Bletchley Circle Season 2 Review: Secret Code Breakers Return To Solve Two More Compelling Cases

Two seasons of "Bletchley Circle" are currently available for free on Amazon Prime. The first premiered in the UK in 2012 and in the US on PBS in 2013. See my season 1 review here There's also a 2018 spinoff called 'Bletchley Circle: San Francisco". It's not available for free.

Set in the 1950s, season 1 had the former WWII code breakers turn their detective skills to capturing a serial killer. The authorities wouldnt take them seriously because they're women. They then decided to hunt him down themselves. This time around the ladies try to protect one of their own. In season 2 we have two cases to solve. The first involves fellow Bletchley Park code breaker Alice Merren. She's on trial for murdering a scientist named John Richards. They were involved during the war. Alice is hiding a secret and doesnt want help from the ladies.

Susan (Anna Maxwell Martin) is finally get a resolution to the government conspiracy thanks to her cornering a higher up in the military. It also required her to come clean about her previous war activities. Alice's life is saved. Susan exits the show when her husband takes a foreign post.

The second case involves the kidnapping of Millie (Rachael Stirling who played Nan on "Tipping The Velvet"). Alice joins Jean and Lucy to help find her. Millie's participation in the "import export business" (selling black market goods) has gotten her into some serious trouble. But this story is about more than just cigarettes, nylons and perfume. A shady gang is also smuggling girls from Eastern Europe to work at brothels in London. I especially enjoyed when Jean (Julie Graham) dressing up to try to get the goods on the gang. She brings Lucy (Sophie Rundle of "Gentleman Jack" fame) along. Lucy is able to memorize the baddie's ledger due to her photographic memory. Next they must break the code. They sneak back into Bletchley Park to use an old Enigma machine. Lucy's uses her connections at Scotland Yard (where she's a "clerical support officer") to tip off customs of a new delivery. After some harrowing moments, they find the smuggled girls and save the day.

Grade: 4 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). "Bletchley Circle" tells a story I had not heard before-- about the secret female code breakers of WWII (and what their lives might have been like after the war). The acting, costumes and set pieces are fabulous. With just four episodes, "Bletchley" is a super fast watch. Think of this as a 1950s British "Murder She Wrote".