While Claire Rushbrook has become a fan favourite for her role in Rivals, she's got a brilliant back catalogue of content that is prime for binge-watching. In one of her more popular series, she stars alongside Lesley Manville in the follow up season to Magpie Murders, which is available to stream on ITVX tonight.
Here's everything you need to know about Moonflowers Murders, from who else is in it, what it's about and how many episodes you can binge-watch. You're welcome!
What is Moonflowers Murders about?
Moonflower Murders is the sequel to Magpie Murders, and centres on Susan Ryeland, an editor who, in season one, receives an unfinished manuscript of a novel by author Alan Conway, and finds her life turned upside down when she sets about investigating the story.
In season two, Susan is now living in Greece and running a small hotel. bBut her idyllic quiet life is interrupted when a British couple ask her for help finding their daughter who has gone missing.
More comfortable in her role of amateur detective, Susan sets about finding out what happened - with the real life story interwoven with her old client Conway's fictional novels, which seem to hold clues to the real life cases.
The BBC synopsis reads, "When Susan's idyllic new life is disturbed by a baffling unsolved murder, she must uncover the secret hidden in plain sight. The sequel to Magpie Murders, starring Lesley Manville."
Who is in the cast of Moonflowers Murders?
Many of the cast from season one reprise their roles for season two, while there are some new characters who join to keep the storyline interesting:
- Lesley Manville from The Crown as Susan Ryeland, the former book editor turned amateur investigator
- Tim McMullan from Foyle's War as Atticus Pünd, the fictional detective in Alan Conway's novels
- Conleth Hill from Dublin Murders as Alan Conway, the late novelist
- Daniel Mays from Line of Duty in dual roles with intertwined stories, as Locke and Chubb
- Claire Rushbrook as Kate Williams, the sister of Susan Ryeland
- Adrian Rawlins, also in dual roles as Lawrence Treherne and Lance Gardner
- Rosalie Craig also in dual roles as Lisa Treherne and Melissa James
- Pooky Quesnel also in dual roles as Pauline Treherne and Maureen Gardner
- Will Tudor also in dual roles as Aiden MacNeil and Algernon Marsh
- Pippa Bennett-Warner as Madeline Cain
- Mark Gatiss as Frank Parris and Oscar Berlin
- Rupert Evans as John Spencer
- Alexandros Logothetis as Andreas Patakis
Where can you watch Moonflowers Murders?
WATCH NOW All six episodes of Moonflower Murders are available to watch on BBC iPlayer. They are 45-minutes long each and first came out in 2024. Season one came out in 2022, and is also available to watch in full on the BBC iPlayer.
What else has Lesley Manville been in?
If you love watching Lesley Manville on screen, where else can you find her?
- In The Crown seasons 5 and 6 as Princess Margaret
- In Mum, a BBC drama as Cathy, a widow navigating family life
- In Sherwood, a crime drama where she starred as Julie Jackson
- In Harlots, a period drama where she plays Lydia Quigley, a brothel owner
- In River, a detective drama starring Stellan Skarsgård
You're welcome.
