TV & Movies

Inside Man’s Creator Just Shared A Major Season 2 Update

Fans are itching to see David Tennant and Stanley Tucci back on their screens.

by Sophie McEvoy and El Hunt
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Originally Published: 
Hartswood Films Ltd/Paul Stephenson

With just four episodes, BBC’s Inside Man may be short, but it’s full of drama. Starring a stellar cast including David Tennant, Stanley Tucci, Lydia West, and Dolly Wells, the series thoroughly gripped viewers when it aired in Sept 2022. Inspired by Sherlock Holmes in a rather unexpected way, the show is a unique take on a classic detective story. But instead of a whodunit, it focuses more on who will do it, or whether they already have. Obviously, viewers have been left wanting to know whether or not Inside Man return for season 2. Here’s what we know so far.

Though Deadline reports relatively low numbers tuning in to watch episodes live on television as they aired, viewers catching up afterwards on iPlayer and Netflix helped to bring the show’s ratings up to an impressive 5 million — an encouraging sign.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today show, show creator Steven Moffat said that "looking at the enthusiastically-nodded-about graphs… apparently [Inside Man] performed quite well", adding “you don’t get a [ratings] number the following day anymore now you get an audience breakdown a month later. He also confirmed that talks have begun around bringing the show back for another instalment. “We’ve just started talking about [Inside Man season 2],” he said.

This echoes his previous comments to Radio Times, where Moffat said he wouldn’t rule out a spin-off or sequel .“The story will end in four episodes. It's done by the end of that,” he explained. “As to whether or not you could ever spin off anything or do any kind of sequel? I don't know at this moment.”

"It's not really up to me,” he added. “And it's not up to the broadcasters – it's up to the audience really, isn't it? And if anyone wanted it, you have to sit down and think, 'Is there anything to do?' Television is littered with shows that had one season and pretended they could carry on – I would never want to be one of those, where you're so excited to get a phone call about doing another run that you do it and then realise, actually, the story is finished."

In short, there’s no concrete answer yet. Bustle has reached out to the BBC for further comment though, and will update this page as soon as we hear back. If that season finale is anything to go by, there’s plenty of room for the series to expand beyond just four episodes.

If there were to be a second season, Cosmopolitan reckons it would be released sometime in late 2023, though this is unconfirmed as of yet. That’s a pretty long wait, but fans of the show can listen to the accompanying two-part podcast in between rewatches. Hosted by Moffat and Wells, Obsessed With… Inside Man takes listeners on a behind-the-scenes tour of the show, sharing tales of filming shenanigans and plot theories.

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