Death Valley has come to a bittersweet ending, with John and Janie reaching an important milestone in their fledging relationship – but will we see more of them in a series 2?

The six-part BBC One series landed as a boxset on BBC iPlayer on Sunday, May 25, 2025. And, if you’re anything like us, you’ll have devoured the whole series as fast as Janie can gulp down a packet of Bourbon biscuits.

If you haven’t yet finished the series, look away now. This is our Death Valley ending explained, and news on a possible series 2.

***Warning: spoilers from all episodes of Death Valley ahead***

Timothy Spall and Gwyneth Keyworth as John and Janie in Death Valley [Credit: BBC/BBC Studios/Jay Brooks]

What happened in Death Valley series 1?

In episode 1, retired actor John Chapel first met young detective Janie when his neighbour was found dead. Together, they discovered that the property developer Carwyn Rees was murdered by his wife Danielle, and his business partner Ceri Richardson, who were having an affair.

When they discovered Carwyn had an illegitimate child with a neighbour’s daughter, they intervened – they did not want his estate to go to his child. When they discovered Carwyn was due to meet his solicitor to change his will, they killed him and staged it as a gunshot suicide.

In episode 2, John and Janie solved the mysterious death of a walker found dead on a Welsh mountain trail – one of the many beautiful filming locations featured in Death Valley. Trail walk leader Anne Treadway was exposed as the killer. Victim Karen – aka Veronica Mount – was blackmailing Anne. She threatened to expose Anne’s surgeon husband as having had Parkinson’s while operating. Even though he was dead, Anne did not want his good name to be tarnished.

Episode 3 saw John and Janie investigate when best man Gethin was found dead just moments before the bride walked down the aisle at the wedding. Cause of death was brain damage due to a fractured skull by a severe blow to the head. The murderer was the bride’s dad Chris Grant.

A former alcoholic, the stress of providing his daughter with the perfect wedding turned him back to drink. While necking a bottle in the graveyard, Chris overheard Gethin and bride-to-be Sioned arguing. Gethin threatened to ruin her big day by exposing their affair, and Chris made sure that wouldn’t happen. He pushed him, but “didn’t mean to kill him”.

John Chapel infiltrated an amateur dramatics group to investigate a murder in episode 4 [Credit: BBC/BBC Studios/Simon Ridgway]

Who killed who in episodes 4 and 5?

In the fourth instalment of the BBC One murder mystery, John went undercover at an amateur dramatics group to help Janie solve a case. The victim? Menna Hughes, a retired headmistress and property developer who ran the local theatre group. She’d been strangled to death with a rope-tie from a Hamlet costume. But why?

Cast member Ben killed Meena. Ben was taken into care after “concerned citizen”, local headteacher Meena, raised the alarm. Years later, when Ben found out the truth about why he’d been taken from his family, he strangled Menna to death.

In episode 5, John and Janie were stuck in a countryside manor after a murder mystery party went wrong. Detective and actor Anthony Hart – aka Elliott Flame from television’s Phoenix (and rival to John’s Caesar) – was found dead from one fatal stab wound directly to the heart. The weapon? A letter opener. But before that, someone had tried to poison him.

Dennis Williams, played by Karl Johnson in the Death Valley cast, murdered Anthony Hart. He blamed the actor for the death of his daughter Lorna Maddison. She worked as a production assistant on the TV show Phoenix, but died in a car crash in 2007 whilst working on the show. Exhausted after a 15-hour shift, she fell asleep at the wheel on the way to collect Anthony Hart’s post… Hence the murder weapon. Turns out Anthony’s son had also been trying to poison him too, for threatening to cut him off financially. Janie charged him with attempted murder.

DC Evan Chaudhry and Janie Mallowan try to crack a case [Credit: BBC/BBC Studios/Simon Ridgway]

Death Valley episode 6 ending explained

In the final episode of Death Valley, John and Janie clashed as they unravelled a mystery involving Janie’s past. A mechanic called Dean Wood was found dead at a school reunion, having been hit with a spanner. And it happened to be Janie’s old school.

Meanwhile, DC Evan Chaudhry was investigating a mystery of his own – the cold case of a dead body found in a drain. A missing Dutch backpacker called Patrick de Jong, who was found with injuries from a car collision.

Overstretched, DCI Clarke bought in a consultant to help with the case – step forward John Chapel! We soon realised the two cases were connected. The Dutch teenager had also known the school group years before in 2010, when they were celebrating finishing their A’Levels at a party.

Rhiannon Hopkins, sister of Sian (Janie’s best friend), had taken Sian’s car in for bodywork after that night. While Sian’s necklace – with a J for Janie – was also found in the drain with the body. Was Sian the hit and run driver responsible for Patrick’s death? No, she wasn’t. It was her sister Rhiannon.

It turns out that Rhiannon killed Dean. Dean found out that Rhiannon had killed the backpacker in a hit and run, and threatened to tell the police. She killed him to silence him.

A drunk Sian had been in the car with Rhiannon when it happened, and the guilt subsequently drove her to take her own life.

In a very poignant scene at the end of Death Valley, Janie and John hugged out their previous differences, and admitted that they weren’t just work partners, but friends, too. In a further happy ending, Janie got the promotion to DI that she wanted. But she wasn’t so happy when she discovered that her mum Yvonne was dating John…

What happened to John Chapel’s wife?

We know John Chapel’s wife Ellen was Welsh, which is why he moved there. We also know that she died, leaving him a widower. But little else was revealed, until episode 3 when Janie pushed John for information.

Despite trying to keep “his late wife conversationally off limits” he went on to admit that it wasn’t the perfect marriage.

Clearly upset, he said: “I was so busy with work, I didn’t even know she was dying until it was almost too late. […] Maybe I could have been there more.”

By the end of Death Valley, John was dating Janie’s mum Yvonne.

Dennis Williams, played by Karl Johnson, was the murderer in episode 5 of Death Valley [Credit: BBC/Scott Waller]

What happened to Janie’s best friend Sian?

In Death Valley episode 1, Carwyn’s staged suicide triggered past trauma in Janie’s life. We discovered that her best friend Sian had taken her own life.

She said: “This case has bought up a lot of bad memories fizzing up for me. I don’t like talking about Sian; I always change the subject because she meant a lot to me.”

Janie later admitted the horrible incident had caused her to have a nervous breakdown – or as she called it a “nervy b” or “breaky b”. We also discovered that just weeks before Sian’s death, she and Janie had argued about Sian’s desire to go to uni. Janie had even screamed at her: “I hope you die.”

Janie said of the time after Sian’s suicide: “I lost my marbs a bit. I just slept, occasionally ate, and watched a hell of a lot of crime dramas.”

Hence the obsession with John Chapel’s TV character Inspector Caesar.

Janie also revealed that her now clapped-out car belonged to Sian, who left it to her when she died. Which explained why Janie didn’t want to trade it in for a more reliable model (although she eventually did). Before the suicide, Janie and Sian would drive around in the car, pretending to be John Chapel’s TV character Charles Caesar!

John Chapel and Janine Mallowan made an unlikely crime-solving duo [Credit: BBC/BBC Studios/Simon Ridgway]

Death Valley recap: Who is Rhiannon Hopkins?

The character of Rhiannon Hopkins appeared for the first time in episode 3 of Death Valley. She was Sian’s big sister. it was clear straight away that there was historic beef between her and Janie.

During a confrontation, Janie said: “You might still blame me for what happened with Sian, that’s your call, but it was a long time ago. You made my life hell once, and you can’t come back and do it again. I’m not just some 17-year-old girl who can be pushed around, and I’m not going to avoid you and hide in my own town.”

Rhiannon then admitted the way she’d treated Janie was awful, and said: “I get it, you must hate me. I should never have blamed you for Sian.”

In a high-pitched exchange, they eventually agreed to go for a drink to clear the air. But their tentative friendship didn’t last for long, as Rhiannon was exposed as a murderer in the series finale.

Will there be a series 2 of Death Valley?

BBC One has not yet confirmed if there’ll be a series 2 of Death Valley, but it doesn’t need a super-sleuth like John Chapel to work out what will happen next…

We’ll eat John’s tatty old dressing gown if a series 2 of Death Valley isn’t commissioned by the end of the year. We could watch Janie and John’s unlikely father/daughter relationship all day long.

Together with the murder mystery storyline, and the fantastic list of guest stars in the cast, Death Valley has potential to run for years.

Watch this space for more info when we have it.

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Death Valley airs on Sundays at 8.15pm on BBC One, or is available to watch in BBC iPlayer.