Martin Freeman is back as the urgent response officer trying to stay on the straight and narrow in ‘The Responder‘ Season 2 as the BBC releases a trailer and sets a May UK premiere date on BBC One and iPlayer.
Written by ex-police officer Tony Schumacher, ‘The Responder’ holds 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 two joins Chris Carson (Freeman) six months after the events of season one. 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 (Adelayo 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.
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.
Joining the cast for season two are Adam Nagaitis (The Terror; Chernobyl), Bernard Hill (Wolf Hall; Lord of the Rings, Titanic) and Ian Puleston-Davies (Tin Star; Pennyworth).
The five-episode season is written by Tony Schumacher and produced by Fremantle’s 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 took place in 2023 in and around Liverpool with support from the Liverpool Film Office. Fremantle is handling global distribution for the series.
‘The Responder‘ Season 2 premieres Sunday, 5th May 2024 at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
