Kelly Macdonald will not return for the second series of Netflix hit Dept. Q as the production expands its filming footprint across Scotland.
The Glasgow-born actress played therapist Dr Rachel Irving in the first series of the Edinburgh-set crime drama, appearing opposite Matthew Goode’s troubled detective Carl Morck.
Her absence from the new series has now been attributed to a scheduling conflict, following an appearance by the show’s cast and creator Scott Frank at the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival in Stirling.
Macdonald was not included in Netflix’s official returning cast when production on series two was announced earlier this year. Goode will return alongside Alexej Manvelov as Akram Salim, Leah Byrne as Rose Dickson and Jamie Sives as James Hardy.
Scottish actors Mark Bonnar, Kate Dickie, Aaron McVeigh and Sanjeev Kohli are also returning.
The second series is adding a sizeable group of new faces, including Aisling Franciosi, Greg Wise, Nicholas Rowe, Tony Curran, Hamish Clark, Alex Ferns, Ross Anderson, Rebecca Root, Isla Johnston and Amy Brenneman.
Filming is already under way across Scotland, with Edinburgh again at the heart of the production.
Netflix has described the capital as the show’s “other protagonist” after the first series transformed the original Danish setting of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s novels into a distinctly Scottish crime drama.
Creator Scott Frank revealed at Bloody Scotland that the decision to use Edinburgh was actually made relatively late in the development of the series.
Frank had never visited the city before exploring it as a potential location, but was struck by the combination of historic and modern architecture.
The gamble paid off, with the first series spending six weeks in Netflix’s global Top 10 following its launch in 2025.
The production is now spreading further across Scotland. Crews have spent time filming in Aberdeen for the second series, with production activity around the city’s beachfront and Pittodrie area.
The historic Bon Accord Baths has also been used as a location, while casting calls were previously issued for extras to work on the Aberdeen leg of the shoot.
Netflix says the new series will see Morck and his unconventional cold-case team investigate a crime reaching into the “highest echelons of Scottish society”.
Executive producer Rob Bullock said: “It is a story for our times: rich and powerful people who believe they are above the law. Carl, of course, knows otherwise.”
Dept. Q is based on Adler-Olsen’s bestselling Danish crime novels but was relocated from Copenhagen to Edinburgh for the Netflix adaptation.
Frank, whose previous credits include The Queen’s Gambit, said he was attracted to Edinburgh because of the way its medieval and modern architecture sit alongside one another.
Production on the second series remains under way. Netflix has not yet announced a release date.