Sherlock Fans Will Be VERY Excited About This 'Fleabag' Season 2 Casting

Andrew Scott's CV is a pretty congested one. He's won Olivier Awards for his work on the stage. He's been Hamlet in Hamlet (obviously). He played Gethin in Pride (which I consider the film's best performance, in answer to a question no one asked). And, of course, he's Moriarty to Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock. Now, it's been announced that Sherlock's Andrew Scott will appear in Fleabag's second series. The BBC Three series, created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, has already earned a clutch of awards; could this role add another trophy to Scott's cabinet?

The second series of Fleabag has already started filming, according to a press release, continuing the story of Waller-Bridge's titular character as she grapples with a splintered family, a draining job and a recent, devastating tragedy. The majority of the show's principal cast will return: that's Waller-Bridge as Fleabag, as well as Olivia Colman as the deeply unpleasant Godmother, Sian Clifford as Claire, Brett Gelman as Martin, Jenny Rainsford as Boo, Bill Paterson as Dad, and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again's Hugh Skinner as Harry (coincidentally also the name of his Mamma Mia character. Does he worry he'll be typecast?) The series will premiere on both BBC Three and Amazon Prime Video in 2019.

No word as of yet on Andrew Scott's character, or even his character's name — but Phoebe Waller-Bridge seems more than a little excited about his appearance. She said of the second series, "I can’t believe they let me do this AGAIN. I’m so happy to be back with the incredible Fleabag team and I’m as surprised as anyone about where this series has taken us… thank God for Andrew Scott." Thank God for Andrew Scott, eh? Sounds like his role's a pretty vital one.

It's not the first time Scott and Waller-Bridge have worked together, either. As the Guardian reports, they both appeared in West End play Roaring Trade, set in a London investment bank. Press images from the production depict Waller-Bridge throttling a shirtless Scott with his fancy city worker tie; will a similar dynamic play out in Fleabag, I wonder?

Fleabag's first series became something of a sensation, ultimately winning Waller-Bridge the 2017 BAFTA for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme. The Guardian described the show as "a ferocious dissection of grief, memory, trauma, friendship, family dynamics, self-esteem and the pain of love," adding, "The seam that binds this emotional patchwork is female anger. This shouldn’t feel revolutionary, but it does." Thanks to Amazon Prime, Fleabag also garnered an international following: the New Yorker called it "a warped and affecting fable about one single woman’s existence."

According to the BBC's controller of comedy commissioning, Shane Allen, the second series of Fleabag will take the show in a new direction — possibly an even bleaker one, given the desperate misery of the first series' final episode (I won't spoil it, but will urge you to watch it). Allen said, "The series 2 scripts are knockout — sparkling with Phoebe’s unique voice that combines a whip smart complexity of character with pin sharp funny lines scattered everywhere. The themes of this series are very distinct from the first series which delivers on the challenge Phoebe set herself."

Alas, there's at least four-and-a-bit months to wait until Fleabag returns to television, and Andrew Scott's role in the show is fully revealed. I might spend the time rewatching the first series, recovering from the subsequent emotional depletion, then going back and watching it again. How about you?