The Good Ship Murder: Shayne Ward sets sail again for a second series of the cosy crime drama

​Recent Strictly Come Dancing contestant Shayne Ward sets sail again for a second series of the cosy crime drama.

If you missed the first run (and last month’s Christmas special), he plays Jack Grayling, a former cop who has embarked on a new career as a cruise ship singer, but unfortunately, murder seems to follow him around.

While that may not always be good for Jack – or, presumably, the cruise company – Shayne is thoroughly enjoying the chance to play a singing detective.

The former X Factor winner explains: “Jack spent 20 years in the force so I knew my character was going to be a confident and reliable investigator.

“With his change of career, I was excited to explore this character as a performer and bring the two sides of him to life. Jack is a guy who’s figuring his new life out. But he’s never too far from a crime scene and can’t help but get involved. It’s natural for him to want to help and he’s good at it!”

The actor adds: “Overall, it was about finding that balance between his new life as a singer and his past as a cop and making that journey believable.”

Shayne has also been on his own learning curve since the first series, especially when it comes to the practicalities of acting on the high seas.

He laughs: “I remember trying to film pivotal scenes with intense wind noise or background music from the ship. It was hilarious at times but definitely challenging.

“That said, the production team learned a lot from season one, and it felt smoother this time around. The results speak for themselves—season two looks and feels amazing.”

As well as singing and solving crimes, Jack has also been navigating a will-they-won’t-they relationship with his colleague Kate (Ward’s former Coronation Street co-star Catherine Tyldesley).

So, fans will be glad to hear that in the first episode, it seems he’s ready to make his move as the ship docks in Rome, and he invites her to join him for a night at the opera.

It starts to look a lot less like a date though when Jack’s estranged 18-year-old daughter Mia (Millie Kent) makes a surprise appearance.

Mia is on a mission to reunite her parents, so when she notices the obvious connection between Kate and Jack, she does her best to sabotage it – and succeeds in sewing a few seeds of doubt in Kate’s mind.

That’s not the only potential distraction, as a member of the opera troupe is murdered. Jack launches his own investigation, but the situation becomes more personal when Mia runs off with a suspect.

As you may have guessed, it’s not especially gritty, but The Good Ship Murder is fun. As Shayne says: “It’s an amalgamation of all the greatest light-hearted crime dramas that have ever been on television. We’ve taken the best bits—Murder, She Wrote, The Love Boat, The Bill, even some Agatha Christie vibes—and turned them into something fresh. Everyone can play amateur sleuth for the night, and who doesn’t love a murder mystery?”