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The Hindu
29-06-2025
- The Hindu
Old warrants, new arrests
A series of undulating hills leads you to Narayanpatna, a remote block headquartered in Odisha's Koraput district, bordering Andhra Pradesh, some 450 km south of Bhubaneswar, the State capital. The journey through its serpentine roads is a visual treat — lush green slopes, mist-kissed hillocks, and neatly carved terrace farms that cling to the hillsides. It's a landscape that tempts travellers to pause, breathe in its calm and to marvel at its untouched beauty. Beneath this serene façade lies a terrain marked by turmoil. Few can articulate this better than Alibi Bingodika, a 55-year-old tribal woman from the little-known village of Dumsil. Alibi's daily routine is dictated by caution and fear. She rarely steps out of her village because she lives under the shadow of five criminal cases. Her husband, Dibu Bingodika, too, is entangled in the legal net with three cases against him. Her two sons, Sisir and Kesab, 20 and 30, returned home last month after spending three and five years in prison, respectively. Over the past year, 200 arrest warrants have been executed in Narayanpatna, says Pramod Behera, the inspector in charge of the police station here. He adds that there are 1,100 cases pending against villagers in the area since the tribal movement began in 2006. Some villagers have up to 50 cases against them, and the majority of Dumsil's villagers are either murderers, traitors, or rioters as per first information reports (FIRs) filed citing the pre-2024 Indian Penal Code. After the Koraput district court expressed displeasure over the backlog last year, senior police officers ordered swift disposal of all cases. From the mid-1990s, the Chashi Mulia Adivasi Sangha (CMAS), a farmer-labourer group fighting for tribal rights, began demanding that external liquor vendors by non-tribal people be taken down since these were leading to addiction among the Adivasis. Soon, this led to the demand for land that belonged to them to be returned from people who had come in from outside the area and begun to control it. This was an area under the Indian Constitution's Fifth Schedule that administers certain lands that tribal people occupy. Under this, these lands cannot be transferred out of tribal control. Through the years, those who worked under the CMAS have been called Naxals, with alleged links to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). Nachika Linga, the president of CMAS since 2009, was labelled an overground Maoist activist. Many of those associated with the CMAS have surrendered to the police in the past. However, Koraput-based lawyer Gupteswar Panigrahy, who has represented several villagers in court, says, 'The police forced many tribals — often falsely implicated — to surrender under various government schemes.' He recalls the 'peaceful, democratic movement' peaked between 2006 and 2014 when tribals from the Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon regions began to demand land rights and a crackdown on the liquor trade. He adds, 'The surrenders were widely publicised in newspapers and on television, portraying CMAS members as Maoist supporters or militia who had laid down arms. In truth, the Sangha's members consistently cooperated with both the administration and the police.' The current arrests come against the backdrop of the Home Ministry's crackdown on left-wing extremists with Home Minister Amit Shah vowing to 'eradicate Naxalism before the 31st of March 2026'. Villagers and the police In homes close to the Bingodikas', similar stories echo. Shanti Kendreka, 25, struggles to cope as a mother to four young children and the uncertainty around her husband Tisru's arrest. He has been in custody for four months now. Shifting cultivation — their only source of livelihood — barely provides enough for subsistence let alone bearing legal expenses. Mina Hikaka, 34, another resident of Dumsil, returned home after spending eight years in jail, charged with rioting, sedition, and murder. His mother, Dhirma Hikaka, 60, whose three sons — including Mina — were arrested, is anxious. She has been told that cases are pending against her too. 'I never imagined that attending meetings and participating in demonstrations would bring a lifetime of trouble,' she says. 'All my sons have spent years in jail. Our family has endured unimaginable mental trauma. We live constantly under the shadow of arrest.' Her voice drops as she adds, 'I have lost the strength to untangle the legal mess my family is caught in.' A decade on, villagers are yet to disentangle themselves from the legal mess. The police claim they are executing long-pending warrants which they argue are a consequence of villagers' participation in the violent insurgency that once held sway in these hills. Biswapriya Kanungo, a lawyer and human rights activist, however, calls the arrests in Narayanpatna 'a cruel tactic, an attempt to tame tribals who once dared to challenge the system'. Panigrahy, the lawyer who has fought for tribal rights, maintains that the people were framed. 'In nearly every case, the police wrongly listed numerous innocent tribals as absconding and filed chargesheets against them. But in reality none of them were fugitives — they continued to live openly in their villages, accessing government welfare schemes without interruption.' In 2009, Baria Buti, blind and then aged 47, from Mankadjhola village in Narayanpatna , was picked up on charges of launching an attack on the Narayanpatna police station. He spent two years in jail, with villagers pleading before the police that he could not have been a left wing extremist. Almost all the accused in the 2009 police station cases were acquitted. Buti was too, but only after he spent two years in jail. Sekru Sirikia, a resident of Tala Dekapadu village, 6 km from Narayanpatna police station, was arrested in 2014. He spent three years in jail as an undertrial in Koraput. At the time he had eight criminal cases against his name. In long legal battles, he was acquitted in all. Now he says the police are looking for him in two more cases. The Narayanpatna movement Narayanpatna is a region long marked by land alienation. Land alienation in the Adivasi context, is when tribal people are separated from the lands they have generational ties to. A book in Odia released in June 2025 on the Narayanpatna land movement, Ujani Jhanjabati by Nigamanand Sadangi, an activist, attributed tribal uprising on issues of land, forest, bondage, and liquor to a history of injustice, oppression, and exploitation. 'Two influential groups — moneylenders and liquor vendors — emerged in the Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon regions of Koraput district. These groups were primarily composed of trading communities from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha,' the book says. These groups were initially involved in brewing and selling liquor, but they gradually expanded into the trade of forest produce, reserved by law for tribals. Over time, they entrenched their dominance by offering loans and fostering a dependency on alcohol among the tribal communities. As a result, the entire local economy came under the control of a few powerful players, the book says. He points to the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 found that 65.35% families were landless in Narayanpatna. Based on the seven indicators, including quality of housing, level of education, landlessness, and income, among others, 85.95% off the families here were categorized as 'deprived'. In Narayanpatna, 76.82% of families depend on daily wages. Until the year 2000, the system of bonded labour continued to exist in the remote villages of Narayanpatna. Adivasis had long been resisting this oppressive system. In June 2008, after years of simmering discontent, their resentment erupted into a revolt. Tribal villagers began occupying agricultural land held by non-tribals and forcibly harvested paddy. The CMAS later redistributed this land among tribal families. 'After generations of subjugation, the tribals finally tasted the power of assertion,' says Linga, the 50-year-old tribal leader who played a key role in mobilising villagers to reclaim their land. As a teenager in the late 1980s, Linga says he and his brother Kashi were forced to work as bonded labourers in the house of a moneylender in Podapadar village. 'Our wage was ₹60 a year. In return, we did backbreaking work, often without breakfast,' he recalls. 'All this was to repay a ₹100 loan that our father had taken from a cooperative society. Since we had no means to repay it, the moneylender struck a deal: he repaid the loan on our behalf, and took both of us into bondage for four years.' Bondage never resolved the debt, Linga says. He began mobilising fellow tribals, encouraging them to harvest forest produce along with paddy cultivation. 'I faced violent resistance from both upper-caste and Dalit groups for uniting tribals,' he says. 'But we had taken a pledge — to liberate our people from bondage, no matter the cost.' CMAS activists would mark the occupied land by planting red flags and went ahead with harvesting crops, often in defiance of a heavy police presence. Over time, the movement succeeded in reclaiming nearly 3,500 acres of land, says Linga. A big price to pay Fearing the movement could spread to other areas, paramilitary forces such as the Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force were deployed to suppress it. 'Stringent sections of the IPC were slapped on people participating in CMAS rallies. Many had over two dozen cases against them. The majority of the allegations were fabricated; police failed to prove any of the charges. All the accused villagers were acquitted,' says Manoranjan Routray, a Koraput-based lawyer who represented the tribals in over 400 cases linked to the Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon land movement. In the 2009 attack on the Narayanpatna police station, 2,000 unnamed persons were cited in FIRs, with names of villagers added at later stages. There has been not a single conviction in the police station attack case so far. In Dumsil village, Alibi sold her gold ornaments and spent her hard-earned savings fighting legal battles. 'Where do you find four members of a family being accused of waging war against the nation?' she says. To avoid arrest, villagers paid a heavy price. As per cultural norms, tribal people accused are accompanied by a large group of community members when appearing at police stations or courts. The accused is expected to arrange transport and food for all. 'Many had to sell their bullocks or cows to manage legal costs,' says Routray. He hopes the higher judiciary will intervene and halt the arrests in Narayanpatna. satyasundar.b@ Edited by Sunalini Mathew
Daily Record
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
BBC viewers can now rediscover crime drama that's everything Killing Eve fans could hope for
The limited series is the latest boxset offering BBC viewers can now rediscover a 'twisted' crime drama that is said to be everything Killing Eve fans could hope for. Ragdoll, which originally aired on Alibi - now known as UandAlibi - has been freshly served up on iPlayer's boxset banquet. Produced in 2021, this limited series now positions itself for discovery by fresh audiences thanks to its new BBC streaming home. All ready for a marathon, viewers have six episodes to devour, each running between 44 to 46 minutes. This chilling tale unspools the murders of six victims, dismembered and stitched together into one macabre 'Ragdoll', setting off a dark detective pursuit. As the homicide squad delves deeper, they become the subject of the murderer's twisted game. Fronting the investigation is Pretty Little Liars and Riverdale's Lucy Hale as DC Lake Edmunds, joined by Henry Lloyd-Hughes, familiar from Harry Potter and set to appear in the Thursday Murder Club film, and Thalissa Teixeira, known for her role in Anne Boleyn. Rooted in Daniel Cole's best-selling novel, Ragdoll won critical acclaim on its debut, notching a laudable 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, reports Surrey Live. The Daily Telegraph's critique offered high praise: "It's not like any other crime drama out there: it's not even like itself, most of the time". The Guardian heaped praise on the show, asserting: "You will know within 10 minutes whether the operatic ultra-violence, black comedy and arch, very nearly overwritten dialogue make you wriggle with joy or combust with irritation." Another critic was impressed, stating: "This dark but witty oddball serial-killer drama is just what you'd hope for from the producers of Killing Eve." Meanwhile, a third remarked: "Don't try to make sense of any of it. Just cover your eyes and watch if you dare." While some viewers have been sending out recommendations for the crime thriller to fellow enthusiasts, reactions overall have been somewhat split. A viewer took to the internet to share their enthusiasm: "For the first time since I don't know how long I was glued to a show, did not skip any episodes or scenes, I even enjoyed watching protagonist and antagonist, relating to both and at times enjoying the antagonist at play. No one could have guessed the end." Still, there's a word of caution from others who say the series' humour might not be everyone's cup of tea and suggested tuning on captions for a better grasp of the plot. In contrast, someone else expressed their let-down: "I usually like stuff like this but by the middle of the second episode I gave up. Far too complicated to a point of me not knowing what was actually going on." Ragdoll is streaming on BBC iPlayer.
Los Angeles Times
16-06-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
The Alibi was the desert's hottest music venue. Who killed it?
Back in the worst pandemic days of 2020, Elizabeth Garo and Melanie Tusquellas were terrified they would lose their nightclub. The co-owners of the Alibi — an independent music venue with space for up to 300 people in downtown Palm Springs — opened in late 2019, just before COVID-19 shut down the live music scene. Garo was a former booker for the Regent, Echo and Echoplex in L.A. (She also opened Stories Books in Echo Park.) Tusquellas was a hospitality veteran behind Los Feliz's El Chavo and Silver Lake's historic Edendale restaurant. The two said they had invested hundreds of thousands into renovating and opening the Alibi. 'It's difficult to run a small independent venue any time, and during COVID it was particularly hard,' Garo recalled in an interview. 'A lot of them didn't make it.' Garo heard that Marc Geiger, then a WME music executive she had known and worked with for decades, and former WME board member John Fogelman had founded Save Live, a company investing in independent venues to help them survive the pandemic. When Save Live offered to buy 51% of the Alibi and let the co-founders continue to run it, the deal 'felt like such a relief,' Garo said. 'It felt like a lifeline, like, 'Hey, we're gonna make it.'' Instead, Garo and Tusquellas claim in a 2023 lawsuit and an interview with The Times that the partnership ruined them. Their lawsuit, which seeks compensatory damages, alleges that Geiger and Fogelman negotiated the deal in bad faith, forcing them out of the company's operations soon after the purchase. After briefly reopening in 2022, the club permanently closed later that year. A trial is set for August. Attorneys for Save Live, which has since rebranded as Gate 52, declined to comment when reached by email. In a cross-complaint to the suit, Geiger and Fogelman say Save Live 'bent over backwards to try to resolve the parties' differences' and call Garo and Tusquellas' claims 'salacious — and utterly false — allegations of misogyny and bad faith.' The suit raises questions about the future of local indie music venues like the Alibi and about Save Live's intentions. Does the firm rescue troubled venues or capitalize on their financial vulnerability? Gate 52 now owns 13 music venues across the country, including Electric City in Buffalo, N.Y., the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee and the Criterion in Oklahoma City. In California, the firm owns the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo and the Golden State Theatre in Monterey, and collaborates with dozens more 'network venues' across the country. The firm is a far cry from giants like Live Nation or AEG. But as a well-capitalized operation that has acquired majority stakes in struggling small venues, it has become a significant player in secondary markets. The two-story, Spanish colonial-style building that would become the Alibi first opened as a switchboard hub for the GE Telephone Co. in the 1920s. Later, it became Georgie's Alibi Azul, a popular gay bar and restaurant. In 2018, Garo and Tusquellas, both wisecracking Gen X veterans of L.A. nightlife, were looking for 'a swan song' for their careers, as Tusquellas described it. Garo, one of the most influential talent bookers in L.A. for decades, had been laid off from Live Nation after the mega-promoter bought local promoter Spaceland Presents. After touring the Alibi, Garo and Tusquellas saw potential for a venue like the ones they'd built in L.A., a place to book local and global artists in a creatively adapted old building. 'We were surprised by how chic and international Palm Springs was becoming,' Tusquellas added. 'Growing up in L.A., when we went to Palm Springs as kids, it was like God's waiting room. But we were quite surprised by this scene with all these local musicians but no venues to play at.' Alibi soft-launched with packed Pride events in fall 2019 (to avoid the summer heat), and formally opened in October. With its glazed-tile outdoor bar and emerald-hued mood lighting, the venue was a chic standout in desert nightlife. 'We had everything from 'Dynasty' theme parties to Modernism Week events,' Tusquellas said. 'We had a goth night. There had never been a place to go for them in Palm Springs and they came out of the woodwork.' Local musicians hoped the venue would be transformative for their scene. 'Alibi was the first place where we got a taste of the real deal,' said Spencer Stange of the band Host Family, which booked a monthly night of experimental music at Alibi. 'It was the only venue I knew there that was legitimate and professional. Good bands played there and you could do a real sound check. They were so hospitable, it felt like a home base.' Louise Minnick, a local promoter with Lesbo Expo, said Alibi was an important venue for queer women in the desert. 'Liz and Melanie went out of their way to make our events special,' Minnick said. 'They offered their patio for women to have first access to watch Pride, which meant a lot to me.' Five months later, the pandemic annihilated those plans. Garo and Tusquellas said their company, 369 Palm Inc., was too new to access the federal patchwork of Paycheck Protection Program loans. They eventually got a grant from the National Independent Venue Assn., but it was for only $20,000. According to a slide deck cited in Save Live's cross-complaint, the venue had $250,000 in outstanding bills from the shutdown. 'We used all our savings to pay the rent,' Tusquellas added. 'We're entrepreneurs who are not funded by big people, so we had to pay the $15,000 a month rent ourselves for a year and a half. It was really hard.' Meanwhile, Save Live launched in 2020 with $135 million raised from venture capital firms and a clear mission: to buy majority stakes in small clubs. 'Save Live's business model was to invest in local, independent, 'mom and pop' live music venues, providing critically needed financial relief and funds to renovate dated facilities to bring them back stronger than ever before,' the company says in its cross-complaint. Save Live's founders were well-known in L.A. entertainment. Geiger co-founded the Lollapalooza festival and led WME's music division from 2003 until 2020. Fogelman was the former head of motion pictures at William Morris Agency and a founding board member when it merged with Endeavor to become WME. The Alibi was one of Save Live's first venue deals. 'Being able to partner with Save Live is a dream come true,' Garo said in a 2021 announcement. The deal let the two owners 'stay true to our roots knowing we have their full support. … It doesn't hurt that we've known some of the people at Save Live for years — we all came up through the business together.' 'I didn't know Marc at all, but he was very charming,' Tusquellas said. 'He and Fogelman were titans of the industry. We felt that we were in very good hands. We knew what we were doing, and they knew that.' According to the suit and cross-complaint, Garo and Tusquellas' company, 369 Palm Inc. (with partner David Gold), agreed to sell 51% of their ownership of the Alibi's business to Save Live for $400,000. The Alibi's business would be co-owned under a new company, Alibi Venue Operations LLC. Garo and Tusquellas say in their suit that, under this agreement, the pair and Geiger 'would have decision-making authority over the day-to-day operations.' Garo and Tusquellas claim in their suit that 369 Palm 'retained 100% ownership of [the Alibi's] ABC liquor license' and would continue to manage the venue's bar. Save Live agreed to provide $565,000 for renovations and expenses, according to Save Live's cross-complaint. Garo and Tusquellas' suit claims that Save Live had 'hatched a plan to exploit the weakness in the independent live music industry to try, by means of deception and then intimidation, to acquire The Alibi and its business without paying a fair price.' Scott Timberlake, the Alibi building's landlord, said he had a friendly relationship with Garo and Tusquellas. But once Save Live got involved, he said, 'I was really surprised by Save Live's ego and entitlement. When I asked to see their financial statements before taking over the lease, they lectured me about 'Don't you know who we are?'' Garo and Tusquellas say in their suit that, when the venue reopened on April 1, 2022, 'SL Alibi acted as if it were the sole owner.' They claim in their suit that Geiger and Fogelman contracted with an outside ticketing company, Tixr, without Garo's consent, and that Save Live didn't sufficiently fund day-to-day operations. Garo and Tusquellas claim in their suit that Save Live switched to its own accountant for bookkeeping and backed out of a plan to hire a general manager. In its cross-complaint, Save Live says that 'contrary to the claims in their lawsuit, Save Live did not try to take over the Venue.' Save Live says 'Tusquellas and Garo had gone significantly over the pre-opening budget, resulting in … an operating budget shortfall.' According to Save Live's cross-complaint, private investigators discovered 'a separate, undisclosed cash register used only for cash transactions … there was no record, whatsoever, of any such sales.' The cross-complaint alleges that Tusquellas 'embezzled most of (if not all) of the cash sale proceeds.' Tusquellas denied the embezzlement claims, saying all sales, including cash, were accounted for and reported as income. Save Live says in its cross-complaint that both parties 'always understood and intended for 369 to transfer' the venue's valuable liquor license, and called Garo and Tusquellas' refusal to do so 'a ruse to get Save Live's money.' Garo and Tusquellas said they never sold, or intended to sell, the venue's liquor license. 'That may have been part of Save Live's secret plan,' said 369 Palm's lawyer, David Sergenian. 'But that was never agreed to.' On July 13, 2022, Garo and Tusquellas' lawsuit says 'Geiger and Fogelman called a meeting of the Board … as a pretense to ambush Tusquellas and Garo with false accusations. Geiger and Fogelman…falsely accus[ed] Tusquellas of embezzling funds from the company to enrich herself.' 'Fogelman aggressively threw a chair to the ground, as he raged,' the suit says. 'Tusquellas and Garo were appalled by Fogelman's shocking behavior and scared for their future, as he was threatening to ruin the business by shutting down The Alibi.' Garo and Tusquellas' suit claims Geiger and Fogelman ordered the venue shut down and that Garo and Tusquellas be removed from operations with their salaries cut off. The bar staff would be fired and 369 Palm's concessionaire agreement canceled, according to the suit. The Alibi closed on July 25, 2022. It never reopened. The situation at the Alibi echoes the tumult surrounding the ownership of the beloved Pioneertown venue Pappy & Harriet's. Starting in 2021, Knitting Factory Chief Executive Morgan Margolis and partners Stephen Hendel and John Chapman battled the venue's co-partners, Joseph Moresco and Lisa Elin, about who controlled the operations at the rustic venue, where acts as big as Paul McCartney and Robert Plant have played in addition to hardscrabble desert locals. Margolis prevailed in late 2024. Meanwhile, the new Acrisure Arena, built by mega-manager Irving Azoff and former AEG President Tim Leiweke, attracts A-list pop, rock and Latin acts to Palm Springs. The nearby Yaamava' resort has spent millions on top talent. 'It's great to have an influx of money and big artists at venues like Acrisure Arena that helps the Valley feel bigger. But losing small venues is detrimental and cuts away at the uniqueness of the experiences people have here,' said Kristen Dolan, executive director of the California Desert Arts Council, a nonprofit group advocating for cultural development in the Coachella Valley. 'Places like Alibi have a bigger impact than people think. The workforce here is largely in hospitality, and clubs like the Alibi are important places to start out,' Dolan said. 'People were really upset when the Alibi closed, and it was heartbreaking for artists cultivating their community. The economy here is unstable right now and I hope we don't lose more small venues like it.' The post-pandemic future for such independent live venues is unsettled. Nonprofits like NIVA were effective advocates for legislation (like the $16.25 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, a federal program that gave money to struggling venues) and fundraising, and concert attendance boomed once venues reopened. But inflation, reduced tourism and a volatile economy threaten to keep fans home. 'What word describes our situation right now? I would offer that one word is 'unknown,' NIVA's executive director Stephen Parker said at the group's 2024 conference. 'Forty years ago, independent stages were the norm, now multinational, publicly traded conglomerates are. Everyone in this room knows that competition is a misnomer and the increasing lack of it is, perhaps, our greatest threat.' Meanwhile, Garo and Tusquellas have returned to L.A., picking up the pieces at an unexpectedly late phase of their careers. Garo will book shows at a new independent Yucca Valley venue, Mojave Gold. Building owner Timberlake said that after months of fighting with Save Live over the venue's debts, he accepted a settlement, and a new restaurant tenant has moved into the Alibi. 'I didn't have the financial capability of fighting someone like Save Live,' he said. 'It was just so unnecessarily negative.' No matter how the August trial ends, Garo and Tusquellas are facing the same headwinds as the rest of the live industry. Only now, they are truly on their own. 'I have lots of ideas,' Garo said. 'But that's all kind of locked up until we get this resolved. I don't want this to be my final chapter.'
Axios
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Popular day party series brings Sunday funday vibes to Charlotte
DopeBrunch is a monthly pop-up party that is so popular, it always sells out. Why it matters: It satisfies a craving that Charlotte has for day parties and bottomless brunch, founder TJ Leak tells Axios. Background: Leak first started hosting DopeBrunch in the Triangle area in 2017, after noticing that North Carolina lacked Sunday funday events similar to those he experienced in cities like D.C. or Houston. "After traveling to all these cities, one of my mentors told me not to complain about where I live but to instead think about how I can change it," Leak said. In 2019 he brought the parties to Charlotte. Between the lines: Bottomless mimosas and happy hour drink specials are illegal in North Carolina. But brunch buffets, like the ones you'll get at a DopeBrunch event, aren't. The vibe: DopeBrunch parties are about six hours and are held at rotating venues around Charlotte, like Pinhouse, Alibi and Queen Park Social, to name a few. Expect a range of music, from Hip-Hop to R&B. Former Wild'n Out comedian Darren Brand often hosts. How it works: Sign up for alerts to be notified about free entry. Tickets range from $0-$20. They're free if you grab them early, but the price increases to $20 if you wait until the last minute. Brunch tickets start at $30 and include the brunch buffet and drink specials. Dig in: Menu items include French toast, chicken and waffles, steak and eggs, shrimp and grits, fruit, plus some vegan options. The next DopeBrunch event is May 18 at STATS from 12-9pm. There's another DopeBrunch on May 25 at Slingshot from 3-9pm. VIP tables for up to six guests range from $100 to $200 and include unlimited duckpin bowling or brunch. Plus: Leak also partners with Charlotte-based event company Tru Vibez to host events not centered around brunch called "DopeVibez."
Business Upturn
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Upturn
Is ‘Annika' returning for season 3? Everything we know so far
By Aman Shukla Published on April 24, 2025, 17:30 IST Last updated April 24, 2025, 11:47 IST Fans of the Scottish crime drama Annika are eagerly awaiting news about a potential third season. With its gripping mysteries, unique fourth-wall-breaking style, and the brilliant Nicola Walker in the lead, the show has captured hearts worldwide. After the shocking cliffhanger in Season 2, viewers are desperate to know: Is Annika returning for Season 3? Here's everything we know about the release date speculation, cast, plot details, and more. Will There Be an Annika Season 3? As of April 2025, there has been no official confirmation from Alibi, BBC, or PBS Masterpiece regarding Annika Season 3. However, the lack of an announcement doesn't mean the show is canceled. The series, based on the BBC Radio 4 drama Annika Stranded , has a strong fanbase, with Season 2 ending on a major cliffhanger that strongly suggests more stories to tell. Annika Season 3 Release Date Speculation Without official confirmation, predicting Annika Season 3's release date is tricky. Based on the two-year gap between Seasons 1 and 2, a late 2025 or early 2026 premiere seems most likely. Annika Season 3 Expected Cast If Annika Season 3 is greenlit, we expect most of the main cast to return, continuing the story of the Glasgow Marine Homicide Unit (MHU). Based on Season 2's developments, here's who we anticipate seeing: Nicola Walker as DI Annika Strandhed: The witty, literature-loving detective who breaks the fourth wall. Jamie Sives as DS Michael McAndrews: Annika's colleague and Morgan's biological father, whose relationship with Annika and Morgan will likely deepen. Katie Leung as DC Blair Ferguson: The team's data expert, whose pregnancy storyline concluded in Season 2. Silvie Furneaux as Morgan Strandhed: Annika's teenage daughter, navigating her new connection with Michael. Varada Sethu as DC Harper Weston: The new recruit who joined in Season 2. Kate Dickie as DCI Diane Oban: The head of the MHU. Paul McGann as Jake Strathearn: Annika's love interest and Morgan's former therapist. Sven Henriksen as Magnus Strandhed: Annika's father, now a prime suspect in a murder case. Annika Season 3 Potential Plot The Annika Season 2 finale left fans reeling with a major cliffhanger: Annika's father, Magnus Strandhed, emerged as the prime suspect in the murder of Jacqueline 'Jackie' Drummond. Annika's final fourth-wall plea—'Help me!'—signaled her emotional turmoil as she faces the possibility of her father's guilt. This sets the stage for a dramatic Season 3. Here's what we expect from the plot of Annika Season 3: Magnus' Murder Case: The central storyline will likely focus on Annika confronting her father's potential involvement in Jackie's death. This personal-professional conflict will test Annika's resolve, exploring themes of family loyalty and justice. Her strained relationship with Magnus, established in Season 1, will add emotional depth. Annika and Morgan's Relationship: Annika's bond with her teenage daughter, Morgan, remains a core subplot. Season 2 revealed Michael McAndrews as Morgan's father, a secret Morgan now knows. Season 3 will likely explore how Morgan adjusts to this revelation and her place in Michael's extended family. Marine Homicide Unit Cases: True to its procedural format, Season 3 will feature new aquatic murder mysteries. Annika's literary references—think Walter Scott or Robert Louis Stevenson—will continue to frame each case, blending dark humor with gritty investigations. Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
