Cooper & Fry series 2 is happening: Here's what we know about return of detective drama with 'folky-horror vibes'
The series 1 finale left plenty of loose ends
Cooper & Fry was arguably one of Channel 5’s best new series of 2025, and we’ve been left wanting more – so it’s no surprise that the series has been recommissioned for a series 2.
The detective drama bought to life book characters DC Ben Cooper and DC Diane Fry for the first time on TV. The four part series adapted the detective mystery from the best-selling novels by Stephen Booth.
The series followed two young detectives thrown together to investigate a string of mysterious deaths. Although at first they seem mismatched, they were anything but. Ben and Diane soon proved that they worked very well together, and subsequently became friends. In turn, they became one of TV’s most likeable detective duos.
So what do we know about Cooper & Fry series 2? Here’s everything we know so far.
Is there a series 2 of Cooper & Fry?
Channel 5 has now revealed detective drama Cooper & Fry WILL be a series 2 and “more atmospheric crimes”. Recommissioning a series 2 was a no-brainer. It was easily one of our favourite new detective series of 2025, not least because of the sweet friendship that grew between the two lead characters.
Groundbreaking crime drama Ellis got a second series, and we can’t think of a single reason why Cooper & Fry doesn’t deserve one, too.
Rob James-Collier and Mandip Gill portrayed Cooper and Fry in the cast – both passionate police officers, both with something troubling in their pasts. And there’s plenty more here to explore.
Series 1 left several loose ends (more on that below), so there’s plenty of possible plot lines available for more episodes. And the cast and crew have revealed their hopes and plans for another run…
Series 2 will be eight episodes of 60 minutes each, which is a change from the first series. That was four feature length episodes. We’re told: “Building on the unique friendship forged in series one, Ben and Diane will navigate cases steeped in the legendary folklore of the area, all while battling each other’s conflicting investigation styles and facing their complicated personal lives head on.”
‘There are more avenues to explore’
Talking about the ending of Cooper & Fry and his hopes for a series 2, Rob James-Collier previously said: “An aspect of the series I liked is we don’t have a ‘will-they-won’t-they?’ relationship. The murder mysteries and the characters’ backstories are intriguing enough on their own. A romantic storyline would make the series convoluted. Hopefully, if the audience laps up the series, we have more avenues to explore.”
Co-creators and lead writers Ben Court and Caroline Ip also shared their hopes for another series. Revealing what elements from the novel were changed, Caroline said: “We’ve changed Fry a bit. She almost had too much going on [in the books], so we simplified her, like her reasons for leaving the city. That’s not to say we won’t touch on elements of her backstory in, hopefully, a second season.”
Caroline added: “Fry has gone through foster care and has a sister, but we simply didn’t have time to introduce those aspects of her life. That’s good, because it means there’s lots of room for that character to grow in later series.”
‘We’ve created a returnable storyline’ for Cooper & Fry series 2
Ben went on to reveal how Cooper’s history would also be a continuous thread in future series. He said: “We also wanted to make more of Cooper’s backstory, by having him investigate his dad’s murder throughout the series. We’ve created a returnable storyline, one which pulls all the books together.”
Director Ryan Tohill meanwhile promises “darker” storylines in series 2. He said: “There’s chemistry between Rob and Mandip. The power of Cooper & Fry is how they give the series a compass so it feels familiar while dealing with very unfamiliar circumstances.
“If the audience engages with Rob and Mandip as a partnership, and become invested in them, the show will have legs. We can then have even more fun with the plots and turn even darker in another series.”
There are more Cooper & Fry books to adapt
The series adapted four of Booth’s early novels including Black Dog, Dying to Sin, Blind To the Bones and Dancing with the Virgins.
Cooper & Fry series 2 will cover Booth’s novels The Devil’s Edge, Fall Down Dead, One Last Breath, and The Murder Road.
There are currently 18 Cooper & Fry books published, so plenty of scope for more series!
Stephen Booth is an English crime-writer, and the author of the Derbyshire-set Cooper & Fry series. His books in order are as follows:
- Black Dog (2000)
- Dancing With the Virgins (2001)
- Blood on the Tongue (2002)
- Blind to the Bones (2003)
- One Last Breath (2004)
- The Dead Place (2005)
- Scared to Live (2006)
- Dying to Sin (2007)
- The Kill Call (2009)
- Lost River (2010)
- The Devil’s Edge (2011)
- Dead and Buried (2012)
- Already Dead (2013)
- The Corpse Bridge (2014)
- The Murder Road (2015)
- Secrets of Death (2016)
- Dead in the Dark (2017)
- Fall Down Dead (2018)
Questions that need answering in Cooper & Fry series 2
A series 2 of Cooper & Fry would answer the lingering questions left unanswered at the end of the show finale. We’d want to know why DS Todd Eland betrayed the police force by working for Warren Leach – and covering up Joe Cooper’s murder. Was it all for money?
At the end of series 1, Eland was in custody but wasn’t giving anything away. The bent copper insisted on giving a frustrating “no comment” answer to all question.
Of course, the final episode ended ominously with DS Diane Fry’s malevolent ex-boyfriend Dave still in town. Despite being warned off by both Diane and Ben, the DCI was still not getting the message. More episodes would reveal his real intentions.
We’d also love to see more of the lovely chemistry between Cooper and Fry. At the beginning of series 1, the lead characters appeared to be polar opposites and bickered like cat and dog. But, eventually, they started to bond, and trust each other with DC Diane Fry softening over the series, too.
This pair have potential to rival Broadchurch‘s Detective Inspector Alec Hardy (David Tennant), and Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman). Watch this space for more news when we get it.
Who’s in the cast of Cooper & Fry series 2?
Robert James-Collier and Mandip Gill will return as Cooper & Fry in the detective drama. Mandip Gill said: “I’m thrilled to be returning to Cooper & Fry after the brilliant reaction to series one. It’s a real pleasure to be working alongside Rob again, and I’m excited for audiences to see where the story takes us this time.”
Robert James-Collier added: “I’m thrilled to be back playing DC Ben Cooper along with my good friend Mandip Gill in the role of Diane Fry. The audience really warmed to the first series of Cooper & Fry and we hope they will again. So stay tuned as we have lots more murders to solve and all sorts of strange goings-on down in Edendale.”
Series two also sees the return of Blue Lights’ Lorcan Cranitch as DI Hitchens, and The Dry’s Charlotte Bradley as Isobel Cooper.
New faces include The Walking Dead’s Pollyanna McIntosh-Goldthwait as DI Kim Armstrong, Redemption’s Scott Graham as DC Gavin Murfin and Small Town’s Kathy Rose O’Brien as Liz Petty.
