The BBC’s hit cosy crime drama, Death Valley, has confirmed it will return with more deadly hijinks after amassing a huge audience.
The sitcom-style murder mystery series aired six episodes earlier this year.
The first season starred Timothy Spall as retired actor (and disgruntled recluse) John and his number one fan, Welsh detective sergeant Janie (Gwyneth Keyworth), teaming up as an unlikely crime-solving duo.
The endearing premise, created by Paul Doolan, scored it an impressive 2.9million overnight viewers for its premiere, even outpacing the BBC’s other hit new comedy, Ludwig with David Mitchell.
This made it the largest UK overnight audience for a new scripted show in five years, with consolidated figures (over 28 days) confirming that the series as a whole averaged a strong 4.6 million.
Indeed, an impressive feat considering its lacklustre reception when it first came out, with viewers slamming it as ‘beyond terrible’, ‘dreadful on every level’ and making it clear they would not be returning for seconds.
The backlash has not deterred the broadcaster, however, who have announced filming has officially started for a fresh set of episodes.
So, for this strange Gavin and Stacey meets Midsomer Murders crossover set in Wales, there’s plenty more to come yet.
Bafta winner Timothy said he was ‘delighted’ the show had been ‘received so well’ and that audiences ’embraced the warm and eccentric’ nature of the fictional pair.
He added: ‘I’m really looking forward to revisiting this unlikely duo with the brilliant Gwyneth Keyworth as they take on more crime-solving escapades in Wales.’
‘I’m so chuffed Janie and John get to bicker their way through some more deadly crime scenes. Thank you so much to everyone who watched and supported the show! I can’t wait to be back ‘corpsing’ with Timothy and the gang for series two!’ Gwyneth echoed.
The bigwigs behind the scenes shared their delight at its great numbers with BBC Director of Comedy Commissioning, Jon Petrie, joking ‘the trouble with recommissioning Death Valley is it means the crime rate in Wales is about to skyrocket again.’
Although he quipped it was a ‘small price to pay’.
The new season will also see the return of the supporting cast, including Alexandria Riley (Helen Baxter), Steffan Rhodri (DCI Barry Clarke), Melanie Walters (Yvonne Mallowan) and Rithvik Andugula (DC Evan Chaudhry).
There’s no denying its popularity in Wales, with Death Valley firmly securing its spot as the biggest comedy so far this year, averaging 400,000 viewers over there.
As for the newspaper critics, they had kinder words about the show with The Guardian praising it for its ‘cosy, witty joy’ and The Telegraph called it a ‘a very good cosy sleuther’.
So, despite the outcry for the general public, this topsy-turvy detective series isn’t going anywhere, for now.
There is currently no release date for season two.
All episodes of Death Valley season one are available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
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