‘Dept Q’ Officially Back on the Case for Season 2
'Dept Q' is finally back in production for Season 2.
It’s always hard to judge which shows will hit big. Even after the massive, shocking success of The Queen’s Gambit in 2020, creator Scott Frank’s next series, Dept Q, wound up a sleeper success based on word of mouth rather than Netflix marketing. Based on the Nordic Noir Department Q novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, the series made the typical British adaptation move of resetting everything in Edinburgh, turning it into Scottish Noir, and allowing it to cast from the usual set of BBC suspects.
While the mystery itself didn’t really make a whole lot of sense, the chemistry of the ensemble cast more than made up for it, led by Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey) as the novel’s protagonist, DCI Carl Morck. (It helped that multiple actors in the cast had literally just starred together in the Nicola Walker-led Nordic-turned-Scottish Noir Annika.)
By the time the series had reached the 90-day mark in August 2025, it had become a big enough draw that Netflix announced it would be renewed for a second season. However, production took a while to come together, and it’s only now, almost a full year later, that the streaming service has officially confirmed cameras will roll, with most of the Season 1 cast returning for the new mystery, plus a large roster of newcomers for this season’s case.
Here’s the Season 2 synopsis, which is pretty useless:
DCI Carl Morck heads up the maverick Dept. Q from the basement of an Edinburgh police station, charged with cases previously deemed unsolvable. This darkly humorous, propulsive show delivers all the pleasures of a procedural, but takes us into the complex mysteries not just of the cases but of the detectives themselves.
Thankfully, executive producer Rob Bullock was more forthcoming:
“This season, Carl and his band of misfits tackle a terrible crime hidden in the highest echelons of Scottish society. It is a story for our times: rich and powerful people who believe they are above the law. Carl, of course, knows otherwise.”
The series returning cast includes Leah Byrne (Deadwater Fell) as DC Rose Dickson, Jamie Sives (Summerwater) as DS James Hardy, Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones) as Moira Jacobson, Mark Bonnar (Guilt) as Stephen Burns, Alexej Manvelov (Before We Die) as Akram Salim, Sanjeev Kohli (Moonflower Murders) as Martin Fleming, and Aaron McVeigh (The Cleansing Hour) as Jasper.
Season 2 adds nearly a dozen new faces to the roster, including Tony Curran (Mary & George), Aisling Franciosi (Black Narcissus), Greg Wise (The Buccaneers), Rebecca Root (Heartstopper), Nicholas Rowe (A Spy Among Friends), Ross Anderson (Shetland), Hamish Clark (Monarch of the Glen), Alex Ferns (Waiting for the Out), Isla Johnston (Life After Life), and Amy Brenneman (The Leftovers).
Season 2 will once again have all episodes written and directed by Scott Frank. The series is executive produced by Frank, Rob Bullock, Charlotte Moore, alongside Manda Levin and Jessica Burdett for Netflix.
Dept. Q Season 2 is currently in production in Scotland and is expected to arrive on Netflix sometime in 2027. Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.
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