Reopening the FILES

JULIAN LOOMAN and ELEN RHYS on being back on the beat in Spain after a three-year break

- STEVEN PERKINS

THE MALLORCA FILES NEW FROM THU 8 AUGUST, PRIME VIDEO DRAMA

With a sparky, mismatched detective duo joining forces with cosy mysteries and sun-soaked vistas, The Mallorca Files proved an instant hit with viewers when it began in 2019.

After a three-year hiatus, the crime drama returns for an eagerly anticipated third outing this week, moving from its original home on BBC1 daytime to debut on streaming service Prime Video.

Penned again by Dan Sefton (The Good Karma Hospital), the new eight-part run finds the barbed banter flowing between workaholic British cop Miranda Blake (Elen Rhys) and her funloving German counterpart Max Winter (Julian Looman) as they investigate various high-stakes cases. Their first task is finding a kidnapped puzzle genius who has buried treasure somewhere on the Balearic island!

TV Times brought Elen, 40, and Julian, 39, in for exclusive questioning to find out more...

Welcome back! The last season aired in February 2021, so what can we expect this time?

ELEN We cut short the filming for the second series because of the COVID-19 pandemic, shooting six episodes instead of 10. We filmed those last scenes not realising that they could have been the last ones ever, so we’re absolutely thrilled to come back. The show is now bigger in scale and more epic.

JULIAN We’re picking up the loose ends that we left the audience with, and taking a little bit of a deeper dive this time. The core of the show remains the same, but we’re just on a bigger ship now. Like a cruise ship, maybe?

ELEN Or a superyacht!

Sounds fab! Philippe Brenninkmeyer (Mad Men) appears in the first episode as Max’s father, Thomas. Can you tell us about their dynamic?