The Gone season 2 UK release date finally confirmed by BBC and fans don't have long to wait

When The Gone aired on BBC Four last year, the crime drama quickly became quite the hit for the broadcaster.

As well as plunging us deep into a mystery that unfolded in a rural New Zealand town, the series ended on a fittingly twisted cliffhanger.

Well, the good news at the time was that The Gone had been renewed for a second season, and now, we finally know when the series will be returning in the UK.

It's been confirmed that The Gone season 2 will premiere on Thursday 31st July on BBC Two at 9pm. The series will also be released as a box set, ready to binge watch to your heart's content on BBC iPlayer.

UK fans will notice a slight change in the new release of The Gone, with the series having previously aired on BBC Four and now making its way over to BBC Two.

The series will once again be led by Grey's Anatomy alum Richard Flood as Irish detective Theo Richter and Acushla-Tara Kupe as New Zealand detective Diana Huia.

In the first season, we followed the pair as they investigated the disappearance of a young Irish couple who vanished from a rural New Zealand town.

It was soon uncovered that, actually, despite outward appearances, the couple's life wasn't the picture-perfect image everyone had thought it to be – and they may have had links to some historical murders in the area.

The season 1 finale left on the chilling note of whether or not Irish investigative journalist Aileen Ryan (Carolyn Bracken) was alright, seeing as we last saw her go to a mountain shack in search of some more evidence before being interrupted by a mysterious figure.

Theo was about to board a flight back to Ireland and called her, which is when we saw her blood-stained mobile phone ringing. Talk about lots of burning questions going into season 2, right?

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Well, the second season picks back up after the drama of the first, with the disappearance of Aileen bringing Theo back to Mount Affinity, joining up with Diana to try and figure out what's happened.

The official synopsis states: "When it appears she went missing while chasing a lead on the town's historical Mountain Murders, the detectives enter a game of cat and mouse with 'The Goatman', who is back and more dangerous than ever.

"Game of Thrones actress Michelle Fairley reprises her role as Judge Hannah Martin in season 2 of The Gone. Her character is still in the small rural town of Mount Affinity trying to heal her traumatised daughter Sinéad (played by Galway's Rachel Morgan), who is unravelling after her experience of being abducted."

We already knew that Fairley would be reprising her season 1 role after some images of the filming revealed her on set with Flood. That also means that there's plenty more to dig into in regards to her character, Judge Hannah Martin – we can't wait.

The Gone is available to watch on iPlayer.

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