It’s official: Before We Die is returning to Channel 4 for a second season, with Lesley Sharp set to return as Hannah Laing.
The first season, which is based on a Swedish series of the same name, aired in 2021 and revolved around Sharp’s character, a detective who joins forces with fellow officer Billy Murdoch (Vincent Regan) to protect her son Christian (Patrick Gibson) from a crime family he’s drawn into.
The Swedish original ran for two series from 2017 until 2019.
But while fans might assume the second season of Channel 4’s version would follow the events of the show on which it’s based, the network has teased season 2 will go down a very different path to the original, with Hannah going directly up against Dubravka (Kazia Pelka), the matriarch in charge of the Mimica family.
Speaking about the second-season renewal, Channel 4’s Head of Drama Caroline Hollick, said: “I’m delighted to welcome back this gripping crime thriller to the channel.
“Series 1 struck a chord with audiences, with over 12 million viewers tuned into the show on All 4 – from the edge of their seats,” adding that the upcoming instalment is set to include “more surprises, twists and turns”.
Here’s everything we know so far about Before We season 2, which Before We Die cast members are likely to reprise their roles and what will happen to Christian, Hannah and Billy in season two.
Before We Die season 2 release date speculation
Before We Die has been confirmed to have a second season.
However, the show has not begun production so we won’t expect a new season to arrive until 2023 at the earliest.
While we do know Before We Die will be returning to Channel 4 for a second series, unfortunately, we don’t know when season 2 will land.
But we’ll keep you updated as and when we know.
Lesley Sharp previously spoke about why she’d love the drama to return for a second season.
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Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, Sharp said: “They all survive by the skin of their teeth so they need a bit of rest and recuperation if they’re coming back.
“But you know, I think the thing is those questions are always down to– they’re sort of not really down to us. It’s down to whether or not the show proves to be something that people want to watch,” she added. “You can’t second guess that. You can keep your fingers crossed because you think something’s good but there’s no knowing.”
In addition, Before We Die star Patrick Gibson, who plays Christian, previously Digital Spy: “There’s no plot lines that are left unanswered necessarily, but the show ends on – like yeah absolutely [there could be] more, it could develop.
“I would love to [make a second season], I think even just to see… because for every character there’s an emotional arc that happens where they’re not the same person as they are at the start of the show,” he said. “[To] pick that up and see a whole other few episodes with them would be really cool… Hopefully!”
Who could be in the cast of Before We Die season 2?
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It’s difficult to imagine Before We Die without DI Hannah Laing and so it’s a good job that Lesley Sharp will be reprising her role in the second season.
On returning for season 2, Sharp said: “To take part in a story that has a complex, ambivalent, older female character at the centre of its beating heart is a privilege.
“I am excited and honoured to be part of this collaborative, creative team. Viva Hannah! Viva Channel4! Viva Eagle Eye! Here’s to the next chapter of Before We Die.”
We can also expect Patrick Gibson, who plays Hannah’s son Christian, to return. While we last saw Christian head off to Costa Rica with Bianca, we know from the Swedish series that he returns in series two, so Gibson will almost certainly be reprising his role in series two.
It would be a surprise if we didn’t see the return of Vincent Regan (Billy Murdoch), Issy Knopfler (Bianca), Steve Toussaint (Leonard Kane) and Josh O’Connor (Marcus), but what we do know for sure is that Ryszard Turbiasz (Zvonomir), Petar Cvirn (Stefan) and Toni Gojanovic (Davor) won’t be reprising their roles as their characters were all killed off in series one.
What could the plot be for Before We Die season 2?
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Before We Die’s series one finale sets things up for series two, with Kane asking Hannah to “find the b*****d who betrayed us” – in other words, which police officer within their unit was leaking information to the Mimicas.
While we already know that Marcus (Josh O’Connor) is the mole, Hannah and her colleagues are yet to find that out and so series two will see her try to sniff out the rat.
What’s more, speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press ahead of the show’s premiere, star Vincent Regan said that a second series could explore drug crime outside of the Mimica family.
“With a drama like Before We Die, it’s like you pull at a thread on a piece of a garment and you keep pulling and pulling and you realise that the thread is getting longer and longer.
“When it gets to the end of episode six, we’ve been pulling lots of threads but we still realise there is a hell of a big cardigan that you can carry on pulling and, when it comes to organised drug crime in Bristol, you expose the Mimicas and another gang and then you realise there are more gangs, there are more bent cops.
“So I think that situation we arrive at towards the end is, ‘Oh my god, we’ve done that but what the hell else is there out there?’ So I think if the audience loves the show and Channel 4 love the show then there are of course possibilities.”