EXCLUSIVE: BBC One’s gripping missing persons drama Baptiste is to return for a second, and potentially final season, with Killing Eve star Fiona Shaw joining the cast.
The six-part series, made by Fleabag producer Two Brothers Pictures, follows retired detective Julien Baptiste (Tchéky Karyo) as he delves into Budapest’s corrupt underworld in an attempt to find a British Ambassador’s family, who go missing on a skiing holiday in the Hungarian mountains.
Ambassador Emma Chambers is played by Shaw, a character who is thrust into the crosshairs of Baptiste’s most complex case to date, as the detective navigates an untrustworthy Hungarian police force and international media interest as he hunts for her husband and two sons.
Harry and Jack Williams, writers and managing directors of Two Brothers Pictures, said the second season will pay homage to The Missing, the BBC drama from which the character of Baptiste originated, by taking place across two distinct periods of time. They promised it would be “even more ambitious than ever.”
Jack Williams told Deadline that it could be the last case for Baptiste, although a final decision is yet to be made. “Julien Baptiste is back for one more case. I expect it will be the last time we see him and we will be saying goodbye to the character,” he said.
Karyo added that it was an “audacious” story, while Shaw commented on the talents of the Williams brothers: “I’m so lucky to be working with all the best of the new generation.”
Baptiste Season 2 will be filmed in February in Budapest. It will be executive produced by the Williams brothers alongside Christopher Aird for Two Brothers and Tommy Bulfin for the BBC. John Griffin will produce, while Thomas Napper and Hong Khaou will direct. The show was commissioned by BBC drama controller Piers Wenger and director of content Charlotte Moore.
All3Media International is handling global sales. The second season commission comes ahead of Season 1 airing on PBS Masterpiece in the U.S. on April 12.