What we know about Sherwood series 2

Murder and small-town politics combine once more as BBC drama returns

David Morrissey in Sherwood series 2
Sherwood series 2 is coming to BBC One and iPlayer later this year. (BBC)

David Morrissey is back as Detective Chief Superintendent Ian St Clair in series two of Sherwood, BBC One’s popular crime drama that emerged as one of the channel’s most-watched new shows of 2022.

Set in small-town Nottinghamshire and pulling from real-life murders and actual events, the show once again gathers an all-star cast to tell another gritty tale of a modern Britain haunted by the echoes of a dark past.

Read on for all the information you need about Sherwood series 2 including its release date, plot and cast.

Monica Dolan and Perry Fitzpatrick in Sherwood series 2
Monica Dolan and Perry Fitzpatrick co-star in the crime drama. (BBC)

Sherwood series 2 will start later this year but it doesn’t have a concrete release date just yet.

When it does arrive, you’ll find all six episodes airing on BBC One with catch-up options available on BBC iPlayer. The first three episodes are directed by Ali & Ava filmmaker Clio Barnard with This Country's Tom George helming the final three.

Michael Balogun and David Harewood in Sherwood series 2
The series 2 cast also includes Michael Balogun and David Harewood. (BBC)

Taking inspiration from real-life murders that took place in Nottinghamshire in the early noughties, Sherwood sees a mining village grapple with a dark past while it's forced to come to terms with a new trauma.

At its centre is DCS Ian St Clair who, in the first series, finds himself drawn into a murder case involving a former union activist Gary Jackson, a character inspired by the fate of real-life union activist Keith Frogson who was murdered in 2004.

As Clair’s investigation deepens, he begins to discover links between Jackson’s death and events surrounding the devastating miner’s strike which rocked local communities throughout 1984 and 1985.

Robert Lindsay in Sherwood series 2
Robert Lindsay is another new addition to the Sherwood cast. (BBC)

Clair is back in Sherwood series 2, this time coming face-to-face with two new families who cross paths with the Sparrows — a family with a violent track record that’s packed with secrets. According to the BBC, the show’s six new episodes will see these two new families “entering a complex web of local gangs, old rivalries, revenge, and betrayal.”

The synopsis continues, adding: “Meanwhile, a newly appointed Sheriff of Nottingham is passionately fighting against a proposed new mine for the area, which brings the promise of much-needed jobs and prosperity but also unwelcome reminders of the legacy that has mired the community for so long.”

Lorraine Ashbourne in Sherwood series 2
Lorraine Ashbourne reprises her role as Daphne Sparrow in Sherwood series 2. (BBC)

Morrissey’s Clair will be joined by series one star Lesley Manville as Julie Jackson and newcomers including Black Mirror’s Monica Dolan as Ann Branson and The Night Manager’s David Harewood as Denis Bottomley.

I Hate Suzie’s Lorraine Ashbourne returns as Daphne Sparrow alongside Line of Duty’s Perry Fitzpatrick as Rory Sparrow, Peterloo’s Philip Jackson as Mickey Sparrow and 1917’s Adam Hugill as Scott Rowley.

Other cast members will include Robert Lindsay, Stephen Dillane, Sharlene Whyte, Christine Bottomley, Aisling Loftus and Michael Balogun.


Sherwood series 2 is coming soon to BBC One and iPlayer.