'Bookish' Books Returning Cast for Season 2

If PBS' announcement that Grantchester will end with Season 11 in 2026 feels like the end of an era, that's because it is. The last Masterpiece show still on the air that launched during the Downton Abbey era, Grantchester, was one of the very few series left in the British lineup that debuted before the pandemic, along with Unforgotten and Call the Midwife. With the former's tendency towards two-year gaps between seasons and the latter's hiatus to create a spinoff and movie, 2027 may be the first year PBS's British lineup will consist only of shows that launched after our new normal began.

Luckily, the current roster of newer shows is no slouch, even if you were never into vets saving cows and pigs every week on All Creatures Great & Small. The latest additions, like Patience and The Marlow Murder Club, have been nearly instantaneous hits. But the most significant potential hit heading to PBS in the next six months is undoubtedly Bookish, which we here at Telly Visions refer to as "The Most PBS Show to Ever PBS." 

A post World War II period-set mystery-of-the-(every-other)-week series, it stars fan-favorite Mark Gatiss as Gabriel Book, a not-quiet-closeted LGBTQ+ man in a lavender marriage, who owns an antique bookshop. Every other episode, a new crime comes through the door, and Book is called upon to help the police solve the case with his extensive knowledge and the research library of his bookshop. A British mystery show starring Mycroft Holmes from Sherlock, where he solves crimes via his love of reading? Honestly, if PBS had not picked this up, we might have had to riot.

The second season will once again consist of six episodes, divided into three two-part stories. As Season 1 is still airing in the U.K. and does not premiere in the U.S. on PBS until Fall 2025 (or later), there's no synopsis for Season 2 as yet. However, it is notable that Season 1 has already been adapted into a novel format by co-writer Matthew Sweet. (Gatiss initially planned Bookish to be a series of mystery novels, but he decided early on that it would play better as a TV series.) 

The novelization is set to be released on July 17, 2025, and it will be interesting to see if it covers only the events of Season 1 or if there will be additional stories to adapt for Season 2. Gatiss has said that he does not plan for Bookish to advance a year per season, like many period mystery series tend to do, so chances are Season 2 will continue to be set in 1946 or at least the early years of post-World War II England.

Season 2 will bring back Gatiss as Book, Polly Walker (Bridgerton) as his wife, Trottie Book, Elliot Levey (We Were the Lucky Ones) as Inspector Bliss, Buket Kömür (Our House) as Nora, Blake Harrison (World on Fire) as Sgt Morris, and Connor Finch (Everything I Know About Love) as Jack. Guest stars will be revealed closer to the show's second-season premiere, but the production is expected to bring on at least a dozen new high-profile actors to fill out the mystery-of-the-week series. 

Gatiss co-wrote Bookish with Doctor Who podcast scribe Sweet and Ian Hallard as three two-part mysteries comprising six episodes in total, and the three are expected to return to write Season 2. Director Carolina Giammetta (Suspect) helmed all episodes of Season 1 and is expected to return to helm at least some of Season 2, with Jake Harvey producing. The show is an Eagle Eye production from Jo McGrath and Walter Iuzzolino.

Bookish Season 1 is currently airing and streaming in the U.K. on UKTV and is expected to follow on PBS before the end of 2025 (or in very early 2026).