Avenue 5 season 2: release date, cast, plot and all we know about the return of the sci-fi comedy

Avenue 5 season 2 star Hugh Laurie holding a microphone in front of a crowd
Get ready, because Avenue 5 season 2 is on its way! (Image credit: Sky/HBO)

Avenue 5 season 2 is finally headed our way, two years after the original series first aired, and we'll be picking up right after the passengers and crew were dealt a pretty massive dilemma.

While we've had to wait almost as long as the initial delays faced by passengers on the Avenue 5 ship itself, don't worry because new episodes are launching very soon, meaning we'll soon be catching up with this group of misfits and hopefully getting some answers while we're at it.

At the end of season 1, we found out that the passengers hoping to enjoy an eight-week space cruise are now faced with a return journey of eight years, and as you can imagine, people aren't too pleased about that. 

Not to mention, supplies are running low, so it's hardly a luxury cruise anymore and the passengers have been lied to, with all the visible "crew" on the bridge revealed to be actors and models, and their bridge "controls" were props, with the real work going on behind the scenes because Judd cared more about aesthetics than anything else. What a mess, huh?

Series creator Armando Iannucci told TV Insider: "What’s coming up: fascism and authoritarianism, democracy and heroism, a fight for existence, a death lottery. All the usual tropes you’d get in any sitcom."

Yikes. With that in mind, here's what we know about Avenue 5 season 2...

Avenue 5 season 2 release date

Avenue 5 returns to our screens on Monday, October 10. In the US it will be available on HBO and HBO Max, while in the UK it airs on Sky Comedy and NOW TV. 

The entire first season is also available to watch on-demand if you need to catch up ahead of the new release.

The Avenue 5 ship

This ship has gone seriously off course... (Image credit: HBO/Sky)

Avenue season 5 season 2 plot

Avenue 5 season 2 picks up after a series of bombshells including a much longer return journey than expected, fake cast and crew, and a gag where Hugh Laurie's captain character is pretending to be American as people find that "more reassuring", but he's actually British. 

HBO has released a plot for the second season, which reads: "Avenue 5 takes us to a not-so-distant future where space tourism is a booming business. While manning a luxury spacecraft owned by Herman Judd (Josh Gad), Captain Ryan Clark (Hugh Laurie) finds himself in over his head when the ship is thrown disastrously off-course— turning what was meant to be an eight-week cruise into an eight-year journey."

"Picking up five months after failing to reroute the vessel, season two follows the crew — including fiery engineer Billie (Lenora Crichlow), unpredictable head of customer relations Matt (Zach Woods), and faithful right-hand Iris (Suzy Nakamura)— as they struggle to lead, calm, control, and, if need be, hide from increasingly unruly passengers. On Earth, they’re lauded as heroes, and in space, everyone can hear them scream."

Avenue 5 season 2 cast 

Avenue 5 cast Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad and Suzy Nakamura

Ryan Clark, Herman Judd and Iris Kimura are returning for season 2. It's not like they can go very far! (Image credit: HBO/Sky)

The Avenue 5 season 2 cast is made up of many of the first season's major players. We've got Hugh Laurie as Captain (but not really!) Ryan Clark, Josh Gad as billionaire Avenue 5 owner Herman Judd.

Meanwhile, Zach Woods is Head of Customer Relations Matt Spencer, Rebecca Front is Karen Kelly, one of the passengers, Suzy Nakamura is Iris Kimura, an associate owner of Avenue 5, and Lenora Crichlow is Billie McEvoy, the second engineer onboard the ship.

Lenora Crichlow as Billie

Billie McEvoy is a fan favorite and she's back for season 2. (Image credit: Sky/HBO)

Additional cast includes Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ethan Phillips, Daisy May Cooper, Lucy Punch, and Himesh Patel, so this huge line-up is expected to return for another round when the series arrives on October 10.

Is there a trailer?

Yes, there's a trailer for Avenue 5 season 2 and it's chaos from start to finish! As well as in-fighting, rioting and general bickering, there's this small matter that the ship seems to be heading towards the sun, as well as the fact we're dealing with a return journey of eight very long years.

It really hasn't gotten any easier following the first season, so you'll be pleased to be watching this from the comfort of your own home and not orbiting in space somewhere. Let's just hope the crew and passengers can make it back to Earth safely.

Take a look at the trailer below...

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.


She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress