Will Apple TV have another multi-season hit based on Mick Herron books? That’s the hope with Down Cemetery Road, the first season of which is now completely streaming as of Wednesday, December 10.
Given the success of — with multiple early renewals as well — Slow Horses, based on Herron’s Slough House books, it’s very possible that this one, starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, too, will be around for more than just this first season. Herron seems cautiously optimistic about the series continuing.
“We’ll see how this one goes with viewers. I think viewers are going to enjoy it very much, so who knows what will happen,” he tells TV Insider while discussing the Season 1 finale.
The series is based on the author’s Zoë Broehm novels, of which there are four. Wilson’s Sarah isn’t in all of them, but she and Thompson are so good together that Herron thinks that the show might have to change that part of the book.
“I think if any sequel were made, it would have to include both characters in the same kind of dynamic that they have played in Down Cemetery Road,” he says. “It’s the way they play off each other. I think that they can do the humor as well as compassion and danger as well. All the different things they go through, they do so well. It’s a joy to watch, I thought.”
Read on for everything we know about a possible Down Cemetery Road Season 2, including who it could star.
Has Down Cemetery Road been renewed for Season 2?
Not yet! But that’s not surprising, given that the Season 1 finale just began streaming. But it does seem likely it will be.
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Wilson also previously expressed hope to TV Insider that the show would be back for more after this first season.
“They will have to wait until it goes out, sees how it does and everything. But I think people are very excited about it generally in the Apple creative team and 60Forty [Films]. So I think there is a belief that it will go again,” she said in August. “We’ll probably know by the end of the year whether we’re going to go again.”
What is Down Cemetery Road about?
Season 1 follows Sarah Trafford (Wilson), who turns to private investigator Zoë Boehm (Thompson) when a girl disappears following an explosion in her neighborhood. The two find themselves mixed up in a conspiracy that reveals people thought to be dead aren’t.
What book could Down Cemetery Road Season 2 be based on?
That’s to be determined. There are four books in the series, with the first season based on the first of the same name. The next three books are The Last Voice You Hear, Why We Die, and Smoke and Whispers.
“I think they’re going to try and put it into three seasons altogether, so, it would be about condensing those three books into two more seasons,” Wilson told us. “And they may, depending on what they want to do — I mean, Sarah doesn’t actually feature in Book 2 and 3, she comes into Book 4, but I think they might bring Sarah in, create another storyline for her. But we’ll see. I’ve got no idea. That’s what they’re sort of working out now.”
The description for The Last Voice You Hear reads: “Zoë Boehm has harbored a distinct aversion to death ever since she shot the man intent on killing her. So when Caroline Daniels takes a deadly fall in front of a train and her lover fails to turn up at the funeral, Zoë wants nothing to do with the case. But Caroline’s boss is persistent, and as Zoë attempts to unlock the secrets of a woman she’s never met while in search of a man who could be anywhere, she starts to wonder if he’s found her first. And if he has, will that make her the next victim, or prove to be her salvation from a paralysing fear?”
Then, in Why We Die, “When Zoë Boehm agrees to track down the gang who robbed Sweeney’s jewellery shop, she’s just hoping to break even in time for tax season. She certainly doesn’t expect to wind up in a coffin. But she’s about to become entangled with a strange collection of characters, starting with suicidal Tim Whitby, who’s dedicating what’s left of his life to protecting Katrina Blake from her late husband’s sociopathic brothers, Arkle and Trent. Unfortunately for Zoë, Arkle has a crossbow, Tim has nothing left to lose, and even Katrina has her secrets. And death, like taxes, can’t be avoided forever.”
Related‘Down Cemetery Road’ Team Explains Season 1 Finale Ending — Where It Left Zoe & Sarah (VIDEO)
And in Smoke and Whispers, “When a body is hauled from the River Tyne, Sarah Tucker heads to Newcastle for a closer look. She identifies the dead woman as private detective Zoë Boehm, but putting a name to the corpse only raises further questions. Did Zoë kill herself, or did one of her old cases come back to haunt her? Why was she wearing the jacket a murderer had stolen years before? And what’s brought Sarah’s former sparring partner Gerard Inchon to the same broken-down hotel where she’s staying? Coincidence is an excuse that soon appears pretty unconvincing. Sarah can’t leave until she’s found the answers to her questions, however dangerous they might turn out to be.”
Who’s in the Down Cemetery Road cast?
Down Cemetery Road stars Emma Thompson as Zoë Boehm and Ruth Wilson as Sarah Trafford. The Season 1 cast also includes Adeel Akhtar, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Tom Goodman-Hill, Darren Boyd, Tom Riley, Adam Godley, Sinead Matthews, Ken Nwosu, Fehinti Balogun, and Aiysha Hart. Beyond Thompson and likely Wilson, it’s unclear who could return for future seasons. For example, Godley’s Joe was killed off in the premiere.
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