NCIS: Sydney season 2 — release date, cast and what we know

William McInnes, Tuuli Narkle, Todd Lasance, Olivia Swann, Sean Sagar and Mavournee Hazel in NCIS: Sydney (Image credit: Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+)

NCIS: Sydney offered a lot of firsts for the long-running crime drama franchise: it was the first in the franchise to be set internationally (in Sydney, Australia) and was the first to stream exclusively on Paramount Plus. However, after a successful first season, NCIS: Sydney season 2 is getting a promotion and officially joining the CBS primetime lineup.

With NCIS: Sydney coming to CBS, it will mark the third iteration of NCIS currently airing on the network, in addition to NCIS season 22 and NCIS: Origins. However, CBS is not dedicating a single night to all three of its NCIS shows, as NCIS: Sydney is going to stand on its own, at least for now.

For more information on that and everything else you need to know about NCIS: Sydney season 2, read on below.

NCIS: Sydney season 2 release date

NCIS: Sydney season 2 premieres on Friday, January 31, at 8 pm ET/PT on CBS.

That means that CBS bookends its week with NCIS franchise entries, as NCIS season 22 and NCIS: Origins help start the week on Mondays, then NCIS: Sydney closes it out with Fire Country season 3 and S.W.A.T. season 8 (moving to 10 pm ET/PT).

In order to watch NCIS: Sydney live, you need access to your local CBS channel. The good news is that there are multiple ways to get that: a traditional pay-TV provider, a TV antenna, a live TV streaming service (Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV) or a subscription to Paramount Plus with Showtime. If you want to watch the show on-demand, any Paramount Plus subscription will allow you to watch the latest episodes of NCIS: Sydney the day after they air live.

NCIS: Sydney season 2 cast

The team is back together for NCIS: Sydney season 2, with Olivia Swann’s Captain Michelle Mackey and Todd Lasance’s Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey leading the way. The rest of the NCIS: Sydney team consists of Sean Sagar as Special Agent DeShawn Jackson, Tuuli Narkler as Constable Evie Cooper, Mavournee Hazel as forensic scientist Bluebird "Blue" Gleeson and William McInnes as forensic pathologist Dr. Roy Penrose.

There’s no confirmed news on who may be appearing as guest stars on the show this season.

NCIS: Sydney season 2 plot

In case you need a reminder of what the general premise is for NCIS: Sydney, here is the show’s official synopsis:

"With rising international tensions in the Indo-Pacific, a brilliant and eclectic team of US NCIS agents and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are grafted into a multinational taskforce to keep naval crimes in check in the most contested patch of ocean on the planet."

Specific details on season 2 are a bit scarce, but we do have the synopsis for NCIS: Sydney season 2 episode 1. Read it right here:

“NCIS: Sydney will do whatever it takes to crack the case of a rogue assassin on the run during NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson’s chaotic first day as boss.”

If you want some refreshers on what happened in the NCIS: Sydney season 1 finale, check out our NCIS: Sydney season 1 finale recap.

NCIS: Sydney season 2 trailer

Watch the trailer for NCIS: Sydney season 2 directly below:

NCIS: Sydney behind the scenes

Morgan O’Neill is the creator and lead writer of NCIS: Sydney, shepherding the latest iteration of the crime drama franchise, though he had no previous connection to it (his previous TV credits included Last King of the Cross and Les Norton). In fact, none of the producers and executive producers of the show (O’Neill, Michele Bennett, Rick Maier, Lindsey Martin, Sara Richardson and Sue Seeary) have any past affiliation with NCIS.

The show is filmed on location in Sydney, Australia, with CBS Studios working alongside Endemol Shine Australia, Network Ten and Paramount Australia Productions to bring the show to audiences.