The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco follows four women gifted with extraordinary intelligence in 1950s California
The code-breakers are back for more crime solving
Following their move across the Atlantic last Summer, code-cracking duo Jean McBrian (Julie Graham) and Millie Harcourt (Rachael Stirling) have a new raft of crimes to solve as they team up with their US counterparts, Iris Bearden (Crystal Balint) and Hailey Yarner (Chanelle Peloso), in 1950s San Francisco.
As this second series opens, Jean and Millie are alarmed when a bloodied and battered stranger arrives at their door.
As they try to work out his identity, the women find themselves sucked into the city’s underbelly – a criminal realm of drug-dealing and police corruption – and are horrified when Millie’s cousin becomes a target.
TV Times rating: ****
Here, in an exclusive interview with TV Times, Julie, 53, and Rachael, 41, tell us about their new cases and why they'll be friends for ever…
What other cases do they tackle this series?
Rachael: A Russian diplomat dies, and then there is much panic when Jean suddenly goes missing.
Julie: Yes, Jean is kidnapped! The Russians are desperate to get their hands on these code-breaking machines. They think Jean has got inside contacts, so they kidnap her!
It’s clear you two get on well…
Rachael: I’ve known Jules for over 20 years since she played my stepmum in a play called Hopeless. She’s wise, kind, absolutely hilarious and will always be in my life. You don’t need to have a party with Jules around. She is the party!
Julie: It was fantastic having my pal with me, especially as we were away from home for such a long time.
And it was wonderful getting to know Crystal and Chanelle. We became a proper little family.
Rachael: Chanelle’s adorable and a lot like her character Hailey. She loved hanging out with my [two-year-old] son Jack, who was with us on set a lot of the time. Crystal was the maternal one on set, whereas I was probably the naughty one!
Julie: Being the youngest, we took Chanelle under our wing. She’s from Vancouver [where the series was filmed] and showed us around. We went to Crystal’s house a lot – she’d cook us dinner and we had great parties at the weekends. They’re both great girls and I’d love to work with them again.
