Showrunner, writer and director Matthew Parkhill helms new action-driven political drama. Co-created by Matthew Parkhill and Simon Maxwell, with Joss Agnew also directing. Executive produced by Emmy-Award winner Hilary Bevan Jones.
Fox Networks Group (FNG) Europe & Africa has announced that Deep State season two will air globally in 2019. Season one was the first regional scripted commission for the broadcaster, which doubled the primetime average audience on FOX across Europe and Africa. It was also the most viewed show on premium net-work EPIX, its home in the US. Deep State 2, parts of which were filmed in South Africa, will broadcast on FOX Africa on Wednesdays at 8.45pm CAT, from 15 May.
A teaser trailer and first look photos from the new season reveal fresh details for the espionage thriller, which expands the deep state universe and introduces a range of new characters, led by Critics’ Choice Winner and Emmy-nominated actor, Walton Goggins (Ant-Man and the Wasp, Tomb Raider).
The second season will delve deeper into the murky and political world of the deep state. Having failed in the Middle East, those powers are now turning their attention to sub-Saharan Africa and the scramble to plunder its natural resources. This is the first dirty war over clean energy. The series will also explore the origin stories of some of our favourite characters from season one alongside witnessing the fall of a hero and orchestrating the making of a terrorist in the eyes of the West.
Alongside Walton Goggins, season two features returning cast, Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones, Skins), Karima McAdams (Fearless, Vikings), Alistair Petrie (Sex Education, The Night Manager) and Anastasia Griffith (Damages, Once Upon a Time). Rounding out the ensemble are new cast members, Victoria Hamilton (The Crown, Doctor Foster), Alexander Siddig (The Spy, Gotham) Lily Banda (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind) and Zainab Jah (Elementary, Homeland).
Deep State co-creator, writer, showrunner and director Matthew Parkhill said: "My ambition for Deep State was to create an intelligent, cinematic and political thriller; a modern-day story that reflects the turbulent times we are all living in. This year, we build on the established worlds of London and Washington from season one, and take our audience further behind the curtain of the deep state, introducing new characters and new territories – notably Mali and the epic landscape of the Sahara Desert, the land of the Tuareg people. A new frontier for the deep state, as it seeks ever greater profits from orchestrated and curated chaos. The lines between the political and emotional lives of each character continue to blur and we are thrilled to be telling this new story with such a diverse and talented cast."
Sara Johnson, VP, Scripted, FNG Europe & Africa and Executive Producer said: "Season One was a brilliant introduction to Deep State, and we could not have been more thrilled with the response. We are excited to return to this contemporary drama brand, which blends action and political intrigue with a strong moral core, to tell a complex story in a compelling way."
Hilary Bevan Jones, Executive Producer with Endor Productions, a Red Arrow Studios Com-pany, said: “It’s great to build on the ambitions and success of Deep State. Ranging from action packed desert sequences to emotionally charged stories we get to build on season one and grow an even bigger audience with season two. I have massive admiration for Matthew Parkhill and his team of writers, Producer Paul Frift and FNG Europe & Africa and the quality of their content.”
“There is another government concealed behind the one that is visible at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue, a hybrid entity of public and private institution running the country.”
– Essay: ‘Anatomy of the Deep State’ by Mike Lofgren,
American author and 28-year veteran Republican US Congressional Aide –As season two opens, we find Harry Clarke (Dempsie) and Leyla Toumi (McAdams) still reeling from the fall out of season one’s debacle in Tehran. Harry has taken himself out of active duty completely and it is only at the insistence of Leyla, that he is dragged back into the deeply secretive and deadly dangerous world of the deep state.
The deep state is on the threshold of reaping enormous rewards from a US Government deal that is being brokered with Mali, a sub-Saharan country replete in vast natural resources huge-ly valuable to the Western World’s insatiable appetite for technological advancement. The deal is suddenly plunged into jeopardy when three US special forces operatives and a Malian trans-lator are ambushed and supposedly killed.
The deep state hastily deploys Nathan Miller (Goggins), an ex-CIA operative, to ensure, at any cost, the deal is completed, but his actions are thwarted when the Malian translator, Aïcha Konaté (Banda) contacts Leyla and informs her of the actual events surrounding her supposed death. Complicating matters for Miller are Meaghan Sullivan (Hamilton), a Republican Senator from Ohio, with an insatiable appetite for the uncovering the truth about the deep state and Aminata Sissoko (Jah), a senior advisor to the Malian President who is the deep state’s main obstacle in gaining a foothold in her country. A past storyline reconnects with last season’s George White (Petrie), a senior MI6 agent and Amanda Jones (Griffith), a CIA operative and the introduction of Issouf Al Moctar (Siddig), a Tuareg leader of an armed independence group. From here on in, viewers are taken on another extraordinary, helter-skelter journey in which Harry and Leyla must do everything in their power to stop the insidious advancement of the malignant network that is known as the deep state.
Matthew Parkhill (Rogue) is executive producer, co-creator, writer, director and showrunner with Emmy-award winning powerhouse producer Hilary Bevan Jones (Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot, State of Play, The Escape Artist) as executive producer. Director Joss Agnew (Poldark, Mr Selfridge) and BAFTA Award winning producer Paul Frift (Victoria, Room at the Top), both joined the team for the second season. Simon Maxwell (American Odyssey), is co-creator writer and executive producer. Rounding out the executive producing team are Walton Goggins, Alan Greenspan, and Helen Flint with Sara Johnson for Fox Networks Group, Europe & Africa. Matthew Parkhill heads the writing team of Chris Dunlop, Joshua St Johnson, Simon Maxwell and Steve Thompson.
The creative team includes directors of photography Nic Lawson and Nick Dance, costume designer Rachel Walsh, hair and make-up designer Amy Stewart, production designer, Steve Summersgill, and line producer Janine Van Assen. The show’s score was composed by Harry Escott, Francesco Reidy and Andrew Perry serve as 1st Assistant Directors, Supervising Editor is Phil Hookway, with David Barrett as Editor, and casting for both series of Deep State was led by Kelly Valentine Hendry.
Fox Networks Group Content Distribution hold exclusive global distribution rights for the series, working in partnership with FNG Europe & Africa. Across the region, FNG Europe & Africa op-erates 154 channels as well as numerous digital services, from 25 offices, broadcasting in over 50 countries. Through genre defining channel brands FOX, FOX Sports and National Geo-graphic, FNG Europe & Africa is watched by over 250 million viewers, 40% of the population, in 150 million households making it the pan-regional leader for entertainment, factual and sports programming*.
Deep State 2 will broadcast on FOX from 15 May at 8.45pm. FOX is available on DSTV 125, Black 201 and Starsat 131.
