Entertainment

BBC teases second series of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts + Crosses in new trailer

The BBC drama series will launch on April 26.
The BBC drama series will launch on April 26. The BBC drama series will launch on April 26.

The BBC has offered a glimpse at the second series of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts + Crosses with the release of its first trailer.

The highly-anticipated sequel will launch on April 26, starring Jack Rowan and Masali Baduza who return for the adaptation of Blackman’s bestselling novels.

The duo play Callum and Sephy, who are desperately attempting to flee Albion in search of a new life together, while the city reels in the wake of Sephy’s “kidnap”.

In the teaser, Baduza is seen lying close to Rowan, saying: “I just wish it was you and me, no-one else.”

Later in the clip, Rowan adds: “As long as we’re together that’s all that matters to me”, before romantically embracing his co-star.

The books are set in a society divided by racism, in which Sephy is a Cross, a member of the dark-skinned ruling class, and Callum is a Nought, a “colourless” member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses.

Noughts + Crosses
Noughts + Crosses Jack Rowan and Masali Baduza (Ilze Kitshoff/Mammoth Screen/BBC/PA)

Paterson Joseph, Helen Baxendale, Bonnie Mbuli, Jonathan Ajayi, Josh Dylan and Kike Brimah all return to their roles from the first series.

Meanwhile, Top Boy actress Jasmine Jobson joins the cast as Cara, and Endeavour’s Robert Hands will play Clem.

Comedian Judi Love also joins series two as Chidi Abara, starring alongside rapper and comedian Michael Dapaah who plays Mensah, a powerful and well-known TV personality.

In the series, the pair appear as chatshow hosts who have a fractious relationship.

The four-part series, filmed in South Africa, was written by Lydia Adetunji and Jerome Bucchan-Nelson, directed by Koby Adom and produced by Sarah Lewis.

The full series will air on BBC iPlayer on April 26 and it will also air weekly on BBC One.