BBC One's The Split confirmed for third and final series

BBC One's hit legal drama The Split will be returning for a third and final season, the BBC and SundanceTV have confirmed.

Nicola Walker, Stephen Mangan, Annabel Scholey, Fiona Button, Deborah Findlay and Chukwudi Iwuji will be reprising their roles for the final instalment, with exciting new cast announcements to follow soon. Bridgerton director Dee Koppang O’Leary will helm the series, with a script from the show's creator Abi Morgan.

The second series averaged over 6 million viewers and over 19 million streams, becoming the third most watched drama series on BBC iPlayer in 2020.

Set in the fast-paced and cutthroat world of London's high-end divorce circuit, the drama follows the messy and complex lives of the three Defoe sisters, Hannah (Walker), Nina (Scholey) and Rose (Button) and their formidable mother Ruth (Findlay).

Writer Morgan will conclude proceedings with "the most dramatic and heart-breaking series to date" as viewers will watch a divorce lawyer confronted with her own divorce.

Series two saw Hannah and Nathan's (Mangan) formerly stable marriage disintegrate as the depth of Hannah's betrayal unspooled. 10 months on from their separation, the two professional divorce lawyers have been respectfully negotiating their separation, heading towards what appears to be an amicable agreement. But as she and Nathan begin to divide up their 20 years together, Hannah realises what she is about to lose.

BBC teases a "shocking revelation that dramatically changes the stakes", adding: "Battle lines are redrawn, their dream of achieving the 'good divorce' is left in tatters."

Can they make it through unscathed, or is the damage too deep to be repaired?

Morgan said: "It’s great to be back writing for the Defoe Family, and to dive once more into to the complications of their lives and those of their clients. In the final series of this bittersweet trilogy, Hannah faces the heartbreak of her own divorce, and the fight to save her family and her marriage. Siblings clash, past mistakes are exposed and hearts are broken as Noble Hale and Defoe notches up more billable hours in the divorce capital of the world."

Nicola Walker added: "I can’t wait to be back in the Defoe Family, we are all looking forward to the journey Abi has planned for us. I don’t know if Hannah will cling to the wreckage or walk away, but I do know it’s going to be a fantastic ride."

The Split will return to BBC One, and series one and two are available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Take a look at what else is on with our TV guide.