PBS Masterpiece has handed detective drama Maigret a second season, with filming already underway in Budapest.

Benjamin Wainwright is reprising the titular role, with Stefanie Martini returning as Madame Louise Maigret and Kerrie Hayes, Shaniqua Okwok and Reda Elazouar also back as ‘Les Maigrets,’ the sleuth’s loyal team of detectives. Nathalie Armin is also returning as Prosecutor Mathilde Kernavel, James Northcote as Joseph Moers, and Rob Kazinsky as Inspector Justin Cavre.

New to the cast is Nathaniel Parker (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries), who plays Maigret’s boss and mentor, Director of Police Xavier Guichard. Suspicious about Maigret’s growing fame, he decides to ‘take him down a peg,’ and when one of Maigret’s colleagues leaves and another is transferred, former Internal Affairs officer George Bonfils (Alex Bhat) is named the replacement and quickly makes himself unpopular with Maigret’s team.

This is the backdrop to the adaptation of three Georges Simonsen novels: The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien, Maigret’s Revolver and The Yellow Dog.

Maigret Season 2 is a Playground co-production for Masterpiece in association with Banijay Entertainment and Windhover Films. 

Patrick Harbinson returns as showrunner, director and executive producer for Windhover, with the exec producers for Playground being Colin Callender and David Stern, The series is further directed by Lisa Clarke and David Evans, and produced by Gina Cronk. Susanne Simpson is the executive producer for Masterpiece and Banijay Rights handles international distribution.

Masterpiece Head of Scripted Content Simpson said: “Patrick Harbinson has brought Jules Maigret into contemporary times with heart, humor and humanity. I couldn’t be happier to bring a second season to our Masterpiece audience.”