Timothy Spall's "record-breaking hit" detective drama finally gets future confirmed by BBC

John Chapel (Spall) is a jaded and reclusive actor, who became famous playing a detective on television, while Janie Mallowan (Keyworth) is a disarming and determined detective sergeant, who grew up watching his hit show, Caesar.

Despite their long list of differences in demeanour and how they view the world, John and Janie developed an unconventional camaraderie over the course of the first season – and solved a number of whodunnits in the process.

Audiences also felt the warmth, with Death Valley enjoying the largest overnight audience in the UK for a new scripted show in five years (topping Ludwig's record), and attracting an average of 4.6 million viewers per episode in the consolidated 28-day ratings.

It's no surprise, then, that the BBC has opted to recommission the light-hearted mystery series, which joins the growing roster of 'cosy crime' shows on British television.

On the renewal, Keyworth commented: "I'm so chuffed Janie and John get to bicker their way through some more deadly crime scenes. Thank you so much to everyone who watched and supported the show!

"I can't wait to be back 'corpsing' with Timothy and the gang for series 2!"

Meanwhile, the BBC's director of comedy commissioning Jon Petrie, said: "The trouble with recommissioning Death Valley is it means the crime rate in Wales is about to skyrocket again.

"But if that's the price we pay for more brilliant performances from Timothy Spall and Gwyneth Keyworth, and more scripts from Paul Doolan, then so be it. Delighted to bring the team back for more murder and mischief."

Death Valley marks another hit project for Doolan, who will be known to comedy fans as the creator of Sky's supermarket sitcom Trollied, while he's also written for the likes of Bloods and Mammoth.

He told press that he was "delighted" with the response to Death Valley and promised that season 2 would pit John and Janie "against an array of cunning murderers and, more often than not, against each other".

Josh Cole, head of comedy at BBC Studios, added: "While we would never usually encourage murder, in the case of Death Valley we're honoured to make an exception. The first series was a record-breaking hit with audiences and Paul's scripts for series 2 are even better. We can't wait to get going."

Death Valley season 2 will consist of six 45-minute episodes, with supporting cast members Alexandria Riley (Helen Baxter), Steffan Rhodri (DCI Barry Clarke), Melanie Walters (Yvonne Mallowan) and Rithvik Andugula (DC Evan Chaudhry) to return.

Expect a premiere date and guest stars to be announced in due course.

Death Valley is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Season 2 is coming soon.

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