‘Cooper & Fry’ Will Solve Cases on BritBox

When the U.K. network 5 announced that the Mandip Gill-Robert James-Collier detective series Cooper & Fry was commissioned for a second season, it seemed a good bet that the series had probably lined up an American distributor behind the scenes, or was close enough to doing so that the series felt safe to publish that it was going ahead with the episode order. Even so, it was a bit startling when – all of 48 hours later – BritBox announced it was bringing the series to America.

Not that the show is a bad fit for BritBox. Starring Downton Abbey’s Robert James-Collier and Doctor Who’s Mandip Gill as crime-solving team DC Ben Cooper and DC Diane Fry, the series is aimed directly at the PBS/BBC America audiences the streaming service wants to attract.

Based on U.K. writer Stephen Booth’s best-selling mystery series, Season 1 is comprised of four feature-length episodes, covering Booth’s debut novel, Black Dog, along with the second, fourth, and seventh books in the series, Dancing with the Virgins, Blind to the Bones, and Dying to Sin, respectively. The newly announced Season 2 will also cover four novels (there are 18 in all), though in the more American-broadcast-friendly format of four two-part mysteries, which works out to eight one-hour episodes.

Here’s BritBox's version of the series’ synopsis:

Set in and around England’s picturesque Peak District, the series follows DC Ben Cooper, a member of a rural police force in Derbyshire who is struggling to emerge from the shadow of his late father. He’s teamed up with DC Diane Fry, a successful detective from Leeds who transfers under mysterious circumstances. is an outsider fleeing tragedies in her past.

While the two initially butt heads, finding that they have very different approaches to policing, they slowly begin to come to an understanding as they work together on a case surrounding a body unearthed on a local farm. Together, they tackle grisly crimes in the remote countryside.

James-Collier and Gill lead an ensemble that includes Charlotte Bradley (Endeavour) as Ben’s mother, Isobel Cooper; Lorcan Cranitch (Bloodlands) as boss DI Paul Hitchens; Barry O’Connor (Shetland) as fellow detective DS Todd Eland; Niamh McCann (The Listeners) as station liaison Tracey Garnett; and Clara Simpson (The Reunion) as forensic scientist Dr Juliana Taylor.

Series creators Ben Court and Caroline Ip (Whitechapel) return as lead writers for the show’s second season, with directors Ronan Burke (Clean Sweep) and Rob Burke (Harry Wild) splitting helming duties. Sebastian Cardwell. Mike Benson and Jonathan Hall will Executive Produce for Clapperboard along with Tamryn Reinecke of Pale Rebel Productions.

Cooper & Fry Season 1 will premiere on BritBox in the U.S. in the coming months. Season 2 is currently filming in the U.K. and is expected to debut on 5 in 2027.