Channel 5 has confirmed that the hit detective drama Cooper & Fry will return for a second season, following a successful first run. The murder mystery series, based on the bestselling books by Stephen Booth, stars Downton Abbey's Robert James-Collier and Doctor Who actor Mandip Gill as mismatched detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry.
Plot and Setting
Set in the Peak District, season two will see the duo continue to investigate a string of eerie murder cases. Building on the unique friendship forged in series one, Ben and Diane will navigate cases steeped in the legendary folklore of the area, all while battling each other’s conflicting investigation styles and facing their complicated personal lives head on.
Cast Updates
Channel 5 has confirmed that series two will see the return of Lorcan Cranitch (Blue Lights, Leonard and Hungry Paul) as DI Hitchens and Charlotte Bradley (The Dry, Arctic Circle) as Isobel Cooper. New faces joining the star-studded cast include Pollyanna McIntosh-Goldthwait (The Walking Dead, Vikings: Valhalla) as DI Kim Armstrong, Scott Graham (Vikings, Redemption) as DC Gavin Murfin, and Kathy Rose O’Brien (Small Town, Big Story, Deadly Cuts) as Liz Petty.
Source Material
Cooper & Fry series two will cover Booth’s novels The Devil’s Edge, Fall Down Dead, One Last Breath, and The Murder Road.
Cast Reactions
On returning, Mandip Gill said: "I'm thrilled to be returning to Cooper & Fry after the brilliant reaction to series one. It’s a real pleasure to be working alongside Rob again and I’m excited for audiences to see where the story takes us this time." While Robert James-Collier added: "I'm thrilled to be back playing DC Ben Cooper along with my good friend Mandip Gill in the role of Diane Fry. The audience really warmed to the first series of Cooper & Fry and we hope they will again, so stay tuned as we have lots more murders to solve and all sorts of strange goings-on down in Edendale."
Audience Reception and Release
Season one, which aired in November 2025, was well received by fans who called it a "solid" and "winning" detective series. One viewer on IMDB described it as "refreshingly good," adding: "It's a solid detective show that leaves you with the warm satisfaction of a cosy mystery, but without the annoying idiosyncrasies that seem to be hallmarks of the cosy genre!" While an official start date hasn't been confirmed, the cast is filming now and the second season is set to air in 2027 on Channel 5.
