It wouldn’t be a Sunday evening without a new crime drama on ITV.
Following recent crime series Karen Pirie and Code of Silence comes the return of Ridley to transform viewers into armchair sleuths for the next month.
Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar is back as the titular detective, a retired cop with four more head-scratching mysteries to solve.
Here’s all you need to know about the second series of Ridley.
What happens in series two of Ridley?
The crime drama follows Alex Ridley, a former detective inspector, who retired from the police force after the death of his wife and daughter in an arson attack on their family home.
He returns to the police force as a police consultant, joining forces with his former protégée DI Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh), now at the helm of investigations.
Season 2’s opening has Ridley investigating a jewellery store robbery that has turned violent with fatal consequences. Cue a race against the clock to discover the identity of the elusive mastermind behind the crime.
Later episodes in the series include a murder at an illegal rave and a string of suspicious disappearances in a sleepy countryside village.
Where was Ridley filmed?
Ridley was filmed across the north of England. Here’s a look at some specific locations that feature in the second series.
Mossley stands in as the fictional town Ridley is set in
The events of Ridley take place in the fictional town of Framley, with Mossley, a town on the outskirts of Greater Manchester, standing in.
‘We chose Mossley town as our location for Framley as it fits our aesthetic well,’ says producer Juliet Charlsworth. ‘It’s a proud industrial town nestled in a valley surrounded by the Pennines.’
Ashton-under-Lyne was used for the jewellery shop heist
The second series of Ridley opens with a heist in a jewellery store, with those scenes filmed around Ashton-under-Lyne.
Finding the location for the jewellery store presented a challenge to producers as they needed the store to face onto a pedestrianised street for the thieves to make their speedy get-away on bikes.
‘We found a wonderful small family run jewellers in Ashton-under-Lyne who were great at working with us,’ Charlsworth. ‘We needed full control of a number of streets and avenues during the filming which we were able to get on Sundays when the town is a little quieter.’
The police station and jazz bar were in the same building
Bolton’s famous Le Mans Crescent was another filming location. It doubles as the fictional police station.
Built in 1939, its distinctive curved buildings make up the local civic centre and town hall, and recently featured in Netflix drama Toxic Town.
The area used as a filming location for Ridley was once the local police station and courts, complete with cells and custody suites.
Other parts of the vast building were used as Marlings, the jazz club frequented by Ridley, and some rooms on the top floor were used for a psychiatrist’s office.
Ridley’s house was shot at Watergrove Reservoir, Rochdale
When he’s not investigating crime scenes or interviewing suspects at the police station, Ridley is relaxing in his idyllic waterside home.
These scenes were filmed at Watergrove Reservoir, outside the village of Wardle in Rochdale.
‘It’s a very beautiful place and we really wanted Ridley to have solitude and a time for healing and quiet reflection,’ Charlsworth explains.
‘It’s a really eerie and stunning place very early in the morning when we would turn up for work, we could see deer wandering around through the mist and watch the sun come up over the reservoir.’
Heaton Hall is a murder scene in episode three
Episode 3 sees Ridley and the team try to solve a murder at an illegal rave.
Heaton Hall was chosen as the filming location for the party and subsequent crime scene.
The 18th century building sits within the grounds of Heaton Park, where Oasis recently played their reunion shows.
Bury doubles up as the fictional village in episode 4
The mystery in episode four revolves around several missing people from a sleepy countryside village.
Producers opted for the oldest quarter of Bury to bring the fictional Colden Vale village to life, using its idyllic church, pubs and community cafe for scenes.
One pub featured in the episode is The Two Tubs, the oldest pub in the town with parts of the building dating back to the 17th century.
When is Ridley on TV or streaming?
Fans of the crime drama have had to wait three long years for Ridley to return to screens, but the wait is finally over.
Ridley’s second series launches on ITV at 8pm on Sunday August 10, with episodes the following two Sunday evenings and the fourth and final episode airing on Monday August 25.
All episodes will be available to stream on ITVX as soon as they air on the telly.
Is there a trailer?
Check out the trailer below for a first-look at Ridley series two.
Alex Ridley is back.
— ITV (@ITV) July 20, 2025
Ridley series 2, coming soon#Ridley pic.twitter.com/dUSzjT7aO0
Who is in the Ridley cast?
Adrian Dunbar headlines the cast of the crime drama as the titular detective. The actor is no stranger to crime dramas, with a CV that includes Line of Duty, Inspector Morse, Cracker, A Touch of Frost and Silent Witness.
Bronagh Waugh (The Suspect) plays DI Farman, Ridley’s former protégée who is now leading the investigations.
The police team also includes Terence Maynard (Time, Coronation Street) as DCI Paul Goodwin, George Bukhari (Years and Years) as DC Darren Lakhan, and Georgie Glen (The Crown) as pathologist Dr Wendy Newstone.