‘The Responder’ Season 2 Begins Filming In Liverpool, with Martin Freeman
The BBC has announced the multi-award-winning and six-time BAFTA-nominated drama ‘The Responder‘ has begun filming Season 2 in Liverpool, with Martin Freeman returning in the lead role.
Written by ex-police officer Tony Schumacher, ‘The Responder’ held a mirror up to the emotional extremes of life on the front line of British policing – sometimes darkly funny, sometimes painfully tragic, always challenging. Season one was released on the BBC in January 2022 and attracted 9.6m viewers (episode one 28-day figure), making it one of the year’s biggest new dramas. Sold widely, with Fremantle handling global distribution, it fast became one of Europe’s biggest dramas.
The second series is penned by Schumacher and will see actors Martin Freeman, Adelayo Adedayo (Unsaid Stories; Timewasters), MyAnna Buring (The Salisbury Poisonings; The Witcher), Warren Brown (Ten Pound Poms; Luther), Josh Finan (Baby Reindeer; The Gentlemen), Emily Fairn (Mary & George; Black Mirror – Demon 79), Philip S McGuinness (The Batman; The Alienist), Faye McKeever (A Confession; Little Boy Blue), Mark Womack (The Vanishing Man; Playing the Field) and Amaka Okafo (Bodies; Greatest Days) reprise their roles.
“Throwing myself back into the world of The Responder has been such a ride over this last year or so,” said Schumacher. “Gathering the characters old and new around me has been a delight, and finally getting to see these people brought to life by so many incredible people fills me with genuine excitement. I just can’t wait for you to see them too!”
Season two joins Chris Carson (Freeman) six months later. Chris is attempting to rebuild his life, and his relationships, desperate to avoid the corruption that nearly sucked him under. He is trying to be a better police officer, a better man, and most importantly, a better father to his daughter Tilly. All whilst still dealing with the relentless trauma of being a night response officer. Chris wants a day job. Chris needs a day job. But is he prepared to risk everything to get one?
Rachel Hargreaves (Adedayo) is putting her life back together too. She’s still fuming at the way Chris broke her dreams of being a police officer and dragged her down with him into the dirt, and now she’s desperately trying to take control of a life and a career that sometimes feels like it’s slipping away. But after working with a succession of ‘normal’ coppers, Rachel is starting to realise she’s got more in common with Chris than she’d ever want to admit.
As they are sucked back together, and into the night, they must pull each other back into the light. But then a routine stop on a black Range Rover changes everything, and suddenly, the darkness beckons once again.
Joining the returning cast this season are Adam Nagaitis (The Terror; Chernobyl), Bernard Hill (Wolf Hall; Lord of the Rings (Theoden) Titanic) and Ian Puleston-Davies (Tin Star; Pennyworth).
“It’s such an incredible joy, and privilege, to be back working with Tony’s magic scripts, continuing the stories of characters we’ve all fallen in love with,” adds Toby Bruce, Executive Producer for Dancing Ledge Productions, who makes the drama. “Martin Freeman as Chris, and Adelayo as Rachel, both have the ability to be emotional lightning rods and we couldn’t be more excited to bring them, and the rest of our amazing cast, back together.”
The five-episode season is written by Tony Schumacher and produced by Fremantle-backed Dancing Ledge Productions (The Salisbury Poisonings, Crossfire), who were recently named Production Company of the Year at the Edinburgh Television Awards 2023, for BBC One and iPlayer. It is directed by Jeanette Nordahl, Mounia Akl, and Charlotte Regan. It is produced by Barrington Robinson with Laurence Bowen, Chris Carey and Toby Bruce serving as executive producers for Dancing Ledge Productions. Rebecca Ferguson is the executive producer for the BBC.
Filming will take place in and around Liverpool City Region with support from the Liverpool Film Office. Fremantle will handle global distribution for the series.
‘The Responder‘ Season 2 is filming now. Season 1 can be found on BBC iPlayer. If you want to keep track of this or any other show, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
