Hidden gem returns

Find out what happens next to Callum and Sephy

There was a lot of excitement when the BBC announced they’d be adapting former children’s laureate Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses novels into a TV series. The show didn’t disappoint, with one critic calling it “vital viewing”.

Since it aired in March 2020, fans have been waiting patiently to see where the creators take Blackman’s story next.

Noughts + Crosses is back this week – albeit in an inexcusable late-night midweek slot – but even if the BBC don’t appear too fussed about its return, Blackman, for one, is excited.

“I am delighted that Noughts + Crosses is returning for a second series,” she says.

“So many people have asked me, ‘So what happens next?’ Now they will find out.

“Having read the scripts, I think I can safely say that even those familiar with the Noughts + Crosses series of books will find surprises, suspense and so much to savour.”

The first series followed Callum

(Jack Rowan) and Sephy (Masali Baduza), childhood friends who live in an alternate reality in which Africa colonised Europe, leading to a racially unjust society where white people (known as Noughts) are systematically oppressed by their Black counterparts (known as Crosses).

Sephy and Callum fall in love despite the odds, and although they want to be together, but they must run away from their lives to make it happen.

At the end of the first season, we saw Sephy rebelling against her powerful father Kamal Hadley (Paterson Joseph) by refusing to go to University.

Before leaving the family home, she had a heart-to-heart with her sister, revealing her future is “not just about me anymore”.

She was later seen throwing up before touching her stomach, confirming that she’s pregnant.

Kamal tried to stop Sephy and Callum from leaving Albion, but she reveals her pregnancy to her father, who was shell-shocked but let the pair leave.

Season two picks up after these events, with Callum and Sephy on the run, desperately attempting to start a new life together in the wake of Sephy’s ‘kidnap’. The pair have found a safe haven in the woods. But when their peace is disturbed by an unexpected visitor, they must go to London to gather up the resources they need.