Alibi’s hit crime drama series, Annika has been renewed for season 2, which is not a surprise considering the record-breaking numbers that the season 1 did.
When Nicola Walker left her role as DI Cassie Stuart in Masterpiece’s Unforgotten many fans of the crime drama were shocked about the news.
But she returned to crime dramas with her next acting project, this time helming the series as DI Annika Strandhed on Alibi’s Annika.
Her decision proved to be the right move, as Annika went on to break records for the channel during its first season.
As such, whether the series would return for a second season or not was long speculated until it was confirmed in August 2022, when the series started production on the new season.
What is so special about Annika?
The UK has a slew of crime-drama titles which are popular for various reasons.
Annika, which is premised on DI Annika Strandhed, a Norwegian cop who has relocated to Glasgow to head the Marina Homicide Unit (MHU), investigating unexplained, brutal, and seemingly unfathomable murders that take place in the waterways of Scotland.
All the while, in addition to managing her workload, she also has to deal with her eccentric team and her moody teenage daughter.
But the series is special as Annika breaks the fourth wall and she talks directly to the audience in certain scenes about details of the murders that she is investigating.
Annika: Season 2
Season two of Annika was in the cards after the ratings that the first season brought in for Alibi.
This is as it was reported that season one of the series has become the most watched series in the history of the channel as it attained over 1.32 million individual views since it launched in August 2021.
Hence, it was not a surprise when lead actress, Nicola Walker, took to Instagram in August 2022, to confirm that the series has begun with the production of season two.
Additionally to the confirmation post by Walker, PBS released a supporting statement confirming that the series was renewed for a new season.
The network confirmed that the critically-acclaimed series, which is based on the BBC Radio 4 drama Annika Strandhed, was commissioned for a second season by UKTV’s senior drama commissioner, Philippa Collie Cousins, after it was ordered by Alibi channel director, Emma Ayech.
While discussing the renewal and the shooting of the new season, Walker was quoted as stating, “We are all looking forward to fighting crime on sea and land with the MHU for a second series and there are secrets closer to home for Annika that will have to be faced. It’s going to be a bumpy ride!”
In the US, season one of Annika was enjoyed by viewers who are subscribed to PBS Passport or on Amazon Prime Video through the BritBox add-on channel.
However, its on-air run is scheduled to debut in October 2022 on Masterpiece, which can only increase the popularity of the already acclaimed crime-drama series.
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Who is set to return for Annika season 2?
Given that Nicola Walker was part of the confirmation rollout for Annika’s second season, it is confirmed that she is set to reprise her role as DI Annika Strandhed.
Other main supporting cast members who have confirmed their return for the new season include Guilt and Frontier’s Jamie Sives as DS Michael McAndrews, Katie Leung as DC Blair Ferguson, Ukweli Roach as DS Tyrone Clarke, and Limbo’s Silvie Furneaux will also return to reprise her role as Morgan, Annika’s temperamental teenage daughter.
What will the premise of Annika season 2 be?
While no details have been shared about the premise of the second season, which is reasonable considering that the series is still in production, what we do know is that it will not stray too far from the already established premise.
This means that the upcoming season will be a six-episode season and each episode will have a running time of an hour.
Each episode will feature an insular murder mystery that the MHU has to solve, while the character arcs of each character will be developed throughout the season.
When can I expect Annika season 2?
Considering that the production for the season began in August 2022, and season one of the crime-drama is yet to make its television official debut in the US, it is unlikely that we will get a 2022 release of the second season.
As such, it is believed that season two of Annika will only be released sometime in the spring or summer of 2023. However, no official word has been shared about a release date as of yet.