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BBC Confirms Return Of Detective Drama 'Baptiste'

Joanna Freedman

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BBC Confirms Return Of Detective Drama 'Baptiste'

Featured Image Credit: BBC

If you were a fan of BBC's Baptiste, then you'll be excited to hear that the detective drama is officially returning for another series.

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Produced by award-winning production company Two Brothers Productions (The Missing, Fleabag, Liar, Cheat) and written by Harry and Jack WIlliams, the second instalment of The Missing's much loved spin-off is set to start filming again next month - and there's a familiar new cast member on board.

As the name of the series suggests, the insightful but stubborn Julien Baptiste (Tchéky Karyo) will return as everyone's favourite retired police investigator, and this time he will be helping British Ambassador Emma Chambers - played by Fiona Shaw, from Killing Eve and Fleabag.

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In the new season, Julien will be taking viewers to Budapest as he attempts to solve another impossibly difficult missing person case.

The BBC teases that the season is set to "pay homage to its roots in The Missing," by unfolding across two different periods of time.

And while Julien is still intent on helping others, as always, the detective's personal life inevitably intrudes on his jam packed schedule.

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Killing Eve's Fiona Shaw will star in the new series (Credit: BBC)
Killing Eve's Fiona Shaw will star in the new series (Credit: BBC)

"Julien Baptiste is not the man we knew before," the channel warns. "After enduring a horrific personal tragedy, Julien has pushed his wife Celia away and is looking for any distraction - whether that be the bottom of a bottle or a new case - to consume him."

The troubling case will follow the anguish of Emma Chambers as her whole family mysteriously disappears while she's away on a skiing holiday in the Hungarian mountains.

Like he did in the last series of the hit show, and in The Missing, Julien completely consumes himself with finding Emma's loved ones, and cares about nothing more than bringing home her husband and two sons.

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However, the detective has his suspicions about the Hungarian police force, and also has concerns about the extreme levels of media interest surrounding Emma's case.

Julien Baptiste is on a brand new mission (Credit: BBC)
Julien Baptiste is on a brand new mission (Credit: BBC)

Will he be able to battle through all the obstacles and bring Emma's family home?

Speaking to Deadline about the news of the second season, the show's writer Jack Williams teased that it could be the last case for the detective.

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While he confirmed the final decision on a third season was not 100 per cent confirmed, sadly, it sounds like he's pretty certain to us.

He told the publication: "Julien Baptiste is back for one more case. I expect it will be the last time we see him and we will be saying goodbye to the character".

Looks like it's one last Baptiste binge, then.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Baptiste is a "direct sequel" to BBC drama The Missing, which aired with two series between 2014 and 2016.

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Each series followed a separate case of a vanished child, investigated by Julien Baptiste. And while the final series of The Missing did share some parallels with real-life cases, both of the series' storylines were fictional.

We first encountered Julien Baptiste in The Missing (Credit: BBC)
We first encountered Julien Baptiste in The Missing (Credit: BBC)

However the titular detective does have some real life inspiration: a French detective known by writers Harry and Jack Williams.

Lead actor Tchéky told the Radio Times: "Baptiste, as a French detective, is a homage to somebody the writers know," adding, "He is known to the family and to their father Nigel, who is also a very well-known writer.

"They grew up in this milieu, in this field, and one of their friends is a real detective and follows all sorts of cases in France, so that's why when they started on this missing case they thought of him and decided he was going to be French".

If it's going to be Julien's last hoorah, at least it sounds like the show is going out with a bang...

Topics: BBC, TV News, TV Entertainment

Joanna Freedman
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