Ridley is back for its second season, bringing with it the familiar cocktail of small-town murders, brooding countryside atmospherics, and Adrian Dunbar's characteristic chaos back to the our screens once again. But the most recent episode, 'The Hollow Tree,' introduced a complication that threatens to derail everything: the return of Jean Dixon, a detective whose past mistakes could prove more dangerous than any killer.
When a woman's body is discovered in the hollow of an ancient tree, the case immediately becomes personal for the team. The victim is Kathy, who vanished without trace six years ago, leaving behind a devastated daughter and a cold case that destroyed one detective's career. That detective was Jean Dixon, played by Elizabeth Berrington, and her involvement in this new investigation promises to complicate matters considerably.
Who is Jean Dixon in Ridley?
Jean isn't just any disgraced cop – she's someone with deep personal connections to both the case and the team investigating it. Six years ago, when Kathy first disappeared, Jean was convinced she had her man: Kathy's partner seemed the obvious suspect. But Jean's investigation went catastrophically wrong, leading to her eventual downfall and departure from the force. Now, with Kathy's body finally discovered, Jean's the only person who understands the original case well enough to help solve it.
Read Next
The problem is that Kathy's daughter Sam trusts only Jean, creating an impossible situation. The team needs Jean's expertise and Sam's cooperation, but bringing Jean back into the fold means reopening old wounds and confronting the mistakes that ended her career. Jean herself is wrestling with her own demons – not just the professional failures that haunt her, but personal complications involving her new partner and her daughter Molly, who can't seem to get along.
What happened with Jean Dixon in Ridley season 1?
For longtime viewers, Jean Dixon's return carries particular weight. She first appeared in Ridley's opening episode, arriving at Ridley's doorstep with news of a murder that would ultimately expose her own professional misconduct. The case involved Jesse Halpin, connected to the disappearance of three-year-old Zoe – a investigation Jean had originally led years earlier.
Jean's handling of the Zoe case revealed the depths of her desperation to close difficult cases. She had arrested a man named Preston, but when Ridley re-examined the evidence, it became clear that Jean had manufactured a case to fit her narrative rather than following the facts. Her confession was devastating in its simplicity: 'I did what I had to do. It was a moment... It was a misstep.'
That moment of weakness had far-reaching consequences. Jean pleaded with Ridley to let sleeping dogs lie, asking him to drop his investigation 'for old time's sake.' But Ridley couldn't ignore what he'd discovered, knowing that an innocent man had suffered while the real perpetrator remained free. Jean's last scene in season one showed her walking away from their café meeting, knowing that an inquiry into her conduct was inevitable.
Now she's back, and her presence raises uncomfortable questions about justice, redemption, and the price of past mistakes. Can a detective who bent the rules to breaking point be trusted to solve another case? More importantly, can Jean confront her own failures while helping to bring closure to a family she let down six years ago?
With Sam refusing to speak to anyone but Jean, and vital information locked away in Jean's compromised memory of the original investigation, Ridley has created a fascinating dilemma. The path to justice might run directly through someone who perverted it before.
Ridley continues tonight on ITV and is available to stream on ITVX.
ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
Naomi May is a seasoned culture journalist and editor with over ten years’ worth of experience in shaping stories and building digital communities. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard, where she worked across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Digital Editor at ELLE Magazine and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others. Naomi is also the host of the ELLE Collective book club.
