Drama

The Capture season 2: BBC reveals release date, cast for Holliday Grainger conspiracy thriller’s second series

Don’t miss the return of the tech conspiracy thriller this summer on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Discover all you need to know about the return of the show here.

Updated: 12 August 2022, 9.24am | 4 min read

The Capture season 2 is coming very soon to BBC One and iPlayer.

Holliday Grainger will reprise her role as DCI Rachel Carey this summer for a second series of the conspiracy thriller.

Season 1 first aired in 2019, starred Callum Turner and Laura Haddock and won critical and fan praise with a review rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It got an average audience of 7.7 million viewers and was 2019’s most requested new show across all genres on BBC iPlayer.

After a three-year break, the series returns for six new episodes, which promise to escalate the CCTV drama to new heights.

Here is everything you need to know about The Capture season 2…

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What is The Capture season 2 release date?

The Capture season 2 starts on Sunday, 28 August at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

The August, Bank Holiday Sunday, slot on BBC One has been used in recent years for Vigil, Peaky Blinders and Bodyguard.

Season 2 will have six episodes.

The Capture season 1 is available to watch again on iPlayer now.

The series will air in the US on streaming service Peacock later in 2022.

What is The Capture season 2 about?

The Capture will again question if we can really believe what we see. Britain is under siege: hacked news feeds, manipulated media, and interference in politics. Entrenched in the UK’s own ‘Correction’ unit, DCI Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger) finds herself in the middle of a new conspiracy - with a new target.

But how can she solve this case when she can’t even trust her closest colleagues?

Created and written by Ben Chanan, The Capture season 2 will again question if we can really believe what we see.

The plot synopsis for the second season reveals where the new episodes begin:

"Britain is under siege: hacked news feeds, manipulated media, and interference in politics. Entrenched in the UK’s own ‘Correction’ unit, DCI Rachel Carey (Grainger) finds herself in the middle of a new conspiracy - with a new target. But how can she solve this case when she can’t even trust her closest colleagues?

"Escalating from the CCTV thriller of series one, the six-part run features 'invisible' assassins, the terrifying rise of deepfake technology, the ever-growing tension between government and Big Tech, and corruption at the heart of the British media."

Who's in The Capture season 2 cast?

Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You, The Lazarus Project) - Plays Isaac Turner MP, a young rising star politician with ambitions for the very top
Holliday Grainger (Strike) - Plays DCI Rachel Carey
Indira Varma (This Way Up, Game of Thrones) – Plays Khadija Khan
Andy Nyman (Hanna, Unforgettable) - Character TBC
Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Happy Valley) - Character TBC
Rob Yang (American Rust, Succession) - Character TBC
Ron Perlman (Hand of God, Sons Of Anarchy) – Plays CIA Chief Frank Napier
Ben Miles (Devils, V For Vendetta) – Plays Commander Danny Hart
Lia Williams (The Crown, Riviera) – Plays DSU Gemma Garland
Cavan Clerkin (The Last Kingdom, Babylon) – Plays DS Patrick Flynn
Ginny Holder (Avenue5, MotherFatherSon) – Plays DS Nadia Latif
Nigel Lindsay (The Salisbury Poisonings, The Last Kingdom) – Plays DSI Tom Kendricks

One character who won’t be returning for season 2 is Callum Turner’s Shaun Emery, who was at the centre of season 1’s conspiracy.

"I always thought that Shaun's story finished, you know," Turner told the Radio Times.

"And we did have a brief conversation about it and I think everyone was in agreeance that to drag him back would feel like – I don't know. So, it's going to be Holliday leading that charge. But I'll be watching. I'll be watching every week."

Writer Ben Chanan added: "I always wanted Shaun Emery’s story to be resolved within these six hours because I don’t like stringing people along."

What happened in The Capture season 1?

In season one, we followed the story of Lance Corporal Shaun Emery. After being cleared of a war crime during service in Afghanistan, Emery is accused of the kidnap and murder of his own barrister Hannah Roberts.

DI Rachel Carey investigates the case and after Emery protests his innocence – despite video footage – a deeper more complex conspiracy emerges.

At the end of the series, Carey and Emery have both discovered the truth about the "correction" technique used to doctor CCTV and how Hannah was killed off because she was going to expose the truth about the security services activities.

Emery ends the series in prison after confessing to Hannah’s death to save his daughter from CIA chief Napier. The soldier accepts the punishment as the price he should pay for the crimes he committed in Afghanistan.

Despite uncovering the truth, Carey decides that she achieve more by joining the Correction team and infiltrating the group. She also keeps her evidence of Shaun’s innocence safe as a protection for the future.

Reviews of season 1 and it’s ending were overwhelmingly positive.

Paste magazine described it as "thoughtful but still thrilling", while Time magazine said it was a rare "smart and gripping" thriller.

TV Insider described season 1 as "a terrifically twisty and intensely suspenseful spy thriller" and The Guardian argued that "if there were any justice, everyone would be talking about The Capture right now".