Season 6 Confirmed for Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators

Good news for cozy-crime fans: Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators will return for a sixth season, with filming already underway in Stratford-upon-Avon. Before we look ahead, here’s a quick catch-up on where Season 5 took the agency and what to expect next.

What is Shakespeare & Hathaway about?

The series pairs ex-cop Frank Hathaway and ex-hairdresser Lu Shakespeare as they poke around Stratford-upon-Avon’s theatres, clubs, and cottage industries, taking on cases that range from petty cons to full-on murder. Light on gore and heavy on character and comedy, it’s a classic comfort watch that blends puzzles, banter and local color.

Season 5 at a glance (no major spoilers)

• S5.E1 — “Such a Mad Marriage Never Was Before”: A high-conflict couple hires the firm, forcing Frank and Lu to put differences aside and test whether their partnership still works under pressure.
• S5.E2 — “The Heavenly Harness’d Team”: Undercover name badges on, the trio embeds at a corporate retreat to smoke out a suspected leak inside a competitive firm.
• S5.E3 — “Destruction, Blood and Massacre”: During a stormy, murder-mystery school reunion at Bill and Olivia’s remote manor, Bill drops dead at dinner, the phones go down, and Frank, Lu, and Sebastian must find the killer among the stranded guests.
• S5.E4 — “A Dark House”: After Lu returns from Australia to find a stranger legally “owning” her house, she and Frank uncover a home-theft scam tied to a shady solicitor—only for him to turn up dead, pulling in DS Keeler as Lu fights not to lose everything.
• S5.E5 — “The Endeavour of this Present Breath”: Hired to stop sabotage at Avon FC ahead of a promotion-deciding match, Frank goes undercover as assistant coach while Lu poses as a photojournalist—but when the manager is found strangled, suspects from the captain to a rival coach pile up and the case turns lethal.
• S5.E6 — “As I Have Seen a Swan”: Amid a youth crime wave, a masked vigilante called “The Swan” complicates Frank and Lu’s reward-fueled hunt to unmask him—until a local journalist is murdered, the caped figure bolts the scene, and suspects range from a comic shop owner to his son and a courier as Sebastian goes undercover in the street-art scene.
• S5.E7 — “An Honest Fellow”: DS Keeler lands on the wrong side of a shakedown and, very reluctantly, asks Frank and Lu to clean up the mess.
• S5.E8 — “Be Not Afraid of Greatness”: A live broadcast at a TV shopping studio goes sideways, and the team tracks alibis under the glare of studio lights.
• S5.E9 — “Daggers of the Mind”: A cult horror director swears his own creations are haunting him, and his daughter fears either a breakdown or a carefully staged scare.
• S5.E10 — “Such Sweet Sorrow”: Posing as expectant parents at a hypnobirthing class should be simple cover, until unfinished business catches up with the detectives.

What we know about Season 6

Frank Hathaway (Mark Benton) and Lu Shakespeare (Jo Joyner) return to the cobbled streets with a refreshed team. Sebastian Brudenell chases a dream role in Los Angeles, so he taps an old RADA friend to step in. Aruhan Galieva joins as Bea Gardiner, an energetic new assistant who brings fresh ideas to the office and a different rhythm to field work. Filming is in progress in and around Stratford-upon-Avon, with BBC Studios producing and U&Alibi confirmed as the first UK home in 2026 before later runs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Created by Paul Matthew Thompson and the late Jude Tindall, the series is produced by BBC Studios in Birmingham. Executive producer Neil Irvine oversees the new run, with more Stratford landmarks promised alongside the usual parade of suspects, witnesses and red herrings.

When and where to watch

In the UK, Season 6 is set to debut in 2026 on U&Alibi, followed by BBC One and BBC iPlayer. For US viewers, a premiere date for Season 5 has not been announced yet, and US details for Season 6 will follow closer to launch. We wouldn't be surprised to see it land on BritBox (alongside the other seasons), but for now we've seen no official confirmation. We'll update when we know more.