Ridley series 2 episode 2 guest cast: from Happy Valley to Downton

Ridley series 2 episode 2: Main cast joined by guests stars from Happy Valley, Downton Abbey and The Musketeers

Dave Golder | 2:36pm Sun 17 Aug

Ridley series 2 episode 2 sees the main cast supported by guest stars from high-profile shows including Happy Valley, Downton Abbey and The Musketeers.

There’s also a blast from the past as Elizabeth Berrington’s Jean Dixon, the cop exposed by Ridley for covering up evidence in an old murder case way back in the series 1’s very first episode, makes a return.

Read more: Ridley series 1 full recap and explainer

In this episode, the discovery of a long-dead body in a hollow tree reopens a missing persons case, on which Jean Dixon was originally the SIO (Senior Investigating Officer).

The body is quickly identified as Kathy Hadderly, who went missing years previously. Her disappearance was reported by her husband, David, six days after she walked out on him, raising Dixon’s suspicions about him. However, David was never convicted.

But with the discovery of Kathy’s body, Ridley and DI Farman are convinced that David and Kathy’s daughter, Sam, knows more than she’s letting on. And they need Dixon back on board if they’re going to get the girl to open up.

Read more: Ridley series 2 main cast in full

The impressive guest cast for the episode reads like a Who’s Who of Great British TV supporting actors. Let’s see how many you recognise…

Jean Dixon returns, once again played by Elizabeth Berrington [Credit: ITV]

Ridley series 2 episode 2 guest cast: Elizabeth Berrington returns as Jean Dixon

Jean Dixon is the cop who Ridley exposed for covering up evidence in series 1.

Jean is once again played by Cheshire-born Elizabeth Berrington, who recently starred in the BBC crime drama Virdee (2025) as Harry Virdee’s unpredictable boss, DS Clare Conway.

But she is also well known for two other long-running roles on British telly.

She played snobby Food Technology teacher Ruby Fry in the BBC TV series Waterloo Road from 2009 to 2011 (Fry was one of the former John Fosters teachers who were forced to move to Waterloo Road after the merger).

She also appeared as Paula Kosh, best friend of lead character Stella Morris (Ruth Jones) in 26 episodes of the Sky One comedy Stella (2012 to 2017).

Way back in the day, she was Marie Antoinette in three episodes of the period French and Saunders sitcom Let Them Eat Cake (1999).

Bereaved husband David Hadderly (Ryan Gage) has to relive old horrors [Credit: ITV]

Ryan Gage guest stars as David Hadderly

Ryan Gage is mainly famous for playing buffoonish comedy characters in The Hobbit films and the BBC’s The Musketeers, so his role here is a big change of pace for him.

He plays the introverted, depressive David Hadderly, husband to Kathy Hadderly, the woman who went missing years beforehand. The fact it took him six days to report her disappearance raises all sorts of red flags. Add in that their marriage had been on the verge of breaking down, along with his drink problem and his weird lack of emotion when questioned and things aren’t looking good for David.

It’s a very different character from the one Gage played in all three seasons of The Musketeers (2014-2016) – the dimwitted, doltish, entitled King Louis XII.

On the big screen he played Alfrid Lickspittle, the comedy sidekick to Stephen Fry’s Master of Lake-town, in two of The Hobbit films – The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

Ross Enderby (Kevin Doyle) in his best ‘no cold callers’ pose [Credit: ITV]

Kevin Doyle plays Ross Enderby

Ross Enderby is Jean Dixon’s new boyfriend. Also an ex-cop, he’s keen to make sure Jean doesn’t fall victim to the same people who betrayed her, as he sees it. But while fiercely protective of Jean, he’s not made himself popular with Jean’s daughter, Molly.

Scunthorpe-born Kevin Doyle, who plays Enderby, will be very familiar to viewers of Downton Abbey. He played Joseph Molesley, Matthew Crawley’s valet and (after Crawley’s death) Downton footman, across all six series of ITV’s hugely successful period drama (2010-2015).

Notably, Kevin also played another cop in Happy Valley series 2 (2016). Detective John Wadsworth turned killer after spurned mistress Vicky Fleming tried to publicly humiliate him (an absolutely must-see performance if you haven’t already watched).

More recently he played Fred Rowley, the former miner suffering from a lung condition, in Sherwood series one (2022).

Andy Hadderly (Steven Elder) is the brother of the main suspect [Credit: ITV]

Steven Elder appears as Andy Hadderly

Andy Hadderly is David’s brother and, while he’s not blind to his sibling’s shortcomings he still looks out for him. Andy was the last person to see David’s wife alive – he saw her chatting to an unknown man in a car – but because David hadn’t reported her as missing at that point (and because he knew she was seeing other men) he thought nothing of it at the time.

Steven Elder, who plays Hadderly, had a long stint on the BBC’s daytime soap Doctors as Rev Gordon Clement, the love interest of receptionist Mrs Tembe (2013-2019). He also played Bedwin, Bishop of of Caer Cadarn, in ITV’s short-lived adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s King Arthur series of books, The Winter King (2023).

Former Hollyoaks star Jonathan Le Billon plays an army reserves liaison officer [Credit: ITV]

Jonathan Le Billon cameos as Jonathan Dyer

Jonathan Dyer is the Reserves Coordinator of the Royal Gryphon Guards, who Ridley interviews during the episode.

This character makes a very brief appearance, but we thought we’d mention him in case there are any Hollyoaks fans with long memories watching. Jonathan Le Billon plays Dyer in episode 2 of Ridley series 2, but he appeared in the Channel 4 soap way back in 2001-2003 as religious, sex-wary goth (who knew such a combination existed?) Brian Drake.

What are the songs Ridley sings in episode 2?

The story opens with Ridley singing There’s a Storm a-Comin, yet another Richard Hawley track, this one from 2009.

Later in the story he sings Will Ye Go Lassie, Go? an Irish folk song adapted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake (1885–1971) into Wild Mountain Thyme and first recorded by his family in the 1950s.

The tower on Hartshead Pike Tower, near Mossley, Greater Manchester [Credit: ITV]

What is the odd tower that features in Ridley series 2, episode 2?

Towards the end of the episode Ridley has a heart-to-heart with Jean Dixon’s daughter on a bench near a striking-looking folly.

It is, in fact, the tower on Hartshead Pike Tower, near Mossley, Greater Manchester. John Eaton rebuilt the tower in 1863 to commemorate the marriage of Albert Edward to Princess Alexandra, replacing a building that had been there since 1751.