Grace season 2 release date: Cast, trailer and news for John Simm drama

The first three episodes featured a whole lot of twists and turns, as John Simm's Roy Grace and Richie Campbell's Glenn Branson raced against time to find the killer in each episode - you can read our explainers on the endings of episode 1, episode 2 and episode 3 here.

The finale is set to find Grace investigating after a body is dredged up from the seabed of the English Channel. While it initially appears to be a burial at sea gone wrong, a strange incision on the victim soon points to something very sinister.

Unfortunately viewers will have to wait a little while longer to see how things unfold in the episode, as it won't air until 22nd May, having been replaced on this week's schedule by The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Celebration.

This season of Grace has seen the arrival of two new major characters from Peter James' books - Cleo Morey, a new love interest for Roy played by Zoë Tapper, and DS Norman Potting, played by Craig Parkinson. John Simm recently explained how Parkinson's character has been updated for the modern day.

Simm also talked about how he's "more than happy to keep playing" Grace for years to come, so hopefully we can expect more adaptations of the long-running book series following these four.

Here's everything you need to know about Grace season 2 on ITV.

When is Grace on ITV?

Grace season 2 premiered on TV on Sunday 24th April 2022, with the next episode airing Sunday 22nd May 2022 at 8pm, having been delayed by a week due to The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Celebrations.

The fourth feature-length episode is titled Dead Tomorrow, and finds Grace investigating after a body is dredged up from the seabed of the English Channel.

ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill said of the second season: “We are delighted to be adapting more of Peter James’ wonderful novels. John Simm has brilliantly brought the much-loved Detective Superintendent Roy Grace to screen and there are many more cases for the audiences to enjoy.”

Writer Russell Lewis (Endeavour) commented: “After the overwhelmingly positive audience response to the seaside noir of Dead Simple, (tabloid trauma tales notwithstanding!) and Looking Good Dead cued up ready to go, all at Team Roy Grace are delighted to have been given the opportunity by ITV to return to Brighton (& Hove, actually!) to continue Roy's story with a new series of films based on Peter James best-selling novels.

"We’ll be shooting out of our Brighton HQ and all along and around the South Coast from late summer through to very late autumn, so it’s quite possible that like some macabre Radio Fab Roadshow, our caravanserai of coroner’s van, SOCO unit, Mobile Incident Room may well be coming to a street near you! As the late, great Shaw Taylor used to ask viewers on Police 5... ‘Keep ‘em peeled!’”

ITV's Grace cast

John Simm (Doctor Who, Life on Mars) returns to lead the Grace cast as the titular Brighton-based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, who is still struggling with the disappearance of his wife years ago.

Other returning cast members include Richie Campbell (Top Boy) as DS Glenn Branson, Rakie Ayola (Noughts + Crosses) as ACC Vosper, Laura Elphinstone (Game of Thrones) as DS Bella Moy, Amaka Okafor (The Split, Vera) as DC Emma Jane Boutwood, and Brad Morrison as DC Nicholl.

However, that's not all, with two new faces joining the central cast for this second season - Line of Duty's Craig Parkinson as DS Norman Potting and Liar's Zoë Tapper as a new love interest for Grace, mortician Cleo Morey.

Grace author Peter James also previously suggested that a royal cameo could be in the works for a future season of Grace, after the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles visited the set.

He also teased that he filmed two cameos for the upcoming new season, telling RadioTimes.com and other press that both he and his wife play "coppers on the beach... at the start of the fourth one, Not Dead Enough".

What is ITV's Grace about?

The drama series is adapted from the Roy Grace series of books, about a troubled detective solving murders in Brighton. Last year saw the adaptation of Dead Simple, while the second season has adapted Looking Good Dead, Not Dead Enough, Dead Man's Footsteps and Dead Tomorrow.

The official synopsis for the fourth episode, reads: "When in Dead Tomorrow a body is dredged up from the seabed of the English Channel it initially appears a burial at sea gone wrong, but a strange incision on the victim soon points to something very sinister.

"When two more bodies are found, news spreads like wildfire through Sussex and Grace begins to unearth that this is part of an altogether more chilling design, one which forces him to confront the question of just how far anyone would go to save the ones they love."

Grace trailer

You can watch the trailer for the new season below.

Grace season 2 airs on ITV and ITV Hub on Sunday 22nd May at 8pm. All episodes are now available to watch on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide.

If you want to start reading Peter James' Roy Grace series, you can purchase the first three novels on Amazon.

The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now – subscribe now and get the next 12 issues for only £1. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.