Man, that first season of Dept. Q hit hard, didn’t it? All those twisted cold cases in rainy Edinburgh, with Matthew Goode brooding as Carl Mørck – it was proper addictive. Netflix finally gave the green light for a second go-round back in August 2025, and folks are already itching for more. Here’s the latest scoop on when it might drop, who’s coming back, and where the plot could head next.
Dept. Q Season 2 Release Date Updates
Netflix dropped the renewal bomb on August 18, 2025, not long after the show premiered in late May. That’s a good sign they loved how it performed. But as of early 2026, there’s no firm release date locked in yet.
Looking at how things went with season one – filming wrapped up quick and it landed about 15 months later – guesses are pointing to sometime in mid-to-late 2026, maybe even pushing into early 2027 if things drag. One site threw out May 28, 2026, but that feels optimistic. Production’s supposed to ramp up soon in Edinburgh again, keeping that moody Scottish vibe alive. Keep an eye on Netflix’s Tudum page or their socials; that’s where the big announcements usually pop up first.
Dept. Q Season 2 Expected Cast
The gang’s pretty much all set to return, which is brilliant news. Matthew Goode is definitely reprising his role as the grumpy genius Carl Mørck – he even put out a statement saying how pumped he is to dive back in with the “wonderful cast and crew.” Alexej Manvelov as Akram Salim (or Assad in the books), Leah Byrne as Rose, and Jamie Sives as Hardy are expected too. That chemistry between them was gold in season one.
Kelly Macdonald might pop up again as the therapist with complicated feelings for Mørck. Chloe Pirrie, who played the missing woman in the first season, has chatted about wanting more, but her character’s arc wrapped up, so who knows. Creator Scott Frank’s hinted at maybe adding some fresh faces to shake things up as the department grows. Goode joked about getting Manvelov some serious fight training for action scenes – sounds like Salim’s backstory could get wild.
Dept. Q Season 2 Potential Plot
Season one stuck close to the first book, The Keeper of Lost Causes (or Mercy), with that harrowing disappearance case. For round two, it’s looking like they’ll pull from the second novel, The Absent One – sometimes called Disgrace or The Pheasant Killers in different editions.
Picture this: a brutal double murder from the ’80s, siblings killed at a fancy summer house, and now new clues surface tying it to posh boarding school kids and a mysterious woman on the run. It’s got layers of privilege, revenge, and cover-ups, blending an old case with stuff happening right now. Expect more digs into the team’s personal messes too – like Salim’s hidden past (maybe some war stuff and mad skills), the fallout from that shooting that scarred Mørck and Hardy, and whatever’s brewing romantically.
Frank’s called it another “cold case that’s also current,” and he’s keen on maybe trimming to six episodes for tighter pacing. With ten books total, there’s plenty of material if this keeps going strong.
