'Bookish' Shrewdly Renewed for Season 2 As First Clip Arrives

It's renewal season in TV land as networks roll out their plans for the 2025-2026 television season. In America, the scene has been somewhat grim, as more scripted series are canceled than renewed on broadcast networks, with some networks going down to just four or five shows for the year. But across the pond is a different story. Despite the BBC's declaration that (unless the new charter/laws do something to help), British broadcasters will soon suffer the same fate, and find themselves following their American counterparts, renewals across the pond are still coming in strong, with shows that haven't even aired yet, like Bookish, already getting Season 2 commissions.

Bookish is the brainchild of Mark Gatiss, who is well known for his work on Doctor Who and Sherlock. As series creator and co-writer, Gatiss cast himself as the lead, Gabriel Book, a gay man living what passed for an LGBTQ+ lifestyle in post-war London in the 1950s. His longtime BFF, Trottie, played by Bridgerton's Polly Walker, is also his wife, though both halves of the couple went into the arrangement fully aware of each other's sexual preferences. Trottie uses her position as Book's wife to protect him from Britain's anti-gay laws of the era, allowing him to live as quietly out to those who know him best.

Gatiss did not base Bookish on any pre-existing media, drawing instead on the underground history of the LGBTQ+ families in the 20th century. However, the series' pitch has proved so appealing that Gatiss's writing partner, Doctor Who podcaster Matthew Sweet, has done a novelization of Season 1 (though presented from the perspective of Nora instead of Trottie or Gabriel), which is set to hit shelves on July 10, 2025.