Gemma Whelan Brings Star Power to Season 2 of BritBox's 'The Tower'

ITV/BritBox’s The Tower, and its second season, entitled The Tower: Death Message, is adapted by Patrick Harbinson from the first two books of Kate London’s Metropolitan Police Trilogy, Post Mortem and Death Message. Directed by Faye Gilbert, The Tower is a woman-led, densely plotted urban police procedural, with a strong cast led by Gemma Whelan (Killing Eve) as DS Sarah Collins. If you are new to the series, you can watch Season 2 as a stand-alone; however, the repercussions of the first season continue to haunt the characters and their actions.

Season 1 opened with the deaths of seasoned veteran PC Hadley Matthews (Nick Holder), and teenager Farrah Mehenni (Lola Elsokari), who fell from the roof of high-rise Portland Tower in south-east London, while Rookie cop PC Lizzie Adama (Tahirah Sharif) and five-year-old Ben Stoddard (Rex Parry) were left standing there. Lizzie, in a state of shock, panicked and disappeared, while Ben’s mother refused to let her son talk to the police. Whelan's DS Collins was tasked with finding out what really happened on that day, and wound up in a department-wide mess of police corruption, concealed evidence, illicit affairs, and lies from the top down.

A twisted tale of police corruption and wrongdoing emerged, beginning with a call a few days earlier from Ben’s mother, Claire Stoddard (Sally Scott) about her neighbors, the Mehennis, whose behavior ranged from messy trashcans to keying her car. While visiting the Mehenni family, Hadley used racist terms while his partner Lizzie was out of earshot. Farrah recorded the conversation on her cell phone, which was never found. After her father’s arrest, Farrah reacted by taking Ben to the roof of the tower, pursued by Hadley and Lizzie.