Bookish Lands Second Season

UKTV has opted for a second season of Bookish ahead of the debut of the new Mark Gatiss drama on U&Alibi.

The new drama, which stars Gatiss as the owner of an antiquated bookstore who helps the police solve crimes, premieres this July. The 6×70-minute second season is expected to commence filming this summer.

The series is produced by Eagle Eye Drama, with Beta Film handling world sales and PBS Distribution representing the North American rights to series one.

Gatiss said: “I’m thrilled that the team at U&Alibi are allowing me to dive back into the world of Bookish and create more fiendish crimes for Gabriel Book and the team to solve. I can’t wait for viewers to immerse themselves in the world we’ve created when the first series airs in a few months’ time.”

Helen Perry, head of drama commissioning, said: “Mark Gatiss is a singular creative force, whose work is loved by viewers. Bookish is the story Mark is most excited to tell and we are delighted to be bringing it to life. The world Mark has lovingly created for Bookish is so rich and colourful, series one was only ever going to be just the starting point. There’s so much more for Book to do, more characters for our viewers to meet and more stories to unravel—the potential for Bookish is vast. So, we can’t wait to continue working with Eagle Eye on series two and huge thanks to Mark for his limitless creative vision.”

Emma Tibbetts, director of programming, scripted, added: “We can’t wait to return to the richly imaginative world of Bookish for a second series on U&Alibi. Mark Gatiss has crafted another set of intriguing new stories for our audience, who will find themselves plunged further into the world of Gabriel Book, our intrepid bookseller on a mission to solve crimes. Viewers are in for a treat.”

Walter Iuzzolino, CEO of Eagle Eye Drama, said, “We are hugely proud and grateful to be given the opportunity to create the second series of Bookish. It was always our hope that the first series would be the foundation on which Mark could build a rich and growing universe of iconic stories, so being given the vote of confidence to create more unmissable mysteries for Gabriel Book and his gang to solve feels like an incredible privilege.”

Bookish is produced in association with Happy Duck Films and is supported by the Belgian Tax Shelter.