Picture Credit: Netflix
The basement is closed for now. Filming on Dept. Q season 2 wrapped on October 24th, 2026, closing out a shoot that took the Netflix hit well beyond Edinburgh. Here’s everything we know so far, from the plot and new cast to where it was filmed and when it could land on Netflix.
Based on Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Danish crime novels, Dept. Q was developed for Netflix by Scott Frank (The Queen’s Gambit, Godless) and Chandni Lakhani. It arrived on May 29th, 2025 and went on to spend six weeks in the Global Top 10, picking up 27 million views and 222.1 million hours watched along the way. It also stayed in the UK’s top 10 for 63 days, so the renewal in August 2025 didn’t come as much of a surprise.
What is the production status of Dept. Q season 2?
Status: Filming complete, now in post-production.
Cameras stopped rolling on October 24th, after a schedule that moved around a lot. We first reported a shoot running from July 13th to December 11th, based on a Production Weekly listing.
By June, we’d learned that the gears were already turning, with casting calls pointing to a June 1st start and an October 11th finish. That later timeline proved far closer.
Speaking at the Bloody Scotland festival in Stirling on September 20th, executive producer Rob Bullock told the audience, “We are 15 weeks into a 20-week shoot.” He added that the team was in the middle of night shoots, and a wrap on October 24th falls almost 21 weeks after June 1st. The shoot also worked differently this time.
Frank has said season 1 began with only two episodes written, but he told the Team Deakins podcast, in an episode published on June 24th, that he planned to work more like he would on a movie: “I’ll block shoot it the way I would shoot something else.”
He also confirmed that David Ungaro would return as director of photography. Director of photography David Ungaro shared a look at prep on May 28th, just ahead of the shoot:
And when the shoot came to an end at the end of October, the wrap posts followed on Instagram:
Season 2 is also a training ground for new talent. Screen Scotland, Sony, Netflix and Left Bank Pictures funded training for 60 young people, according to the BBC.
What is the plot of Dept. Q season 2?
Carl Morck and his team are taking on a crime buried in the upper reaches of Scottish society. Bullock described it as a story about “rich and powerful people who believe they are above the law.”
The season is based on Disgrace, the second Department Q novel, which was published in the US as The Absent One. In the book, Carl receives the closed case of a brother and sister murdered 20 years earlier. A group of boarding school students were suspected before one of them confessed and was convicted, which raises the question of who put the file on his desk and why. Just don’t expect a beat-for-beat adaptation.
“With the second book, I didn’t even read the book,” Frank said on the Team Deakins podcast. He explained that he loved an idea at the novel’s core and built the characters from there, describing “a whole story about class” and adding that “it’s gonna be fun to put Carl in that world.” At least one name has carried over. The book features a woman named Kimmie, who lives on the streets of Copenhagen, and Aisling Franciosi has been cast in a role of the same name.
The bigger question from season 1 hasn’t gone away either. The Leith Park shooting that killed a fellow officer and paralyzed Hardy remains unsolved, and we’d expect it to keep hanging over Carl.
The panel at Bloody Scotland in late September also gave us a few teases:
- Akram takes center stage: Matthew Goode said fans of the show are in for a treat once they learn more about the character. Alexej Manvelov described Akram as calm on the surface but raging underneath.
- Moira leaves the office: Kate Dickie confirmed we’ll visit her character’s flat this season. She also spent a couple of hours shooting in a helicopter.
- More of Carl’s home: The BBC’s set visit revealed that Carl’s New Town flat is a set four times the size of a real property, built to fit the cameras and crew.
- The scripts were still coming: Frank joked that the cast had been waiting six months for him to finish writing the last episode.
Casting calls point to eight episodes, though Netflix hasn’t confirmed a count. Season 1 ran for nine. This may not be the end of the road, either. Frank told the podcast that he has “a few more” seasons in mind, although Netflix hasn’t renewed the show beyond season 2.
Who is in the cast of Dept. Q season 2?
Dept Q. Season 2 Cast
Matthew Goode leads a returning core cast, joined by a big group of newcomers. The most talked-about addition is James Corden, whose casting Netflix confirmed to us in September in what’s being billed as his first major serious drama role.
Returning cast:
- Matthew Goode as DCI Carl Morck
- Alexej Manvelov as Akram Salim
- Leah Byrne as DC Rose Dickson
- Jamie Sives as James Hardy
- Mark Bonnar as Stephen Burns
- Kate Dickie as Moira Jacobson
- Aaron McVeigh as Jasper
- Sanjeev Kohli as Martin Fleming
New cast:
- Aisling Franciosi (Speak No Evil, The Nightingale) as Kimmie
- James Corden (Gavin & Stacey, The Late Late Show) as Dr. Ben Smith
- Greg Wise (The Crown, The Buccaneers) as Derek Powell
- Nicholas Rowe (Red Eye, A Spy Among Friends) as Thomas Fulton
- Tony Curran (Outlander: Blood of My Blood, Mary & George) as Winnie Calderwood
- Hamish Clark (Monarch of the Glen) as Christopher Herron
- Alex Ferns (Waiting for the Out, The Batman) as Phil Allenbeck
- Ross Anderson (The Last Kingdom, Lift) as Ricky Daddario
- Rebecca Root (Heartstopper, The Wheel of Time) as June Lovesay
- Isla Johnston (The Queen’s Gambit, The Carpenter’s Son) as Agnes
- Amy Brenneman (The Old Man, Judging Amy) as Helen
New Cast Grid for Dept. Q Season 2
Corden plays an eccentric but brilliant forensic psychologist opposite Goode, with ScottishNews.com describing it as a guest role.
The notable absence is Kelly Macdonald, who played Carl’s therapist, Dr. Rachel Irving. Frank explained that the show couldn’t work around her commitment to HBO’s Lanterns (even if that doesn’t make a lot of sense in practice), though he left the door open for a return: “But she may come back. We never know.”
Where was Dept. Q season 2 filmed?
Season 2 is a much bigger production than the first. Bullock told the BBC that the season used well over 100 locations around Scotland, up from about 60 last time, calling it “much more ambitious and much more cinematic.” Even so, Frank noted at Bloody Scotland that a lot of the show is still shot on sets. Here’s where the production was spotted, according to local reporting:
- Rodney Street, Canonmills, Edinburgh: A large crew with camera tracks and a public filming notice in late September (Edinburgh News)
- Bon Accord Baths, Aberdeen: Filming at the Art Deco building, closed since 2008, in early August (Aberdeen Business News)
- Aberdeen beachfront: Stunt crews on the seafront, with a unit base beside Pittodrie’s South Stand, in early August (Press and Journal)
- Blairs Museum, near Aberdeen: Crews arrived in early August, with the museum set to host the production for about a month (Press and Journal)
- Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen: Crews filmed at the library in mid-August, with alternative study spaces provided for students (Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce)
- Leith Links, Edinburgh: Road closures on June 25th, a scene involving a motorbike and a black van splattered in red paint (Edinburgh News)
- Harrison Park, Edinburgh: Residents alerted to possible filming vehicles in June (Edinburgh News)
- Argyle House, Edinburgh: The brutalist police headquarters returns and is being digitally scanned in case it’s needed later (The Scotsman)
- FirstStage Studios, Leith: The production’s hub once again (The Scotsman)
The Aberdeen shoot may also leave a mark on the city. The chair of Bon Accord Heritage said the filming could help efforts to reopen the baths, calling them an “iconic Art Deco building.” Pittodrie itself appears to have been a crew base rather than an on-screen location.
When will Dept. Q season 2 be released on Netflix?
Netflix hasn’t announced a release date, but we expect Dept. Q season 2 in the second half of 2027.
Season 1 gives us the best guide. It filmed between February and June 2024 and arrived in May 2025, around 11 months after wrapping. The same gap would put season 2 around September 2027. The earlier-than-expected wrap makes our previous early 2028 outside bet look less likely, although a bigger production could need more time in post.
Are you looking forward to Dept. Q season 2? Let us know in the comments below!