Channel 5 Confirms Second Season of Cooper & Fry with Expanded Episode Count

Channel 5 has greenlit a second season of detective drama Cooper & Fry, with filming already underway and an expanded format featuring eight hour-long episodes instead of the original four 90-minute instalments. The series will return to the Peak District in 2027, drawing from four additional novels by Stephen Booth.

Cast and Production Details

Mandip Gill, known for her role in Doctor Who, will reprise her character Detective Diane Fry alongside Robert James-Collier from Downton Abbey, who plays Detective Ben Cooper. The on-screen pairing has been credited by critics as "the best new detective duo in years," with Channel 5's commissioning editor Paul Testar confirming the show proved "a huge hit" with audiences.

Returning cast members include Lorcan Cranitch in the role of DI Hitchens and Charlotte Bradley as Isobel Cooper. New additions to the ensemble comprise Pollyanna McIntosh-Goldthwait, known for The Walking Dead, Scott Graham from Vikings, and Kathy Rose O'Brien of Small Town, Big Story, among others.

Story and Setting

The second season will adapt Stephen Booth's novels The Devil's Edge, Fall Down Dead, One Last Breath, and The Murder Road, with each story spanning two episodes. According to the official synopsis, the detectives will "navigate cases steeped in the legendary folklore" of the Peak District region while "battling each other's conflicting investigation styles and facing their complicated personal lives head on."

Gill expressed enthusiasm about the return, stating that working alongside James-Collier remained "a real pleasure," while James-Collier reflected on audience reception to the first series and promised "lots more murders to solve and all sorts of strange goings-on down in Edendale."