Sky axes second series of popular crime thriller just two months before filming was about to begin

Sky Max has axed a popular crime thriller series just two months before filming for the second season was about to begin.  

The Rising – starring Clara Rugaard – won’t go ahead with more seasons after ‘the plug was pulled’ on the project. 

The second season –  due to be called Risen – was meant to mark the start of an anthology series for the franchise.

But a TV insider close to the show has now told Variety: ‘It was canceled before they were due to start filming.

‘All the cast and everything [were ready to go] and they just pulled the plug.’

Oh no: Sky Max has axed a popular crime thriller series just two months before filming for the second season was about to begin

Sad: The Rising – starring Clara Rugaard (left) – won’t go ahead with more seasons after ‘the plug was pulled’ on the project

Over: The second season – due to be called Risen – was meant to mark the start of an anthology series for the franchise

The supernatural series is an adaptation of the Belgian thriller Hotel Beau Sejour and was the first series entirely produced by Sky Studios. 

Starring Cara as Neve Kelly, the story follows a recently deceased young woman who exists in a kind of purgatory, who finds out her cause of death was murder. 

In this liminal space, Kelly takes advantage of her newfound supernatural abilities to investigate her demise. 

In the process, she must re-examine what she thought she knew about her life. 

The Rising’s showrunner Pete McTighe previously teased the second series.

He told Radio Times: ‘I have already written a plan for a second [season], and I think it’s really exciting and interesting.

‘I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to jinx it. I want it to happen.’

MailOnline has contacted Sky for further comment. 

Not happening: A TV insider close to the show has now told Variety: ‘It was canceled before they were due to start filming’

Idea: The supernatural series is an adaptation of the Belgian thriller Hotel Beau Sejour and was the first series entirely produced by Sky Studios

Plot: Starring Cara as Neve Kelly, the story follows a recently deceased young woman who exists in a kind of purgatory, who finds out her cause of death was murder

Interesting: In this liminal space, Kelly takes advantage of her newfound supernatural abilities to investigate her demise

I Hate Suzie’s Daniel Ings and Silent Witness star Emily Taaffe also starred in the first series. 

The series, which was written by McTighe and Charlotte Wolf, came out last spring after delays due to Covid. 

Principal photography began in May 2021 in the north of England, with filming locations that included the Lake District and the areas surrounding Manchester. 

The eight episodes were split into four filming blocks, with each two episodes helmed by different directors. 

Filming wrapped up in October 2021, and post-production continued into early 2022, with final picture and sound work being completed in London.

In Cumbria, a hologram of the protagonist, Neve, was projected onto Derwentwater the day before the series was released. 

The figure mouthed ‘come and find me’ to passers-by, who were surprised to stumble upon the projection on their morning walk.