Polly Walker, Elliot Levey, Connor Finch, Blake Harrison and Buket Kömür are set to reprise their roles in the second series of Bookish (6×70’) for specialist crime drama channel, U&alibi. The news has been revealed at an exclusive preview screening for the first series, which will be available from 16th July.
Mark Gatiss continues to write and star as the erudite and unconventional Gabriel Book who, from his antiquarian bookshop, helps the police to solve a variety of mysterious crimes. With three main cases in the series, each storyline spans two-episode instalments.
Filming for the second series will get underway this summer, with more details of guest stars to be released in the coming months. The spin-off book, written by Matthew Sweet and also titled Bookish will be released on 17th July and will tell the crime stories from Nora’s perspective.
Walker returns as Trottie Book, alongside Levey as Inspector Bliss, Finch as Jack Blunt, Harrison as Sergeant Morris and Kömür as Nora. Bookish is produced by Eagle Eye Drama, part of ITV Studios and, as international partner, Beta Film is handling the world sales, with PBS Distribution holding North American rights to series one.
London 1946 is the setting for series one, with viewers introduced to the appropriately named Gabriel Book (Gatiss) who owns a bookshop in Archangel Lane. If his War was packed with espionage and secrets, Book’s Peace is just as full of adventure! Now he helps the police solve the strangest of crimes and the knottiest of murders. But his close association to the force is not without its dangers. For although he is very happily married to his childhood best friend, the captivating Trottie (Walker), Book is a gay man living at a time when homosexuality was illegal. When Book and Trottie take in Jack (Finch) it seems like an act of altruism: a second chance for a young jailbird. And Jack proves a worthy assistant both in the shop and in Book’s murder investigations.
It soon becomes clear, however, that Jack’s appointment wasn’t quite as random as it at first appears…With a complex mystery at the heart of every story, featuring a wealth of well-known guest stars, marrying post-war nostalgia with the reckless and life affirming atmosphere of the times, Bookish is a stylish period detective drama with a difference.
The U&Original series has been commissioned by Helen Perry, head of drama commissioning for UKTV, and ordered by Emma Tibbetts, director of programming – scripted, and Hilary Rosen, director of commissioning. Executive producers for Eagle Eye Drama are Jo McGrath and Walter Iuzzolino. The series is co-written with Matthew Sweet and Ian Hallard will be directed by Carolina Giammetta and produced by Jake Harvey.
Bookish is produced in association with Happy Duck Films and is supported by the Belgian Tax Shelter.
The series is available on U&alibi from 16th July on Sky, Virgin and NOW (Sky 109/826, Virgin 126/200, BT 312/382, TalkTalk 312, TV Player)
