By Lacy Baugher for Drama on August 9th, 2013

'The Bletchley Circle' Series 2 Set for Spring 2014 on PBS!

Millie, Jean, Lucy and Susan will all be back for Series 2 (Photo: Courtesy of ©Laurence Cendrowicz/World Productions)
Millie, Jean, Lucy and Susan will all be back for Series 2 (Photo: Courtesy of ©Laurence Cendrowicz/World Productions)
Another fabulous bit of news coming out of the summer leg of the Television Critics Association Press Tour – PBS announced that the highly-anticipated second series of mystery hit The Bletchley Circle will air on Sunday nights in Spring 2014. Series 2 will once again be paired with Call the Midwife and Mr. Selfridge, when both those series return with new episodes.  (This would seem to indicate that you can expect the series to air at roughly the same time it did this spring, but, of course, we’ll let you know an exact date once that’s confirmed.)

The second season will continue to follow the story of the four women – all former Bletchley Park  codebreakers – who use their skill at deducing patterns and decoding puzzles to solve crimes. Series 2 will be comprised of four episodes, rather than three, which will tell two self-contained stories, each spread across two of the sixty-minute installments.  Stars Anna Maxwell Martin, Rachel Stirling, Sophie Rundle and Julie Graham are all set to return. 

“We’re thrilled to bring back The Bletchley Circle,” said Beth Hoppe, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audience Programming for PBS. “It is a smart show that features fascinating, strong women characters and superb writing. Drama has always been a critical part of what we offer on PBS and the audience reaction to The Bletchley Circle and other shows has been fabulous.”

The new episodes will be set a year after the events of Series 1. Per the official press release, here’s what we can expect:

The first two episodes of Series 2 are called Blood on Their Hands. Viewers find former Bletchley Park girl Alice Merren in prison awaiting trial for murder. Jean stands behind her innocence and tries to reunite the circle in an attempt to help one of their own. Susan is reluctant to get involved after her experience with the twisted serial killer Malcolm Crowley and the danger it posed to her family. Lucy is now getting on well in a clerical job at Scotland Yard and keeping her head down, and Millie is working as a German translator.

Episodes 3 and 4, called Uncustomed Goods, find Millie branching out into what she believes to be an innocent sideline of dealing in unaccustomed goods (this means the black market). This endeavor leads to her being kidnapped and held in a seedy hotel by some gangsters. On discovering this, Alice goes to Jean and Lucy to help. The girls start to investigate in order to save their friend and, as they do so, uncover a much darker, hidden world of crime.

Dun dun dun……

What do you think, folks? Excited for more Bletchley? What would you like to see happen in the new series?

By Lacy Baugher for Drama on August 9th, 2013
Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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  • ‘The Bletchley Circle’ Series 2: Watch the First PBS Preview

    The wait is almost over – Series 2 of popular, female-driven mystery series The Bletchley Circle premieres on PBS stations nationwide beginning Sunday, April 13. The period drama follows the story of four women, who all possess the extraordinary ability to break codes and recognize patterns, skills honed during their time at the famous Bletchley Park during World War II, site of the United Kingdom’s main decryption establishment. Now, after the war, they use their unique skills to solve crimes.

    Series 2 will be comprised of four episodes, rather than three and tell two separate, self-contained stories, each spread across a pair of sixty-minute installments. Stars Anna Maxwell Martin, Rachel Stirling,Sophie Rundle and Julie Graham are all set to return, and we can expect the addition of a new face to the gang, as well.

    The official PBS trailer for Series 2 has arrived and actually looks quite a bit different than its ITV counterpart which was released to promote the show’s UK return earlier this year. It’s geared a bit more obviously toward those who may have missed out on Series 1, and focuses more on the premise behind the show – and the women who solve crimes – than on the actual plot of the mysteries themselves.

    Watch for yourselves below:

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