BOOKISH: GUEST STARS AND RETURNING CAST ANNOUNCED FOR SECOND SERIES OF UKTV DRAMA

Jason Watkins, Miranda Richardson, Simon Callow, Rupert Graves and many more join the cast of Bookish (6x70’) for the second series of the hit U&alibi drama.

Joining the cast for series two are, Jason Watkins (The Game, McDonald & Dodds)as Harold Sneed and Miranda Richardson (The Last Anniversary) as Duchess Alberta, alongside Simon Callow (Étoile, The Boy That Never Was)as ‘E’, Rupert Graves (Surface, Washington Black) as Colonel Reggie Winters, Claire Skinner (Outnumbered, Coma) as Mrs Calthrop and Youssef Kerkour (Home, Stay Close) as Yusuf.

Guest stars will also include Ricky Champ (Eastenders, Piglets) as Kendall, Allan Corduner (Tár, Homeland) as Maxie Kleinmann, Liza Sadovy (A Real Pain, Patience) as Ruth Kleinmann, Oli Fyne (Call the Midwife, Stella) as Hannah Kleinman, Ingrid Oliver (The Thursday Murder Club, Sweetpea) as Liesl Pohl and John Hopkins (A Very Royal Scandal, Masters of the Air) as Guy Windjammer.

This series will also see the return of Rosie Cavaliero (Funny Woman, Kaos) as Ada Dredge, Gerard Horan (Belgravia: The Next Chapter, Detectorists) as Mr Baseheart, Nadia Albina (A Thousand Blows, All of You) as Dr Calder and Jonas Nay (Messiah Superstar, The Tattoist of Auschwitz) as Felix.

Mark Gatiss stars as Gabriel Book, alongside Polly Walker as Trottie Book and Connor Finch as Jack Blunt. The series also stars Elliot Levey as Inspector Bliss, Blake Harrison as Sergeant Morris and Buket Kömür as Nora.

London 1946 is the setting for Bookish, with viewers introduced to the appropriately named Gabriel Book (Gatiss) who owns a bookshop in Archangel Lane. If his War was packed with espionage and secrets, Book’s Peace is just as full of adventure! Now he helps the police solve the strangest of crimes and the knottiest of murders.

In the second series, Book investigates the world of spiritualism when he’s asked to help solve the mysterious case involving medium, Harold Sneed (Watkins). Off Savile Row, Bliss asks Book to help in a puzzling murder at a gentleman’s outfitters - the elderly tailor Maxie Kleinmann (Corduner) is keen to confess to the murder but the evidence doesn’t quite stack up and points to something much more complex and sinister.

And Book and Jack are sent to the seemingly charming German village of Würl by the mysterious ‘E’ (Callow) to thwart a thieving Duchess (Richardson) at Christmas time. However, festivities take a deadly turn when Book and Jack uncover secrets of their own, past and present, in an ominous castle brimming withplausible murder suspects.

Book’s close association to the police continues to be not without its personal dangers and his lavender marriage with childhood best friend Trottie (Walker), is threatened by debonair Colonel Winters (Graves.) Marrying post-war nostalgia with the reckless and life affirming atmosphere of the times, Bookish is a stylish period detective drama with a difference..

All six episodes are available to stream via Sky, NOW and Virgin Media. The spin-off book, also titled Bookish and written by co-writer Matthew Sweet is available to purchase.