Irvine Welsh's 'Crime' Season 2 Debuts in November

Irvine Welsh is best known in the U.S. as the author of Trainspotting, a series of short stories set in Edinburgh focusing on the heroin epidemic of the early 1990s from the point of view of the addicts. That novel was the basis of the 1996 film, which turned director Danny Boyle into an indie darling, along with stars Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Macdonald, Ewen Bremner, and Shirley Henderson. Since then, Welsh has written screenplays for TV with fellow author Dean Cavanagh, the most currently successful of which is his Scottish police procedural Crime, starring Dougray Scott and Joanna Vanderham.

BritBox brought over the series' first season under the title Irvine Welsh's Crime, hoping to trade on the name recognition, especially with 2017's release of the sequel T2 Trainspotting. While the series has remained generally under the radar here, it's begun to build up a following across the pond since the six-episode second season hit ITVX in September 2023. With Season 2 heading to BritBox in the States in November, American fans now have a chance to hop on board before it also leaves the station over here.

Dougray Scott stars as DI Ray Lennox, who, in Season 1, was buddied up with new partner DS Amanda Drummond (Vanderham). Their case, which begins with the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl, wound up leading to an infamous serial killer, dubbed "Mr Confectioner" by the press. As Lennox's alcoholism worsened from the stress of the case, the serial killer turned his sights on the duo in a game of cat and mouse. By the end of the season, Lennox got his man, but it seemed at the expense of his sanity, as he is forced to go on leave for a mental breakdown. Season 2 picked up months on, as Lennox attempts to return to work, still in therapy, fighting to stay sober.

Here’s the Season 2 synopsis:

When one of Lennox’s former colleagues is attacked, Lennox and Drummond quickly realize that all is not as it seems, as they become embroiled in a case about vengeance, identity, and social justice. The attack is linked to a gruesome attempted murder of a high-ranking establishment figure at a posh hotel, which has been hushed up by the police. As Lennox investigates via Edinburgh’s saunas, crack dens, and poshest hotels, he finds doors slammed in his face; there is an Establishment cover-up at play. It’s not until the killer targets one of Lennox’s team that the pieces start to fall into place. Tracing the motivation back to an unsavory incident 30 years ago, Lennox begins to realize that there is more to this case than meets the eye, and the killer he has been chasing may not be the driving force behind these murders after all.

The returning cast from Season 1 includes Ken Stott (The Missing), John Simm (Grace), and Derek Riddell (Happy Valley). Season 2 will also feature new additions Rebecca Root (Heartstopper), David Elliot (The Cry), Laura Fraser (The Pact), Fiona Bell (Shetland), Sarah McCardie (It’s A Sin), Brian McCardie (Line of Duty), John McLarnon (Outlander), Ewan Miller (Skin), and Gordon Morris (The Terror). Dougray Scott’s son, Gabriel Scott (House of Dragon), will also guest-star.

The six-episode series was once again developed for television and written by Welsh and Cavanagh. Directors Trygve Allister Diesen (Wisting) and Anthony Neilson (I Hate Suzie) split helming duties. The series is produced by Buccaneer Media (The Burning Girls) and Off Grid Film and TV. Welsh, Cavanagh, and Scott are executive producers alongside Pamela Hansson, James Strong, Richard Tulk-Hart, and Tony Wood.

Irvine Welsh’s Crime Season 2 will debut with all six episodes on BritBox on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 on BritBox.