A second series of BBC1 drama Shakespeare & Hathaway – Private Investigators will return with Jo Joyner and Mark Benton.
The first instalment of the daytime series was a hit on iPlayer.
It starred Benton as hardboiled private investigator Frank Hathaway and Joyner as his rookie sidekick Lu Shakespeare in an unlikely partnership, set in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Will Trotter, BBC Studios’ head of daytime drama, said series two would see the pair continue to “put the world to rights as they snoop and pry”.
The new series will feature “kidnapped canines, locked room mysteries, dead ringers and doppelgangers, vice, fraud, extortion and identity theft”.
Joyner, best known for her role as Tanya Branning in EastEnders, said she was “totally thrilled” to revisit the characters “in the beautiful surroundings of the Warwickshire countryside”.
“We were really blown away by the support the first series garnered and we can’t wait to see what they get up to next,” she said.
Ex-Waterloo Road actor Benton said of the first series: “The reaction was phenomenal and hopefully series two will be even better.”
Shakespeare & Hathaway – Private Investigators was the biggest drama launch for BBC daytime since Father Brown in 2013.
