Marc Warren and Maimie McCoy have discussed their return to Van der Valk for its fourth season.13:24, 03 Aug 2026The stars of Van der Valk have compared their series to other police procedurals, insisting this one is “elevated”.‌Marc Warren has reprised his role as the detective in the drama's return on Sunday, August 2.‌Landing on screens three years after the last series, Van der Valk, starring Marc in the leading role and Maimie McCoy as Inspecteur Lucienne Hassell, first aired in 2020 on ITV, as a reboot of the 1970s series with Barry Foster.‌Based on Nicolas Freeling’s crime thriller novels, Van der Valk follows the detective and his team as they face a new series of homicide cases.Ahead of the fourth season airing, Marc teased how explosive his drama gets, insisting it’s the best yet.‌He shared: “It felt like a bigger production… the scripts were great, we had a huge explosion in the first one.“It felt a lot more expensive, a bigger crew, and it’s like everything we’d been learning over the three previous years culminated in this series.“We’re much more of a family, there’s a much tighter bond within us, and also one of the family gets a health problem, and that really unites us - it’s got a lot of heart.”‌He added, “It really touches me, there’s something about it, and it’s a show with a lot of heart, and as a group of actors, we were lucky to do it.”His co-star Maimie also addressed comparisons to other detective shows, saying: “There’s a real ambition within the crew, because it’s an international co-production as well.‌“There’s an energy and a drive to make it cinematic and to elevate that procedural cop drama, which we’re so used to.”Set in and around Amsterdam, the first episode of the new season began with the death of a whistleblower under police protection before a court hearing, with Van der Valk and his team called in to make sure the second witness safely arrived to court.His work was complicated, however, when he discovered that the protection officer in charge of the first victim was his former flame.Article continues below“Fair to say there is no love lost between the two, especially when he suggests she might have been involved in the killing…” the synopsis goes on to tease.Van der Valk continues Sunday at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.