'Ridley' Will Sing Another Song for Season 2

Though D.I. Ray won the right to air as part of the 2024 Summer of Mysteries, getting a double punch lead in of Professor T Season 3 and Grantchester Season 9, its main rival, Ridley, also gets to return to PBS for Season 2. Once again, the Adrian Dunbar-led show will act as the 8 p.m. E.T. lead-in ahead of a double dose of Masterpiece programming, with the highly-anticipated Moonflower Murders (aka Magpie Murders Season 2) and fan-favorite Van der Valk Season 4 following it.

Dunbar returns as Alex Ridley, a retired detective who can't stop helping his colleagues, especially his former mentee DI Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh), whose department is understaffed, overworked, and needs his wisdom and experience. Between his adventures, he'll check in to the jazz club he's invested in, and most likely pop up on stage to sing a few old chestnuts, giving Dunbar a chance to remind those watching at home that he's a multi-talented star.  

Like Season 1, PBS is breaking the series, which airs as four feature-length mysteries in the U.K., into eight 45-minute episodes to fit the Masterpiece schedule. Ironically, this move to fall means Ridley will air with Van der Valk, the other major mystery series that breaks its feature-length episodes into two parters. Hopefully, putting them together like this will make the format change feel less jarring. However, viewers should note Ridley is eight episodes to Moonflower and Van der Valk's six, so the final two episodes of Ridley will act as a lead into Masterpiece's late fall arrival, The Marlow Murder Club, which takes over the 9 p.m. berth from Moonflower at the end of October.

Here's the Season 2 synopsis:

In the heart-racing second season, retired detective-turned-police consultant Alex Ridley is set to rejoin forces with his former protégée, D.I. Carol Farman, who is now at the helm of investigations. Ridley returns to investigating crimes, which will take him from the atmospheric moors, investigating a historical murder, to the pulsating beats of an illegal rave. Ridley must face formidable challenges as he works tirelessly to solve the most intricate and perplexing cases.

Dunbar (Line of Duty) and Waugh (Unforgotten) will once again be joined by Terence Maynard (Sherwood) as DCI Paul Goodwin, Georgie Glen (Call the Midwife) as Dr. Wendy Newstone, and George Bukhari (After the Flood) as DC Darren Lakhan. Julie Graham (The Serial Killer's Wife) returns as Annie Marling, Ridley's love interest who owns the jazz club; Bhavna Limbachia (Citizen Khan) also will be back as Geri Farman, Carol's wife, and Tareq Al-Jeddal (Vera) as Jack Farman, their son.

Series creator Paul Matthew Thompson penned two episodes of Season 2, with his Vera co-writer Michael Bhim and Julia Gilbert (Midsomer Murders) picking up the other two stories. Thompson and series co-creator Jonathan Fisher, the Managing Director of West Road Pictures, will executive produce alongside Dunbar and Ingrid Goodwin. 

Ridley Season 2 will debut on Sunday, September 15, at 8 p.m. ET, followed by Moonflower Murders at 9 p.m. ET, and Van der Valk Season 4 at 10 p.m. ET. It will run eight episodes, concluding on Sunday, November 3; so its final two episodes will precede The Marlow Murder Club Season 1 at 9 p.m. ET when it takes over the Moonflower Murders slot starting October 27, 2024. 

As always, these times and release dates are for most local PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. PBS Passport members will have access to all episodes of Ridley Season 2 on premiere day to watch as a binge (or as initially intended). As always, check your local listings and streamers.