BBC One’s Death Valley became one of the most talked-about British dramas of last year, and much of that credit goes to the cast that brought the show to life. A cosy crime comedy set against the green hills of Mid Wales, it follows an unlikely pair of sleuths who really shouldn’t work together but absolutely do.
Season 2 lands on 17 May 2026, and picks up a few months after the chaotic season one finale. The dynamic has shifted, the stakes are higher, and a fresh wave of guest stars has arrived to stir things up. Here’s everything you need to know about the faces you’ll be seeing on your screen in Death Valley Season 2.
Timothy Spall leads the cast of Death Valley as John Chapel
John Chapel is a retired actor, a national treasure in his own mind, and someone who once played a detective so convincingly on television that he now genuinely believes he can solve real murders.
Timothy Spall has had a remarkable film career through his long collaboration with director Mike Leigh, appearing in Life is Sweet, Secrets and Lies, and ultimately Mr. Turner in 2014, for which he won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. He’s Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter films, he was in The King’s Speech, Sweeney Todd, and Spencer*. In 2024, he picked up both an International Emmy and a BAFTA for his chilling performance in The Sixth Commandment.
Gwyneth Keyworth as Janie Mallowan
Janie Mallowan is a little awkward, intensely committed to her job, and quietly hilarious in the way she processes the world around her. Death Valley Season 2 sees her promoted to Detective Inspector, which means more responsibility and, naturally, more paperwork. She’s also moved in with colleague Helen Baxter to get some breathing room from her mother, which works fine until she discovers that her mum has been seeing John Chapel behind her back.
Gwyneth Keyworth’s resume includes Misfits and Black Mirror, and she had a memorable turn in Season 5 of Game of Thrones as Clea. More recently, she’s appeared in The Crown and Defending the Guilty, and she won a WhatsOnStage Award in 2023 for her stage performance in To Kill a Mockingbird at the West End’s Gielgud Theatre.
Steffan Rhodri as DCI Barry Clarke
DCI Barry Clarke is Janie’s boss and Death Valley season 2 brings him back in full force, still trying to keep order in a department where order is perpetually at risk. Clarke is also the grounded counterpoint to Chapel’s theatrical chaos.
Steffan Rhodri played Reg Cattermole in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, showed up in Wonder Woman as Colonel Darnell, and appeared in House of the Dragon as Lord Hobert Hightower. He has also worked onThree Girls, Keeping Faith, and Steeltown Murders.
Melanie Walters as Yvonne Mallowan
Yvonne Mallowan is Janie’s mum and she’s warm, she’s chaotic, and she talks constantly, which is probably where Janie gets her inability to read a room. Death Valley season 2 raises the stakes considerably in the Yvonne department: as she and John Chapel are now officially an item, and her ex-husband is back on the scene too.
Melanie Walters first appeared in The District Nurse in 1987 and has played vampire Emma in Being Human, voiced Gran in the children’s series Biff and Chip, and appeared in Hollyoaks, Pitching In, and The Snow Spider and has also played Gwen West from Gavin and Stacey.
Alexandria Riley as Helen Baxter
Helen Baxter works in police pathology and functions as something of a safe port in the storm for Janie. She’s smart, dry, and reliably grounded. In Death Valley season 2, Janie actually moves in with Helen, which shifts their dynamic from workplace colleagues to something closer to flatmates navigating both crime scenes and domestic life.
Alexandria Riley is best known for her role in The Tuckers, and has also appeared in the Apple TV+ series Silo, landed a role in Baby Reindeer, and was part of the cast of The Pembrokeshire Murders and The End of the F**ing World*.
Jane Horrocks joins the cast this season
Jane Horrocks joins Death Valley season 2 as a guest, and although details about her specific character are being kept fairly close to the chest, given her experience, she will carry much weight.
Horrocks is best known to British audiences as Bubble, the spectacularly vacant personal assistant in Absolutely Fabulous, a role she played from 1992 through to the 2016 film. She earned Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for her extraordinary performance in Little Voice in 1998, she voiced Babs in Chicken Run, appeared in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, and also starred in the musical drama Sunshine on Leith.
More additions to the cast of Death Valley
The rest of the Death Valley Season 2 guest roster is just as exciting. Mark Lewis Jones, known for Barbarians, Game of Thrones, and The Terror, also joins, along with Alexandra Roach, who many will know from No Offence and Black Mirror.
Hammed Animashaun, who has worked on Feel Good, joins the mix too. Roisin Conaty, a beloved figure in British comedy through GameFace and her stand-up career, is a guest star and finally Asim Chaudhry, the comedian and actor behind People Just Do Nothing, rounds out the guest list.
Edited by Nibir Konwar