Death Valley Series 2: Everything We Know So Far

We all loved Happy Valley, the BBC’s West Yorkshire-set, Sarah Lancashire-led crime drama with incredibly dark overtones (and if you loved Sally Wainwright’s writing, make sure you tune into her latest series Riot Women). The antithesis, ironically, is Death Valley the BBC’s Wales-set, Timothy Spall-led crime comedy which launched earlier this year to rave reviews.

Joined by disarmingly friendly cop DS Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth), Spall – who will also soon star in Kate Winslet’s directorial debut – plays eccentric retired actor and national treasure John Chapel. Entirely set in Wales and mostly filmed in Penarth, when series 1 of this cosy crime series launched, it had us scrambling to book a Welsh staycation ASAP. And with series 2 officially on the way, we are sure we have some more picturesque landscapes to look forward to – as well as plenty of crime-fighting action. Here is everything we know so far.

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Janie Mallowan (GWYNETH KEYWORTH), John Chapel (TIMOTHY SPALL) in Death Valley. (© BBC/BBC Studios/Simon Ridgway)

Death Valley Series 2: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

With its cosy similarities to other recent hits like The Thursday Murder Club, McDonald and Dodds and the ever-beloved Grantchester, it is almost no surprise Death Valley was an instant hit. According to the BBC, the Welsh comedy attracted the BBC’s largest UK overnight audience for a new scripted show in five years, while on BBC One Wales it remains the most watched comedy of 2025. As BBC Cymru Wales’ head of commissioning Nick Andrews says, ‘The numbers in Wales have been huge! It’s lovely to see our neck of the woods providing both the bucolic backdrop and a cast of amazing characters who have the UK sitting on the edge of their seats week in week out.’

Death Valley is available to stream on BritBox across the pond, where it is the platform’s second most watched show of 2025 so far.

Penned by BAFTA-nominated writer Paul Doolan (who is best known for his work on Mammoth, Trollied and Bloods), lead star (and British acting legend) Timothy Spall says he is ‘delighted that the show has been received so well, and audiences have embraced the warm and eccentric nature of John and Janie’s partnership’.

Looking ahead to series 2, ‘I’m really looking forward to revisiting this unlikely duo with the brilliant Gwyneth Keyworth as they take on more crime solving escapades in Wales,’ Spall says.

According to the BBC, filming begins this week in Wales with co-lead Keyworth sharing: ‘I’m so chuffed Janie and John get to bicker their way through some more deadly crime scenes. Thank you so much to everyone who watched and supported the show! I can’t wait to be back corpsing with Timothy and the gang for series two!’ (Corpsing is a theatrical term for when an actor is unable to control their laughter, breaking character and making other stars laugh too.)

John Chapel (TIMOTHY SPALL) in Death Valley. (BBC/BBC Studios/Simon Ridgway)

What Will Happen?

Death Valley centres on an unlikely crime duo: retired actor John Chapel (Spall) who was once the star of a hit detective TV show called Caesar – and disarming young cop DS Janie Mallowan (Keyworth), who happens to be one of his biggest fans.

Together they form an odd pair with opposing instincts that actually end up combining to create a stellar crime-fighting duo. Every week they come together to get to the bottom of a mysterious murder case, and while there is no specific news just yet on the plot of Death Valley series 2, we assume we will be treated to a meaty new case with every episode, just like series 1.

As series creator and writer Doolan teases, ‘I’m very excited for viewers to see where the next series takes them as we pit them against an array of cunning murderers and, more often than not, against each other.’

BBC Studios’ head of comedy Josh Cole adds Doolan’s Death Valley series 2 scripts ‘are even better’ than series 1, joking ‘while we would never usually encourage murder, in the case of Death Valley we’re honoured to make an exception’.

John Chapel (TIMOTHY SPALL) & Janie Mallowan (GWYNETH KEYWORTH) in Death Valley. (BBC/BBC Studios/Simon Ridgway)

The Cast

Spall and Keyworth are back leading Death Valley as John Chapel and DS Janie Mallowan, joined by regular cast members Alexandria Riley as Helen Baxter, Steffan Rhodri as DCI Barry Clarke, Melanie Walters as Yvonne Mallowan and Rithvik Andugula as DC Evan Chaudhry.

No news just yet on each episode’s guest stars; watch this space.

Release Date

Death Valley series 2 will launch in 2026, according to the BBC; we expect a spring premiere like series 1. It will be made up of six episodes.

Catch up on Death Valley series 1 on BBC iPlayer.

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