CBS has officially renewed the first international chapter of the NCIS franchise, NCIS: Sydney, for a second season. Season one of the primetime crime drama premiered in the US in November 2023 and ranks as the top new fall series.
Season two is expected to start filming this spring in Sydney, Australia.
“We’re beyond stoked with the response to the first season of the show, both in Australia and around the world, and that the team at NCIS: Sydney is returning for a second season,” stated Morgan O’Neill, executive producer and showrunner for Endemol Shine Australia. “We’re especially thrilled to invite our audience deeper into the lives of our core team, peeling back the layers to find out what really makes them tick. This will be even more important as we see the bonds of the new family tested to breaking point in the face of a much more potent enemy looming on the horizon…”
Season one starred Olivia Swann (Legends of Tomorrow) as NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey, Sean Sagar (The Covenant) as NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson, and Todd Lasance (Spartacus: War of the Damned) as her 2IC AFP counterpart, Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey. The first season’s cast also included Tuuli Narkle (Mystery Road: Origin) as AFP liaison officer Constable Evie Cooper, Mavournee Hazel (Shantaram) as AFP forensic scientist Bluebird “Blue” Gleeson, and William McInnes (The Newsreader) as AFP forensic pathologist Dr Roy Penrose.
“The global power of the NCIS franchise became even stronger on broadcast and streaming with the addition of NCIS: Sydney,” said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment. “Our American viewers have fully embraced these engaging characters, unique stories, and the fabulous Australian scenery. We are thrilled to bring this show back to CBS next season and spend even more time down under.”
O’Neill (Les Norton) created the NCIS: Sydney installment and serves as an executive producer along with Sara Richardson and Michele Bennett.
“NCIS: Sydney sees rising international tensions in the Indo-Pacific, where a brilliant and eclectic team of U.S. NCIS agents and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) have been grafted into a multi-national taskforce to keep naval crimes in check in the most contested patch of ocean on the planet,” reads CBS’s synopsis.
