Though Edith Wharton’s unfinished final novel, The Buccaneers, had been adapted before—a TV miniseries was produced in 1995—Apple TV+’s take on this Gilded Age drama proved to be a hit with modern audiences, combining a fun, irreverent cast and whirlwind romances with gorgeous costumes and a killer soundtrack.
In 2023, Apple TV+ released new episodes of The Buccaneers’ premiere season on a weekly basis, which garnered critical praise and steady viewership. The show’s first season culminated in an emotional finale in which Nan St. George (Kristine Frøseth) sacrificed her own happiness to save her sister, Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) from a horrendous marriage. But can a show based on an incomplete novel really produce a second season?
Well, it’s been done before. Previously, PBS, ITV, and BritBox produced a three-season adaptation of Jane Austen’s final unfinished novel, Sanditon, and The Buccaneers is now set to follow in its footsteps. In December 2023, just a few days after the season finale aired, Apple TV+ officially announced that The Buccaneers would return for season 2.
It has since been confirmed that the entire ensemble cast will be returning for The Buccaneers season 2, including Kristine Frøseth as Nan St. George, Alisha Boe as Conchita Closson, Josie Totah as Mabel Elmsworth, Aubri Ibrag as Lizzy Elmsworth, Imogen Waterhouse as Jinny St. George, Christina Hendricks as Mrs. St. George, Mia Threapleton as Honoria Marable, Josh Dylan as Lord Richard Marable, Guy Remmers as Theo, Duke of Tintagel, Matthew Broome as Guy Thwarte, and Barney Fishwick as Lord James Seadown.
There are plenty more dramatic and tense storylines still to come, including Nan’s lasting feelings for Guy Thwarte despite having just married the Duke of Tintagel, the divorce between Nan and Jinny’s parents, and the continued search for Nan’s birth mother. It’s currently unclear exactly when The Buccaneers season 2 will premiere on Apple TV+, but it’s definitely on its way.
