The Tower fans, rejoice: the second season of the popular ITV crime drama – subtitled Death Message – has been incredibly well received by fans of the genre, with many insisting it is even better than the first.

“Excellent first episode,” raved one fan on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It is definitely a rollercoaster… might have to binge-watch tonight.”

As those watching will know all too well, the first episode of The Tower II: Death Message saw police rivals DS Sarah Collins (Gemma Whelan) and PC Lizzie Adama (Tahirah Sharif) forced to put their differences aside in order to solve the case of a missing schoolgirl.

In the series, it is revealed that Tania Mills disappeared on the day of Princess Diana’s funeral, 6 September 1997. In the original novel by Kate London, however, Tania vanished during the Great Storm of October 1987.

What, then, necessitated the change?

“If it were the day of the Great Storm, our characters would be too old,” explains London, who serves as an executive producer on the ITV series. 

However, there is far more to this date shift than meets the eye, as the author goes on to explain.

“On the day of the funeral normal activities were suspended and people’s attention was elsewhere,” says London. "[It] is an event that creates a context where there is a feeling of destabilisation.”

Poignantly, she adds: “The night before the Storm, the weatherman Michael Fish dismissed the fears of a woman who had rung in afraid that a hurricane was on its way.

“The funeral shares something here – that the fears of a woman were dismissed. Whatever your views on the Royal family it is clear that Diana was pursued and hunted in an extraordinary way.”

The joy of watching a series like The Tower is, quite simply, in leaning hard into all the twists and turns along the way.

With that in mind, then, this writer isn’t here to reveal the ending – nor am I planning to drop any major spoilers. 

What I will say, though, is this: Diana’s untimely passing doesn’t just mark the day of Tania’s disappearance. 

In fact, it may just be that the Princess of Wales’ death is the key to solving the case, too.

Watch the trailer for The Tower S2: Death Message below

While screenwriter Patrick Harbinson hasn’t spoken about the significant role that Diana’s death plays within the series (yet), he has addressed The Tower’s most important theme: violence against women.

“It’s called domestic violence for a reason: most cases happen within the home, out of the public eye,” he explains. 

“Usually they involve just the perpetrator and the victim, where the victim is often in a dependent relationship with her attacker. 

“If there is a witness it is often a traumatised family member, usually a child, therefore easily swayed and, as a witness, unreliable. At the key moments – arrest or charge or witness stand – victims and witnesses often choose silence or denial.”

Noting that Lizzie’s persuasiveness helps her to “break that wall of silence” (albeit temporarily: the case is thrown out, the abused returns to her abuser), Harbinson goes on to reveal that Sarah’s power stems from her ability to listen.

“In Sarah’s case – the missing child – the wall of silence has been standing for much longer and is even harder to break,” he says. 

“Eventually Sarah will get through, will persuade people to reveal traumas they have buried for 25 years. As she says in a later episode: ‘There’s a reason why abused girls stay silent. Yes, they’re ashamed, they think it’s all their fault, but they also think that they won’t be believed, they won’t even be listened to.’

“Sarah listens,” Harbinson finishes powerfully. 

As mentioned already, the second season of The Tower focuses on “the antagonistic relationship between the experienced Sarah Collins and the novice cop Lizzie Adama.”

The recently-confirmed third season of the popular ITV crime drama, however, will – if it follows the plot of London’s original book, Gallowstree Lane, that is – focus its attention on another pair of officers.

”Gallowstree Lane has a high-stakes drugs and gangs storyline with Jimmy and Emmett’s characters taking major roles,” promises Harbinson. 

If you’re worried this spells disaster for our beloved female leads, don’t be: Harbinson has reassured fans that “Sarah and Lizzie have gripping and heartbreaking stories too, as the drama of Portland Tower comes full circle.”

We can’t wait, quite frankly. Thank goodness we still have a few more episodes of season two to keep us going in the meantime, eh?

Following its premiere on Monday 28 August, The Tower season 2 will air at 9pm on ITV1 every night until Thursday 31 August. It will then be available to stream on ITVX and BritBox

Images: ITV