After wowing audiences across the world with a thriller full of intrigue in the Outback, Jamie Dornan is officially set to reprise his role as Elliot with a second season of The Tourist. BBC announced that it's moving forward with the Ireland-set Season 2 with series creators Jack and Harry Williams back at the helm with their Two Brothers Pictures. Filming is slated to begin in April in Dublin.
Commissioned by BBC in association with Australia's Stan and ZDF, The Tourist premiered in its native U.K. through BBC One and on Stan in January 2022 before making the jump across the pond to the U.S. in March through HBO Max. Following an amnesiac Northern Irish man who wakes up in an Australian hospital after a nasty car crash, the series drew the eyes of critics for how it managed to tell a darkly comedic and compact mystery with mastery of the classic crime thriller elements and compelling characters from the mystery man Elliot to his love interest Constable Helen Chambers (Danielle Macdonald). It proved to be one of the more under-discussed series of last year despite drawing high marks across the board.
Season 2 will attempt to bring Elliot back to his roots in Ireland. After the first six-episode run ended with him and Helen seemingly making up as he tries to escape his past, the duo head off to Ireland to reconnect Elliot with his homeland after the crash. During their visit, the two eventually get dragged into the mire of his past life, leaving Elliot to face his demons and Helen to unravel a larger mystery. Their journeys will see the pair confront foes old and new along the way as well as the same dark comedy audiences appreciated in Season 1.
"I’m incredibly excited to continue the story with The Tourist," Dornan said about the new episodes. "Harry and Jack Williams are brilliant writers and I can’t wait for audiences to see how well Ireland and its characters are utilised to keep them guessing as the tale progresses." It was that ability to keep him guessing that originally drew Dornan to the project as he previously told Collider in an interview. By the end of the season, he said that even he was surprised by the place The Man/Elliot ended up. He and the audience are likely in for far more surprises in Season 2.
The Tourist Traveled Well for BBC and the Williams Brothers
From the start, The Tourist was a massive hit for BBC, debuting to 12 million viewers on BBC iPlayer and becoming the most-watched series on the platform for January 2022. Internationally, the series spread its tendrils to five continents, earning acclaim nearly everywhere it went. The show scored three Golden Nymph Awards at the Monte Carlo Television Festival including the event's highest honor, Best Series.
"The Tourist was unlike anything we’d written before and we’re hugely grateful for the incredible response to series one," the Williams brothers added in their own statement. "It’s been an exciting journey getting stuck into that world again with the quirky characters that were so loved, and seeing where we could take them next, whilst continuing to deliver a tonally unique and off-beat drama." Sarah Hammond and Daniel Walker of Two Brothers emphasized that Season 2 would stick close to the formula that made Season 1 a hit, adding:
"Series two of The Tourist will surprise and delight viewers in the same way that the first did so successfully. With comedy embedded throughout the dark and thrilling narrative, we’re sure this series will continue to appeal to a wide audience, and are excited to explore that in a different setting."
Production begins on The Tourist Season 2 in April. Check out the trailer below.