It’s always a bittersweet moment when you come to the end of a series you’ve loved, especially when you don’t know if you'll ever see the characters again. But Netflix has answered our prayers with the return of the crime thriller of the decade, Dept. Q - and some surprise new cast members have offered a glimpse at what’s in store in the explosive second series.
If you're not familiar with the crime thriller, it's written by the genius behind The Queen’s Gambit and follows brash but brilliant detective, Carl Morck (Matthew Goode), who’s been tasked with leading a new unit of misfits, Department Q, to help solve Edinburgh’s cold cases. Series 1 saw the team enlisted on a high-profile missing person's case, and series 2 promises a twisted mystery within Scotland’s elite circles.
With fresh cast members and a riveting new case in store, here’s everything you need to know about the second series ahead of its release and what the new arrivals mean for the show.
What is Dept. Q about?
Based on the novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, series 1 takes us to Edinburgh where we meet former top detective Carl Morck (Matthew Goode). His personality can be, well, a little tricky, but there's more to him than meets the eye. He’s wracked with guilt in the aftermath of an attack that left his partner, DCI Hardy (Jamie Sives), paralysed and another officer dead.
Upon his return to work, he’s promoted (or rather, cast away) and given the task of running a new unit called Department Q, located in a dingy basement. The team's goal is to investigate cold cases as part of a PR effort for the Scottish police force. But it's also a way for Detective Chief Superintendent Moira Jacobson (played by Kate Dickie) to watch over him.
Carl is joined by a bunch of misfits, including Akram Salim (Alexej Manvelov), an astute and mysterious former Syrian police officer, and detective Constable Rose Dickson (Leah Byrne), a younger constable recovering from a breakdown. The central case is the missing Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie), a talented prosecutor who vanished four years ago on a ferry journey across the Scottish highlands.
What to read next
No spoilers, but it’s a rollercoaster ride to the truth - think revenge, fake identities, a dramatic climbing trip, a love affair and resurfaced childhood trauma. The finale left the team in a better place, with a reformed reputation as a fully functioning cold-case team, but many questions were still left unanswered.
What will happen in Dept. Q series 2?
With production currently underway in Edinburgh, the new series is officially on its way and the team at Department Q are about to have their work cut out. The misfits will find themselves tasked with solving "a terrible crime hidden in the highest echelons of Scottish society", according to the show’s executive producer, Rob Bullock.
Furthermore, Dept. Q is getting a lot bigger – as well as the return of the lead cast members, there are a lot of new faces in town. We'll meet Aisling Franciosi (Speak No Evil, The Nightingale) as Kimmie, The Crown’s Greg Wise as Derek Powell, The Queen’s Gambit’s Isla Johnston as Agnes and Line Of Duty’s Mark Bonnar as Stephen Burns.
While series 1 was adapted from Jussi’s first book, Mercy, series 2 appears to follow on chronologically with the next book in the series, Disgrace. The book centres around the closed case of a murdered brother and sister, which was linked to a privileged boarding-school circle.
Kimmie (played by Aisling Franciosi in Dept. Q), a woman living on the streets, is the secret to unlocking the whole case, but she's also a prime target for influential individuals who would kill to keep her silent. And while Carl wants to talk with her, he's not the only person asking questions about her.
Who’s in the cast of Dept. Q series 2?
The cast of series 2 Dept.Q includes:
Returning stars
- Alexej Manvelov (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Top Dog) as Akram Salim
- Leah Byrne (But When We Dance) as Detective Constable Rose Dickson
- Jamie Sives (Annika, Guilt) as Detective Chief Inspector James Hardy
- Mark Bonnar (Line Of Duty, Ludwig) as Stephen Burns
- Kate Dickie (The Witch, Game Of Thrones) as Detective Chief Superintendent Moira Jacobson
- Aaron McVeigh (The Cleansing Hour) as Jasper Stewart
- Sanjeev Kohli (Still Game, River City) as Martin Fleming
New faces
- Aisling Franciosi (Speak No Evil, The Nightingale) as Kimmie
- Greg Wise (The Crown, The Buccaneers) as Derek Powell
- Nicholas Rowe (Mr. Holmes) as Thomas Fulton
- Tony Curran (Outlander: Blood Of My Blood, Mary & George) as Winnie Calderwood
- Hamish Clark (Monarch Of The Glen) as Christopher Herron
- Alex Ferns (Waiting For The Out, The Batman) as Phil Allenbeck
- Ross Anderson (A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, The Rig) as Ricky Daddario
- Rebecca Root (Heartstopper, The Wheel Of Time) as June Lovesay
- Isla Johnston (The Queen’s Gambit, The Carpenter’s Son) as Agnes
- Amy Brenneman (The Old Man, Private Practice) as Helen
What do the new cast members mean for Dept. Q series 2?
Firstly, we're expecting a pretty explosive - and rather scandalous - series with members of the Scottish elite entering the equation. Executive producer Manda Levin appears to have confirmed our theory, too, commenting: "The story of [series] 2 is as darkly delicious as you’d expect, and Carl and his glorious gang will have their work cut out pinning down the perpetrators as we launch back in for more!”
We're also expecting quite the battle between Carl and our new characters. While the rich and powerful elite feel there's no need to abide by the law, the Carl we've come to know and love thinks very differently. Rob Bullock, Executive Producer at Left Bank Pictures, has said of the new series: “It is a story for our times: rich and powerful people who believe they are above the law. Carl, of course, knows otherwise."
How can I watch Dept. Q series 2?
Filming on Dept. Q series 2 is currently underway in Edinburgh, which means it's unlikely to be released on Netflix until the end of the year at the earliest. As soon as we have a confirmed release date, we'll update you here. In the meantime, you can catch up on series 1 now on Netflix.
What other crime thrillers can I watch now?
If you enjoy a crime series based on true events, we’d point you towards Catch Me A Killer, which is based on South Africa’s first serial killer profiler, Micki Pistorius, who set to work on untangling some of the country’s most chilling cases in the 90s. You can watch Catch Me A Killer now on U. Another brilliant series is The Marnow Murders. The crime thriller revolves around detective duo Lona Mendt (Petra Schmidt-Schaller) and Frank Elling (Sascha Alexander Gersak), who must get to the bottom of a string of gruesome murder cases that plague a small town in northeastern Germany. You can watch The Marnow Murders now on Channel 4.
