show’s slow-paced approach and said the series felt hollow despite its cast.
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56 The Sydney Morning Herald also pointed to cop clichés and clunky moments.
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Rotten Tomatoes’ listing showed an 85% Tomatometer score from 20 reviews and a 53% Popcornmeter score in the source snapshot.
57 Those figures are separate critic and audience measures, and they may change as more reviews or ratings are added.