Bookish creator Mark Gatiss teases key revelation about Book’s past in "ambitious" season 2

With Bookish season 2 on the horizon, creator Mark Gatiss has teased that the new instalment of the detective series will delve further into Gabriel Book's past.

The crime drama, which follows the eccentric book shop owner and unlikely detective, gave us a dramatic revelation at the end of season 2 – that Book was in love with Jack's father, a man named Felix.

Now, Gatiss has confirmed that season 2 will give us much more detail on what happened between the pair.

Explaining what's to come in season 2 at the Radio Times Covers Party 2026, Gatiss revealed: "The first story is set in the world of spiritualism. The second story is about a murder in a tailor shop, and the third story is set in Germany where Book and Jack go to find out what happened to Jack's father, Felix."

Also teasing what's to come in the later episodes, when we'll find out more about Book's past with Felix, he revealed: "Episode 5 [and] 6, that's what it's about. So we will find out what happened, who Felix was, what happened to him, the whole shebang!"

Season 1 proved wildly popular with fans, and Gatiss admitted he's been relishing the chance to write more of the series.

"It's a real passion project," he explained. "The idea of a gay detective in a dangerous world, but also in the post-war world, which is something I've always been really interested in.

"I love murder mysteries. I've always wanted to be a period detective, so to have that as a vehicle for all kinds of stories, is very, very exciting.

"We've got some amazing people on series 2 coming: Miranda Richardson, Simon Callow, Claire Skinner, Alan Corduner.

"It's really rich, this new season, and much more ambitious, having established, as it were, the precinct of the lane and without it stretching credulity, having murders quite close to home, we've sort of opened it up a bit, so I'm really excited about it."

First-look images of season 2 were recently unveiled, with the show set to reunite us with Polly Walker as Trottie Book, Connor Finch as Jack Blunt, Elliot Levey as Inspector Bliss, Blake Harrison as Sergeant Morris, Buket Kömür as Nora and Nadia Albina as Dr Calder.

Rosie Cavaliero, Gerard Horan and Jonas Nay will also be back in the new season, while they will be joined by a host of beloved guest stars - including Sherlock's Rupert Graves.

Bookish airs on U&Alibi. The series is available to stream on demand on Sky, Virgin, BT and TalkTalk.

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