Manchester crime series The Detectives to ‘return this year’ as reason for delay revealed

The Detectives: Fighting Organised Crime will reportedly be returning to our screens later this year when the next story ‘concludes’. 

The series, which first hit screens across the UK back in March 2021, gave viewers a rare glimpse into Manchester’s world of crime.

Real-life investigations led by Greater Manchester Police into criminal activity and organised crime gangs spanning across two years were shown in a startlingly candid manner, as were the gang members behind the heinous crimes happening across the city. 

The first episode, which aired on March 23rd last year, saw police officers called out to a hostage situation in central Manchester, where a man had been taken by an armed gang in front of his wife and children, only to be released after a £34,000 ransom was paid.

BBC

Episode two, which aired the following week, followed Greater Manchester Police’s Major Incident Team as they launched a murder investigation into the murder of a known drug dealer, with officers meticulously piecing together CCTV evidence and information from phone records to uncover a large-scale conspiracy.

Both episodes proved to be hugely successful, with millions of people tuning in from all across the country. However, despite the anticipation surrounding the next episode, it was never aired.

BBC 2 never broadcasted the third instalment of the series and, more recently, the existing episodes were removed from BBC iPlayer.

But now, fans of the show have been given an idea as to why the episodes never aired and when they can expect to see them back on their screens.

Tweeting in December, Minnow Films, which produced the series, replied to a query about when it will next be shown on television, writing: “It will return next year [2022], there are delays due to ongoing investigations.”

In a different tweet, Minnow Films also wrote: “It will return next year [2022], date TBC. We do need to wait for stories to conclude.”

There have been rumours that the show’s second run will focus on Rochdale grooming gangs, though the BBC are yet to confirm what the series will follow and when exactly it will air, with the broadcaster simply asking people to ‘keep an eye on the programme page for dates nearer the time.’