'Hidden Assets' Returning to Acorn TV for Season 2

Hidden Assets was a fresh take on the police procedural genre when it arrived on Acorn TV in early 2022. The series was an Irish-Belgian co-production that came at the endless Irish gang mystery trope from a new angle, that of the CAB, the Criminal Assets Bureau, located in Shannon, Ireland, whose job it is not to find the bad guys, but to come in and clean up after they've been caught, repossessing all their ill-gotten gains and possessions bought with monies made from criminal activities. But the series threw in a complication when one of those assets was across the channel in Belgium, necessitating cooperation between countries.

Season 1 starred Belgian actor Wouter Hendrickx as Chief Inspector Christian De Jong and Irish actor Angeline Ball, reprising her role as Detective Emer Berry (a character from RTE's previous series Acceptable Risk). The two made a great odd couple of cops thrown together in a race against time, uncovering a multinational threat, all of which hinged on hardnosed businesswoman Bibi Melnick (Simone Kirby). Season 2 is set in the aftermath of the finale, as Bibi has to pick up the pieces of her life, her husband's horror at what she was involved with, and the loss of her business.

However, retreating to Ireland to regroup may not have been as sound a strategy as she thought. When she learns she needs Detective Berry's help again, she returns to Shannon only to discover a new woman running the CAB division, DS Claire Wallace (Nora-Jane Noone), who has zero interest in helping her.

Here's the new season's synopsis:

In the new season of Hidden Assets, Bibi Brannigan, the ship chandler who used to operate out of the Antwerp, Belgium port, has retreated to Ireland to deal with the fallout from the Belgian bombings occurring a year earlier. Although estranged from her husband, James Melnick, the sudden death of her father-in-law Richard Melnick brings Bibi back to Antwerp. Hoping to see her son Arthur at the memorial service, Bibi is warned off by Richard’s successor Frances Swann: any deal she had with Richard died with him.

When there’s an attempt on her life, Bibi is forced to approach Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) with a deal: protection in exchange for the true conspirators behind the Belgian bombings. But there have been changes in CAB, and new team lead DS Claire Wallace is less inclined than her predecessor to believe Bibi. When the threat can no longer be ignored, Claire, along with Belgian Chief Inspector Christian De Jong, embarks on a lethal, high-stakes investigation with international political implications where nothing is at it seems and they are never sure who they can trust.

The returning cast from Season 1 includes Cathy Belton as Norah Dillon, Aaron Monaghan as Sean Prendergast, Gilles De Schryver as Vince Thijs, Kwaku Fortune as Josh Ola, Charlie Carrick as James Melnick, Jane Brennan as Eileen Gately, Maya Albert as Mila Albert, Bert Kettermans as Aubrey Cline and Steve Geerts as Viktor Maes. The new cast for Season 2 includes Eva Kamanda (Babyproof), Karine Vanasse (Plan B), Natali Broods (Skunk), Arend Pinoy (Brussel), Yemi Oduwale (Couples Therapy), and Valentijn Dhaenens (Acid).

Hidden Assets was created by Peter McKenna (Kin), who wrote Season 2 with Mary Fox (Vanilla), Marty Thornton (Vanilla), Sinéad Collopy (Smother), and Susan E. Connolly (Redemption). Directors Thaddeus O'Sullivan (Call The Midwife) and Kadir Ferati Balci (Cold Courage) split helming duties across the six episodes. McKenna also executive produced the series along with Siobhan Bourke, James Mitchell, Donna Walsh, Stephen Greenburg, Peter De Maegd, and Tom Hameeuw. Co-funded by the European Union, the series is a Saffron Moon, Facet4Media & Potemkino Production for RTÉ, Super Channel, and Acorn TV. 

Hidden Assets Season 2 premieres on Acorn TV with two episodes on Monday, November 13, with one a week to follow through December 11, 2023.