'Sherwood' Season 2 to Premiere in November as a BritBox Exclusive

The second season of Sherwood finally has a release date for Americans, as BritBox confirms today it will join the streaming service's Thursday night lineup starting in November. The critically acclaimed series from James Graham was a massive hit in the U.K. when it debuted in 2022 and was literally the best show on streaming anywhere in the U.S. that year. Unfortunately, for Americans, BritBox dropped all six episodes at once with Season 1, making it harder to market for the niche service. However, for Season 2, the series will be a weekly rollout with two back-to-back episodes, continuing BritBox's new trend of programming Thursday nights with the best British shows it has to offer.

Season 1 of Sherwood was initially meant to be a close-ended story. Set in two timelines, 1984 and 2004, it traced how Margaret Thatcher's overreach to smash the miner's strikes in northern areas like Nottinghamshire still infused everyday life thirty years after she successfully destroyed the areas now referred to as "Red Wall" towns. (The name refers to the U.K. electoral map, because these areas have gone "red" for Labour, come hell or high water, since Thatcher.) Encompassing everything from the spy cops program to the families set against each other by Tory policies, the true crime series covering the manhunt for the bow-and-arrow killer was a brilliant genre mashup.

However, the success of Season 1 caused Graham to reconsider, and Season 2 will pick back up twenty years later, now in modern-day Sherwood, where the effects of Brexit and a generation of Tory rule have done a new number on these poverty-stricken areas. With several of the A-list cast returning (and many new high-end actors joining the series), Sherwood's second season is one of the BBC's most anticipated releases for 2024.

Here's the Season 2 synopsis:

The second season further explores the powerful themes that made the first so resonant to audiences. Set in the present day, it introduces two new families that find themselves entangled with the Sparrows, entering a complex web of local gangs, old rivalries, revenge, and betrayal. Meanwhile, a newly appointed Sheriff of Nottingham is passionately fighting against a proposed new mine for the area, which brings the promise of much needed jobs and prosperity but also unwelcome reminders of the legacy that has mired the community for so long.

Season 2 will see the return of David Morrissey (The Missing), Lesley Manville (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris), Philip Jackson (Poirot), Bill Jones (The Village), and Lorraine Ashbourne (After the Flood). New faces include Monica Dolan (Mr. Bates vs the Post Office), David Harewood (The Night Manager), Robert Lindsay (Victoria), Stephen Dillane (Vigil), Sharlene Whyte (Small Axe), Perry Fitzpatrick (Line of Duty), Christine Bottomley (Domina), Aisling Loftus (War & Peace), Adam Hugill (1917), Ria Zmitrowicz (The Power), Robert Emms (Andor), Michael Balogun (Top Boy), Oliver Huntingdon (Happy Valley), Jorden Myrie (Mood), Conor Deane (All Creatures Great & Small) and Bethany Asher (Mobility).

James Graham once again penned all episodes with directors Clio Barnard (Ali & Ava) and Tom George (See How They Run) splitting helming duties. Barnard and Graham executive produce along with Juliette Howell, Tessa Ross, and Harriet Spencer for House Productions, and Jo McClellan for the BBC. 

Sherwood Season 2 will debut on BritBox on Thursday, November 14, with two episodes, and then continue with two episodes a week every Thursday through November 28, 2024.