Fargo Series 2 starts this week on Channel 4

Kirsten Dunst (Interview with the Vampire, Spider-Man, Melancholia) and Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad) star in this new series set in 1979, 30 years previous to the events of the first series. Dunst plays Peggy Blomquist, a small town beautician with big city dreams who is trying to figure out who she really is and what she really wants as she struggles with traditional societal expectations. Her husband Ed, played by Plemons, a butcher's assistant who wants to be supportive of his wife’s self-discovery, even if he doesn’t quite understand it.

They are joined by Patrick Wilson (Insidious, Young Adult) who stars as Lou Solverson, previously seen in the first series, a clean-cut Minnesota State Patrolman, four years back from Vietnam, where he served in the Navy. Ted Danson (Cheers, Saving Private Ryan, 3 Men and a Baby) plays Hank Larsson, the Sheriff of Rock County, Minnesota. An unflappable WWII vet who embodies a certain cowboy poetry, Hank is Lou’s father-in-law.

Jean Smart (24, Frasier) will play Floyd Gerhardt, the matriarch of the Gerhardt crime family. She’s stood by her husband’s side for 40 years, but now that he’s at death’s door she thinks it’s her turn to run things…

The all-new “true crime” case travels back to 1979 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Luverne, Minnesota, where a young State Police Officer Lou Solverson (Wilson) investigates a case involving a local crime gang and a major Mob syndicate. Helping him piece things together is his father-in-law, Sheriff Hank Larsson (Danson).

The investigation will lead them to a colorful cast of characters that includes Karl Weathers (Nick Offerman – Parks and Recreation, 22 Jump Street), the town lawyer of Luverne, Minnesota: he’s a Korean War vet and a flowery drunk blessed with the gift of gab and the eloquence of a true con artist. Three-time Emmy-winner Brad Garrett (Finding Nemo, Everybody Loves Raymond) will play Joe Bulo, the front man for the northern expansion of a Kansas City crime syndicate. The new face of corporate crime, Joe’s bringing a Walmart mentality to small town America. His number two is Mike Milliga (Bokeem Woodbine – Ray, Total Recall, The Rock). Part enforcer, part detective, Mike is always smiling – but the joke is usually on you.

Bulo and his crew have their sights set on the Gerhardt crime family in Fargo, currently led by matriarch Floyd Gerhardt (Smart). With her husband at death’s door, Floyd takes over the family business, frustrating her eldest son, Dodd Gerhardt (Jeffrey Donovan – Burn Notice, Hitch). An impatient hothead with a cruel streak to match his ambitions, Dodd can’t wait for both his parents to die so he can take over and expand their business from kingdom to empire. Bear Gerhardt (Angus Sampson – Insidious, Mad Max: Fury Road) is the middle son, an intimidatingly large man who, although inarticulate, is the most decent of his clan. Rye Gerhardt (Kieran Culkin – Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, Igby Goes Down), the youngest of the Gerhardt clan, views himself as a big shot, but in reality he’s just a small dog who barks big.

Episode 1 of series 2 FARGO, Waiting for Dutch debuts on Channel 4, 19 Oct 2015, 22:00