Martin Freeman blew viewers away earlier this year when he starred as police officer Chris Carson in Liverpool-based drama The Responder - and now fans will be delighted to hear that a follow-up to the BBC series is in the works.
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According to the BBC Press Office, the hit series "will return for a second series and will once again be set and filmed in Liverpool". More than 10million viewers tuned in to watch the show in its first 30 days after it landed on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, making it the broadcaster's second-biggest new drama of 2022, so we're hardly surprised to hear of its renewal.
WATCH: Did you enjoy the first series of The Responder?
The exciting news comes after Sherlock star Martin as well as other cast members, expressed their interest in reprising their roles following the first series' five-episode run.
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"Chris is a character I'd like to return to because I'm a sucker for good scripts," Martin told What to Watch while discussing the possibility of another series earlier this year. "I'll walk anywhere for a good script and we had a great team on this. I love the team, it's beautifully produced and so yeah, I would hope to do it again!"
We'll be seeing more of troubled urgent response officer Chris Carson
Warren Brown, who starred as Chris' work rival Ray Mullen, also said that he would be up for returning. He told press that he would "love to go back if that happens" while also revealing that the overwhelmingly positive response from viewers helped push forward conversations about a second instalment.
"So often you don't know how well something's going to be received, so you don't know from the off that they're wanting to do more of a series," he said back in February. "But I think more and more now, when an audience reaction has been great for a show, there's definite scope to do more. So there are murmurs [of season two], but nothing set in stone."
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He concluded: "But again, you know, fantastic people to be back up north filming, working with great actors, working on a great job. Yeah, I'd love to go back if that happens."
Audiences will be pleased to hear that alongside The Responder, the BBC has also renewed three other popular dramas. Shaun Evans and Suranne Jones' submarine-based thriller Vigil will also be back, as will Sean Bean and Stephen Graham's prison-set drama Time and Jamie Dornan's Australia-set genre-bending series The Tourist.