'The Marlow Murder Club' Trailer Is on the Case for Season 2

For those seeking a bit of good news in 2025, may I direct your attention to your local PBS station. It's there, as a digital channel, part of the broadcast channels on your cable box, as an app on your TV, iPad, or phone, with livestreaming channels available for free on Amazon, even if you don't have a Prime Video subscription. Moreover, despite the upheaval of the last decade in the entertainment industry, where the streaming revolution has claimed the scalp of 115-year-old Paramount Studios, PBS isn't just surviving; it's bringing more programming than ever for Anglophiles from Walking with Dinosaurs to cozy crime shows like The Marlow Murder Club.

It may not be easy for people to remember the world of 20 years ago, but the late aughts were rough for fans of British TV. BBC America had barely anything other than Top Gear, HBO's big U.K. co-production after Rome, Game of Thrones, had stalled to the point that the BBC bailed on it, and on PBS, Mystery! and Masterpiece had merged (leaving a gap in the PBS Thursday National schedule that still hasn't been adequately filled) to ensure Sunday at least had one hour of imported programming. It was not an auspicious place to be working from when streaming hit.

Compare that to today, where Masterpiece has released the first trailer for the highly popular Marlow Murder Club, a show it produces in-house, just after the successful debut of Grantchester Season 10, which aired immediately after PBS' brand-new mystery series, Patience. Marlow is one of three series arriving in August, along with Unforgotten and Professor T, pre-Labor Day Weekend. The move was necessitated by PBS and Masterpiece having so much British programming to air before the winter holidays (The Gold, Maigret, The Great Escaper); it had no choice but to expand the Sunday footprint. That's not just surviving in 2025, that's thriving.

With that small feel-good thought, here's the trailer, which is, as expected, delightful.

Here's the PBS version of the synopsis, which we will note is much less detailed than the U.K. one:

Judith, Becks, and Suzie are called back into action when a series of new unsettling crimes befall the local residents. From a seemingly impossible murder inside a locked study to a murdered man with no connection to Marlow and a shocking murder at the local sailing club, there’s no rest for our sleuthing trio.

Season 2 stars Jo Martin (Doctor Who) as Suzie, Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey) as Judith, and Cara Horgan (Jane Eyre) as Becks, the titular "Marlow Murder Club," plus Natalie Dew (The Capture) as their police liaison, the newly promoted DCI Tanika Malik. The returning ensemble also includes Tijan Sarr (Shadow & Bone) as DC Jason Kennedy, Phill Langhorne (Miss Scarlet & The Duke) as DS Brendan Perry, and Holli Dempsey (Murder in Provence) as DC Alice Hackett. Supporting cast includes Ian Barritt (Wolf Hall), Rita Tushingham (Ridley Road), Niall Costigan (Vera), Sophia Ally (The Salisbury Poisonings), Amelia Valentina Pankhania (September Says), Teagan Imani (Mr. Loverman), and no-longer newcomer Ethan Quinn. Season 2 will also introduce Ella Kenion (Beyond Paradise) as DCI Vicky Greenly. 

Like series creator Robert Thorogood's other hit case-of-the-week show, Death in Paradise, the series brings through a parade of guest stars. Season 2 will include Emily Bevan (Grantchester), James Wilby (Endeavour), Elizabeth Bennett (D.I. Ray), Andrew Knott (MaryLand), Camilla Beeput (Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime), Patrick Robinson (The Trouble with Maggie Cole), Ewan Bailey (Doctor Who), Tom Stourton (Prime Target), Nina Sosanya (Good Omens), Tom Fisher (Harlots), Abigail Cruttenden (Showtrial), Florence Keith-Roach (The Great), Caroline Langrishe (Agatha Raisin), James Gaddas (Sister Boniface Mysteries), Samantha Womack (Silent Witness), Hugh Quarshie (Riches), and Dominic Mafham (Vigil).

Thorogood continues to adapt the show from his own best-selling novels; Season 2 will bring aboard writers Lucia Haynes and Julia Gilbert to join him in penning new episodes. Director Steve Barron returns to helm the new season, Season 2 adds Katherine Churcher to split helming duties with him across the six-episode season.

The Marlow Murder Club Season 2 premieres on most local PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel beginning Sunday, August 24, 2025, at 9 p.m. ET, directly following the premiere of Professor T Season 4 at 8 p.m. and the return of Unforgotten for Season 6 at 10 p.m. All six episodes of Season 2 will be available for members on premiere day via PBS Passport. As always, check your local listings. Season 1 is available to stream on PBS Passport for members.