Keeley Hawes will star opposite Eve Myles in the second season of ITV’s crime drama “Gone,” the broadcaster confirmed Wednesday. Hawes plays Ruth Manning, a respected pediatric surgeon at Bristol’s Makeway Hospital. Myles returns as Detective Sergeant Annie Cassidy, who turns her attention to Manning after a new case suggests the doctor may be concealing the truth about a series of historical crimes, allegedly to protect her patients. ITV has ordered six episodes. Filming begins in Bristol in 2027, and no air date is set.
Creator and writer George Kay, whose credits include “Lupin,” “Hijack” and “The Long Shadow,” said he had hoped to work with Hawes “for so long.” He praised Myles for the wit and depth she brings to every part. ITV’s director of drama, Polly Hill, said the first season drew a “phenomenal response,” which she credited to Kay’s scripts.
The first season, which premiered this year, followed Cassidy as she investigated headmaster Michael Polly, played by David Morrissey, after his wife Sarah vanished. ITV says the series eclipsed all streaming records on its ITVX platform. Online reaction was less uniform. Some viewers on IMDb praised the performances but complained that the pace dragged after the early episodes.
The series draws partly on the book “To Hunt a Killer” and the real-life work of former Detective Superintendent Julie Mackay and ITV crime correspondent Robert Murphy, both of whom consult on the production. New Pictures and Kay’s Observatory Pictures make the show, with Banijay Rights handling international sales. Willow Grylls, Matt Sandford and Kay serve as executive producers.
The announcement lands during a busy stretch for Hawes. A day earlier, Sky said she would join the second season of “Prisoner.” Prime Video’s “The Assassin,” in which she plays the lead, launches in two days. A three-time BAFTA nominee, Hawes has built a long career in British drama, and the pairing with Myles gives ITV two of its most recognizable leads.
Casting a new central suspect each season follows a pattern common to anthology-style crime series, which keeps the detective constant and refreshes the mystery. It also spares the writers from stretching a single case past its natural length, a criticism leveled at some first-season episodes.
