Dr. Death, Peacocks critically-acclaimed anthology series, is back for its second season. The first look at the upcoming season shows Mandy Moore and Edgar Ramirez coming face to face, teasing the disturbing truth below the charming facade of celebrity surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, who became famous after performing the world’s first synthetic organ transplant.
What do we know about the season 2 release and the team behind ‘Dr. Death’?
Ashley Michel Hoban, showrunner and executive producer, penned the eight-episode season, which premieres in its entirety on December 21. The cast is completed by Luke Kirby, Ashley Madekwe, and Gustaf Hammarsten. Patrick Macmanus, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, Taylor Latham , Aaron Hart, Hernan Lopez, and Marshall Lewy are actually the executive producers for the UCP-produced series, as are Linda Gase and director Jennifer Morrison, who directed the first four episodes. The final four are directed by Laura Belsey.
On the same day the second season is set to air, Peacock will also broadcast an accompanying documentary, Dr. Death: Cutthroat Conman, detailing the horrific rise and fall of Paolo Macchiarini. Maxine Productions, a division of Sony Pictures Television and Universal Television Alternative Studio, produced the documentary.
What did the showrunner say about the second season of ‘Dr. Death’?
In a side note referencing the show, showrunner Ashley Michel Hoban stated that the anthology series format allows for proper exploration of variations on a topic. “Dr. Death is a show about systemic failures, and this season, these issues reach a global scale. Amid complex narratives, we’ve been fortunate to delve deeply into a story that, while entirely unique, remains surprisingly familiar, as it taps into a truly universal part of the human condition: illness. Even putting aside any recent global pandemics, we all know what it’s like to feel sick. It renders us vulnerable, small, in desperate need of help. A doctor we can trust,” she began. Continuing, the executive said:
“This pursuit of trust and truth is what ties our two stories together this season. Two stories that, on the surface, may not seem to have much else in common: Doctors in Sweden on the verge of a breakthrough. A journalist in New York falling in love. However, both revolve around individuals made to feel small. They’re about people standing up to something bigger, for something bigger, and how their seemingly small choices ripple out into the world to give power and voice to those who have been made to feel powerless and silenced. These are stories that you don’t think could happen to you, until you watch this season of Dr. Death.”
Showrunner Ashley Michel Hoban