Lesley Manville joins Save Me Season 2

Staff Reporter

Reading time: 7 mins

Lesley Manville has joined the cast of Save Me Season 2.

The second instalment of the BAFTA-nominated drama, titled Save Me Too, will see Lennie James, Suranne Jones and Stephen Graham reprise their roles in the gripping story of a dad, Nelly, trying to find his estranged daughter after she goes missing.

Written by James, Season 1 became the most rapidly binged box-set in Sky’s history. Season 2 picks up after the devastating finale, after Nelly had been dragged into a dangerous underworld, taken risks that had proved precarious for himself and those closest to him and had been challenged to re-evaluate many of his life decisions. We catch up with him 14 months down the road.

Cameron Roach, Director of Drama at Sky, says: “The first series of Save Me was an absolute must-see, showcasing bold, British drama at its finest. The show really has been part of a step change for Sky drama, alongside Patrick Melrose and Chernobyl, achieving widespread critical acclaim as well as an army of fans. We’re thrilled to now bring our viewers the second series of this unique story, to see the return of our much loved characters alongside new cast members including Lesley Manville”.

Manville (Mum, Harlots) will play Jennifer Charles, the wife of Adrian Edmondson’s character, Gideon Charles. Jennifer is forced to make an almost impossible choice that will place her in direct conflict with Nelly, following the return of vulnerable girl Grace (Olive Gray), whom Nelly rescued while searching for Jody.

Manville says: “I couldn’t be more delighted to be joining this phenomenal series. Save Me was a major highlight of 2018, a testament to Lennie James’ writing and acting and the exceptional cast and creative team.”

Simon Heath, Executive Producer for World Productions, adds: “We’re delighted to welcome the brilliant Lesley Manville for the second instalment of Nelly Rowe’s gripping quest. A huge thanks to the Sky audience, who made Save Me the fastest binged Sky box set ever and to the Sky team, who have given Lennie’s unique vision such brilliant support from day one”

Jones returns as Jody’s mum Claire and Stephen Graham returns as Nelly’s friend Melon, who is attempting to start a new life with his partner, Bernie. Thomas Coombes as Goz, Kerry Godliman as Teens, Nadine Marshall as DI O’Halloran, Susan Lynch as Stace and Jason Flemyng as Tam will also return, contributing to the vibrant community that viewers came to know and love.

Filming is now underway on Season 2, produced by award-winning World Productions (Line of Duty, Bodyguard) alongside Jessica Sykes and Lennie James.

Lennie James drops first details on Save Me Season 2

22nd September 2018

Save Me Season 2 will feature a time jump, Lennie James has revealed.

The thriller, created, written by and starring The Walking Dead’s MVP, premiered at the end of February on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV, and immediately made a splash. A cumulative audience of 1.73 million viewers tuned into the first episode, to watch South Londoner Nelly’s (James) world turn upside down after he is arrested and accused of kidnapping his 13-year-old daughter Jody, a child he barely knew existed.

The show follows Nelly as he hunts for his daughter, a man who is the life and soul of his local boozer, a charmer, chancer, fighter, liar and, at his age, a man who should know better.

“Grippingly authentic and hugely moving, Save Me is a must-see modern British thriller,” we wrote in our review.

Warning: Spoilers for the end of Season 1 follow.

With a second season already ordered, James spoke to Fandom recently about what that will entail, explaining that it will into a “slightly different aspect of the story”.

“One of the things I wanted to do was explore the characters I’d established in a slightly different way; put them into a slightly different ticking-clock scenario, have them have different pressures on them. In the first season, we went into Tam’s [Jason Flemyng] house, we went into Zita’s [Camilla Beeput] house, we very much went into Melon [Stephen Graham] and Bernie’s [Alice May Feetham] life and the effect Nelly’s search for Jodie had on them, and I want to do that with a few other characters who were in the pub.”

He also explained that there’s a time jump involved.

“I want to pick up the story when most people have forgotten that Jody is missing, [when] the missing posters have been taken down in the main. Just for the basic premise of where we pick it up, there’s only two or three people who wake up every morning with the knowledge that Jody’s still missing and that’s Claire [Suranne Jones] and Barry [Barry Ward] and Nelly.

“It’s no longer in the newspaper, the case has been moved to the Missing Persons Unit and there’s a whole different energy around them. And Nelly is like a die-hard punk, he’s like the last person [clinging on to her memory] ; any whisper of her anywhere, he’s on the train or blagging a ride or jumping the turnstiles in order to get her, just in case it might be her. So it’s a bit more fruitless for him — and then something major happens and he gets caught up in a slightly different thriller that both involves the search for Jody and slightly distracts him from the search for Jody, and [it explores] the consequences of that.”

Season 2 doesn’t have an air date yet, but with Fear the Walking Dead (which James transferred to earlier this year) breaking production between June and November next year, that’s when filming will take place.

“As soon as we get it edited and put together, Sky will be putting it out [in the UK] , so either the end of 2019 or early in 2020 is when we’ll be back,” he added.

Save Me is available on Sky Box Sets. Don’t have Sky? You can also watch live and on-demand on NOW TV, for £7.99 a month, with no contract and a 7-day free trial.

Sky renews Save Me for Season 2

23rd March 2018

Save Me will return for a second season.

The six-part thriller, created, written by and starring Lennie James, premiered at the end of February on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV, and immediately made a splash. A cumulative audience of 1.73 million viewers tuned into the first episode, to watch South Londoner Nelly’s world turn upside down after he is arrested and accused of kidnapping his 13-year-old daughter Jody, a child he barely knew existed.

The show follows Nelly as he hunts for his daughter, a man who is the life and soul of his local boozer, a charmer, chancer, fighter, liar and, at his age, a man who should know better. All six episodes were released at once to watch as a box-set, and viewers have been devouring each episode on demand, with more than a million people watching the entire series in less than a fortnight. Almost 700,000 of those watched the full series in the first week alone, making Save Me the most rapidly binged box-set release ever on Sky.

“Grippingly authentic and hugely moving, Save Me is a must-see modern British thriller,”.

Now, Sky has confirmed that it has ordered a second season of the series, which will once again star Lennie James as Nelly and see the return of Suranne Jones as his ex-lover and Jody’s mother, Claire.

“I am so chuffed that we get to keep telling the story of Save Me,” says James. “Thank you to Sky Atlantic and a huge thank you to everyone who watched our little show and enjoyed it. More to come as soon as I can sit down to write it!”

“I am so thrilled to be returning for the second series of Save Me,” adds Jones. “The reaction to the show has been amazing and I love being part of a great ensemble piece. Lennie has fantastic energy and his writing is so real and poetic. I cannot wait to read what he creates next.”

Anne Mensah, Head of Drama at Sky, adds: “Save Me is a very special Sky original production. It has connected with our audience in a truly visceral way with many viewers watching one episode after another and telling us they simply couldn’t tear themselves away from Lennie’s memorable characters and compulsive storylines. This is an extraordinary show brought to life by a wonderful cast and crew and we’re honoured to welcome them back to Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.”

Save Me follows successful performances of other recent Sky original productions such as Britannia, Tin Star and Riviera. The second series will be executive produced by Simon Heath (World Productions), Jessica Sykes (Independent Talent) and Lennie James. It will go into production in 2019.