We take a look at what’s coming up as BBC1 prepares to screen the second series of The Coroner, much of it filmed in and around the South Hams. Ten episodes will shown over the next fortnight on weekdays at 2.15pm, starting on Monday...

Monday

The Drop Zone

Returning for a second series, Coroner Jane Kennedy (Claire Goose) investigates sudden or unexplained deaths in the English costal community of Lighthaven, South Devon, working with her former flame Detective Sergeant Davey Higgins (Matt Bardock).

In South Devon, Chief Instructor Rafe Phelps (David Corbett) is jumping at the skydiving school, The Drop Zone, when his parachutes fails and he dies on impact.

Rafe’s business partner and ex-girlfriend Lori Fletcher (Tupele Dorgut) tells Jane and Davey that the parachutes must have been sabotaged.

Meanwhile, one of the other skydivers Eddie Landman (Robin Laing) heads to The Black Dog to drown his sorrows and drunkenly reveals to Mick and Judith that he killed his best friend.

Jane finds out that he’s not the only one who had a motive and the opportunity to kill.

Rafe’s distraught wife Jess (Simone McAullay) begs Jane and Davey to give her some answers. The question on everyone’s mind is whether someone killed Rafe – or did he do it to himself?

Tuesday

Perfectly Formed

Demolition workers at a rundown cottage make a grim discovery when they uncover a baby’s skeleton beneath the rubble. Hidden since the 1970s, Davey thinks there must be foul play involved, but Jane’s maternal instincts tell her it’s not that simple.

Tests show that the baby was premature, but there’s a chance they’ll get mitochondrial DNA to check against potential mothers.

All over Lighthaven news is breaking of the discovery and old friends Karen (Adie Allen), Lee (Peter McNeil O’Connor) and Sarah (Elaine Claxton) try to hide their anxiety about what’s been found.

When Jane and Davey make enquiries about the former children’s home they lived in, the owner’s son Phil (Dean Williamson) reluctantly provides a photograph from the 70s, showing three teenage girls. Jane is determined to find out if one of them could be the mother in order to discover why the baby’s remains were hidden in the first place.

Wednesday

Those In Peril

When a distress flare sparks a call-out for the Angel Cove Lifeboat, the two female crew members, Erica (Nellie Burroughes) and Chrissy (Heather Peace) end up overboard – and Erica drowns.

Jane is called in to investigate. When she finds a rip in Erica’s lifejacket she has a sixth sense that something isn’t right, which Davey dismisses, says that she is over-analysing.

Former lifeboat volunteer and publican Mick (Ivan Kaye), confides to Jane that not everyone in the crew was happy that Chrissy was promoted to skipper. Mick then narrowly escapes a vicious attack outside his pub, The Black Dog, which appears to be connected to his dodgy deals.

Jane’s hunch pays off when forensics confirm that Erica’s life jacket had indeed been tampered with, but since all of the crew had access they are all suspects. Mick is spooked when he hears someone trying to get into the pub in the middle of the night and wonders if his mind is playing tricks on him.

But when another volunteer, Bob Fountain, (Nick Brimble) is shot dead by a spear and Chrissy is knocked off her motorbike it seems like the lifeboat crew are being picked off one by one: but by whom?

Thursday

The Beast Of Lighthaven

When Beth (Grace Hogg-Robinson) goes camping she finds a gruesome dead sheep that appears to have been ripped apart by a wild animal. Judith (Beatie Edney) suggests that ‘The Beast of Lighthaven’ – a panther released into the wild – must have killed it.

Jane and Beth think she’s joking. That’s until local journalist Ben Fairhead (Dario Coates) shows up asking questions, having found Beth’s picture of the sheep online.

Davey is nearly lynched by an angry mob after locals accuse the police of not doing enough to protect the community from the big cat. Davey is dismissive of the threat, as is Ben’s editor Samuel (Joe Dixon) who wants more tangible evidence than Beth’s photo.

Ben is determined to find some, but the next day his mauled body is found on the moors. Was he murdered by the beast? While Davey struggles to come up with an explanation, Jane remains unconvinced that a big cat is to blame and is determined to find out what happened.

Friday

The Captain’s Pipe

The landlord of The Captain’s Pipe, Tam Bryant (Vincenzo Nicoli) is renovating the place after winning the West Country Pub of the Year – but following a public row with rival Mick is found dead, covered by a rockfall, in an isolated cove.

Jane and Davey are left wondering if the building work above his pub, being carried out by his ex-wife Roz (Kate Maravan) and her new husband Brian (Nigel Betts) could be to blame.

Jane and Davey quiz Tam’s new wife Claire (Susy Kane) to find out what’s really happening in this blended family: is it really all as amicable as it seems?

Meanwhile, they discover how Tam got to the cove, when investigators uncover a hidden smugglers tunnel.

When Jane is forced to confess to Davey that she saw Mick sneak back into the house into the early hours, he’s taken in for questioning.

Judith tells Jane to find out what really happened and clear Mick’s name otherwise she can find somewhere else to live...