The Paper season 2 sets release date

Get your diaries out: 'The Paper' Season 2 hits Peacock on Wednesday, 9 September. All the episodes, all at once, which is convenient if you like bingeing or simply have no patience left for weekly drops.

Returning cast – and yes, that's Domhnall Gleeson back as Ned

So, who's back for round two? Domhnall Gleeson is still running the show as Ned Sampson, the editor-in-chief who’s somehow managed to wrangle an entire newsroom without combusting from stress—so far. He’s joined by a cast that, frankly, looks like they’re all ready to jump ship to something less stressful, but here’s the full run-down:

• Domhnall Gleeson returns as Ned Sampson
• Chelsea Frei is Mare Pritti
• Sabrina Impacciatore as Esmeralda Grand
• Melvin Gregg as Detrick Moore
• Gbemisola Ikumelo as Adelola Olofin
• Tim Key as Ken Davies
• Ramona Young as Nicole Lee
• Eric Rahill as Travis Bienlien
• Duane Shepard Sr. as Barry
• Alex Edelman as Adam Cooper
• Oscar Nuñez as Oscar Martinez – yep, that's the same Oscar from 'The Office'

What’s Season 2 actually about?

If you’re wondering what fresh chaos they’ve got lined up, here’s the deal. The official summary goes:

'The documentary crew that immortalised Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch in the Emmy Award-winning series finds a new subject when they discover a historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it. In Season 2, after sweeping the Ohio Journalism Awards, Ned searches for a journalistic crusade, taking on a local private club and putting the paper at risk, while he and Mare try to figure out whatever’s going on between them, Esmeralda struggles to find her place, and the staff gradually get a grip as reporters.'

In plain English: having nabbed a few shiny awards, Ned gets a bit too ambitious, sets his sights on a private club that’s probably got more skeletons than readers, and in the process, nearly torpedoes the entire newspaper. Meanwhile, Ned and Mare are awkwardly circling each other, Esmeralda hasn’t quite figured out where she fits, and the rest of the team are—slowly—learning how to do actual journalism. It’s the kind of plot that can only end in either professional glory or utter farce, and frankly, either’s fine.

Who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes?

For the keen-eyed credits-watchers: the show’s co-created and executive-produced by Greg Daniels and Michael Koman. If that’s not enough 'Office' DNA for you, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (yes, the original UK 'Office' creators) are executive producers as well, along with Howard Klein, Ben Silverman and Banijay Americas (which you might remember used to be called Reveille). Universal Television is handling the production, so no shortage of corporate muscle there.