The BBC has released the first images of TV favourites Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan ahead of Series 3 of The Fall, set to return to BBC Two in the autumn

Picking up where the series finale left off in Series 2, Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan return to BBC Two as Detective Superintendent Gibson and Paul Spector. Audiences were left reeling as Spector, critically injured in an ambush, lay bleeding in the arms of Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson. Just when she thought she had her man, is she about to lose him?

In the emotionally charged aftermath of the shooting, Gibson’s personal journey to exact justice for the victims’ families begins with the blood-soaked fight to keep Spector alive as the rules of this deadly game of cat and mouse shift once again.

Jamie Dornan as Paul Spector

READ MORE HOW WE’VE FALLEN FOR THE RUSSIA OF TOLSTOY MEET POLDARK ACTRESS SABRINA BARTLETT GAME OF THRONES STARS IN LONDON *

The new cast includes Krister Henriksson (Wallander), Aidan McArdle (Mr Selfridge), Ruth Bradley (Humans), Aisling Bea (Trollied) and Richard Coyle (Crossbones). Colin Morgan will feature as Detective Sergeant Tom Anderson, with series regulars John Lynch, Valene Kane, Stuart Graham, Bronagh Waugh and Aisling Franciosi also set to return as Allan Cubitt’s intense psychological thriller reaches its terrifying conclusion.

‘I’ve been on an exciting journey over the last five years with Stella Gibson and Paul Spector,’ says Allan Cubitt, writer and director of The Fall, ‘and I’m thrilled to have recently started filming the third instalment of their macabre, obsessive dance of death. Gillian and Jamie have lived and breathed those characters during that time and I’ve been incredibly well-served as both writer and director by their stellar performances. Obviously I don’t want to give anything away about how the third series will end but I can say that I am looking forward to working with both Gillian and Jamie again in the near future!’

The five-part series was filmed in Belfast earlier this year. Series 2 of The Fall gained a series average of 3.3 million viewers, making it one of BBC Two’s highest-performing dramas of 2014. The season finale was watched by 3.6 million.