Amanda Abbington will star in the next series of one of Britain’s most acclaimed dramas – four years after she was involved with one of Strictly Come Dancing’s biggest scandals.

Abbington will reportedly appear in season two of Apple TV’s Down Cemetery Road, the hit show starring Emma Thompson as a private investigator whose life collides with that of Ruth Wilson’s art conservationist.

According to The Sun, Abbington has been cast in the series – however, it is unclear who Abbington will play. New episodes will find Thompson’s Zoë Boehm tasked with solving a woman’s mysterious death, only to be plunged into the world of black market antiquities. And there’s also a serial killer on the loose, apparently.

The show marks Abbington’s most high-profile TV role since the Strictly scandal, which saw her complain about her alleged treatment by her professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice during rehearsals for the BBC series in 2023.

The Independent has contacted Abbington and Apple for comment.

The BBC launched a nine-month investigation, which upheld some of her complaints of verbal harassment, but cleared Pernice of Abbington’s more serious allegations of physical aggression.

Abbington has previously discussed the backlash to her complaints, admitting that she received death threats as a result. Pernice and the actor have been involved in a public rivalry ever since.

She told The Times: “The fallout from it wasn’t something I was anticipating, but I’m glad I did it. I am. I’m glad that I stood up for myself because it’s the first time I’ve ever really done that.’”

Last year, the Sherlock actor also told White Wine Question Time: “I just felt I wasn’t being treated fairly in that room.”

Abbington added that she was unsure of her status in the wider industry after the investigation. “I don’t know what the industry thinks of me at the moment,” she said. “I’ve been immersed in the aftermath of it all for a year. I don’t know whether I’ve been cancelled or whether people don’t like me any more, but I know I did what I did for the right reasons. I feel good about the future.”

Her reported role in Down Cemetery Road comes after she joined the cast of a forthcoming Channel 4 drama called Hunting Alice Bell. It revolves around a woman (Alexandra Roach) as she’s wrongly accused online of being the accomplice to a serial killer, who was given a new identity after a spell in prison. Simon Pegg and Ralf Little also star.

Down Cemetery Road was one of Apple TV’s most acclaimed hits last year, with The Independent’s Patrick Smith describing it as a “labyrinthine, nervy and archly funny conspiracy thriller”.