Filming begins on S2 of ‘Miss Scarlet & The Duke’ headed to PBS in 2022
Kate Phillips and Stuart Martin return for a second series of Miss Scarlet and The Duke. Photo: PBS Masterpiece
Once again, set in the dark underbelly of Victorian London, series 2 of Miss Scarlet & The Duke will return to PBS’ Drama Sundays in 2022. Starring Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, The Downton Abbey Movie, Wolf Hall and The Crown) as Eliza Scarlet, and Stuart Martin (Jamestown, Babylon, Medici) as The Duke, Miss Scarlet & The Duke began filming earlier this Fall.
For series 2, creator/writer Rachel New (Grantchester, The Mallorca Files) builds on the success of series 1 as London’s first-ever female detective, Eliza Scarlet (Phillips) continues to grow her private detective firm with the somewhat reluctant help of her friend (or more-than-friend?) police detective William “The Duke” Wellington (Martin).
When headstrong Eliza Scarlet is left penniless after the death of her father, she has two choices for financial security: marriage or her father’s private detective agency and the opportunity to be the first female detective in Victorian London. But no matter how well she knows the tricks of his trade, the trade itself is deemed entirely inappropriate for a genteel lady of the 1880s.
Enter the “Duke,” Scotland Yard’s Detective Inspector William Wellington, a notorious drinker, gambler, womanizer…and a partner in running the agency and solving crime, all with a dash of will-they-won’t-they energy, wit, and moxie!
While it reads a bit like the BBC’s Shakespeare and Hathaway: Private Investigators set in Victorian London, Miss Scarlet and the Duke will follow more along the lines of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries with their own Victorian version of a smoldering will they/won’t they romance alongside some appealing mysteries and a dash of witty feminism.
Although series 1 was filmed entirely in Dublin, filming for series 2 primarily takes place in Belgrade, Serbia which, I guess, must resemble Victorian London. After being told that the series had been described as a Victorian Remington Steele, series director Declan O’Dwyer (Robin Hood, Merlin) described the show more as “a Victorian Moonlighting”, but did say he loved Remington Steele.
In an interview with Andrew-Gower.co.uk, O’Dwyer said that the series “…doesn’t take itself too seriously – but it does expose the prejudices society put on women in the Victorian era and draws many parallels to society today.”
We had the great good fortune to interview Rachel New following the successful conclusion of series 1 where she talked about creating the character of Miss Scarlet, the relationship between her and ‘The Duke’ and gives a sneak peak into what’s in store for series 2. Look for that interview here next week.
Series 2 of Miss Scarlet & The Duke will air in 2022 on PBS Masterpiece.
In: Mystery,Uncategorized
