The Beast Must Die back for a second series after a great launch for series 1 of this Isle of Wight based drama

BritBox has announced that a second series of their critically acclaimed original scripted drama The Beast Must Die is now in development with New Regency Television and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free, following record breaking viewing figures for the first series which premiered on the service last week. The first two episodes of five part series launched on 27th May to widespread critical acclaim, and quickly became their best performing launch of 2021 to date.

The second series in development is entitled A Sword in my Bones, and is based on an original story created by screenwriter Gaby Chiappe (The Beast Must Die, Shetland, Vera). Rising Star Billy Howle (The Serpent, MotherFatherSon, On Chesil Beach) is mooted to return to the role of Detective Nigel Strangeways.

Billy Howle said:

‘I am thrilled by the reception to The Beast Must Die. A lot of hard work by all the cast and crew went into making the first original drama for BritBox, during a pandemic, and it seems to have paid off. I would relish the opportunity to take on the role of Strangeways again and am really excited by the prospect of this next chapter.”

You can read the full press release for more details. We expect filming might take place in the later part of this year or perhaps early 2022, and expect a release somewhere around mid-2022. BritBox may well be keen to bring this forward, given the popularity of the current series.