It's been almost a month since series two of The Missing wrapped, and the dust has just about started to settle.

BBC One's kidnap thriller had audiences gripped all over again with its tale of two missing girls, Alice Webster and Sophie Giroux, and the horrific secret that linked their fates.

To mark series two's release on DVD, Digital Spy caught up with series writers Harry and Jack Williams and got some exclusive insights into how the story came together and what ended up on the cutting room floor.

Warning: Spoilers! Obvs.

1. Baptiste was never going anywhere

BBC/New Pictures/Robert Viglasky

Tcheky Karyo's philosophical French crime-solver was the one constant between the first and second series, and there was never any thought of ditching Julien along with the rest of the original cast.

"We knew – around halfway through [writing] the first series – that Oliver Hughes wasn't going to make it, but we did keep talking about what it'd be like if he had," Jack explains. "We did realise there was a lot of story in that – in someone coming back.

"More or less at the same time, Tcheky came in. He was late to be cast – we'd been shooting for two weeks before Tcheky finally agreed to do it – and we saw his first day and he was amazing. So around the same time we had the idea for the second series, we knew that he had to come back.

BBC

"We didn't want to crowbar anything in, but it just made sense. The character's had such a long career that it seemed like there'd be new and interesting stories to tell with him."

Harry adds that Baptiste has always been "the heart of the show" and was the first character conceived of for The Missing.

"I know Tony (James Nesbitt) was ostensibly the lead [in series one], but for us, Julien was more the heartbeat of the show, throughout the whole two series."

2. They almost cut the biggest twist entirely

BBC/New Pictures/Robert Viglasky

"That girl... was not Alice Webster!" – Julien's dramatic declaration at the end of episode 2.1 turned the entire story on its head... but it almost wasn't part of the plot at all.

"In breaking episode one, we knew it was a person that came back," Jack recalls. "And then Harry just said, 'What if it's not even her?' and I thought, 'Shit – that's cool... but does that make any sense?'.

"At first, we thought it was too complicated – many times we almost went, 'Oh, it doesn't work!' – but actually the more we talked about it, the more we realised that it gave rise to a very twisty-turny complex story all by itself, and that really worked to justify the moment."

3. They had no idea what to do after revealing the kidnapper

BBC/New Pictures

When The Missing series two revealed the identity of Alice's abductor in episode 2.5, with three episodes still to go, viewers were baffled as to where the story could go next.

Turns out, the writers had the same feeling."We didn't know what we were going to do next, we had absolutely no idea," admits Jack. "But we just thought that would be exciting, rather than hold it off and tread water for two episodes. We always just think, if you've got a great moment, go for it and the rest will work itself out."

4. Your fan theories did shape the story

BBC/New Pictures/Robert Viglasky

Taken aback by the huge interest in the first series of The Missing, Harry and Jack were prepared for the intense scrutiny and all the fan theories this time round.

"It meant we tried to be thorough, as thorough as we could, and try and cover all bases and constantly interrogate the scripts and make sure we had answers for any potential questions that people might have," Harry says.

It also meant that they were able to pepper the episodes with Easter eggs for the most eagle-eyed fans.

"You can layer things in that you know people will pick up on – and even if only one person gets it, they'll share it and soon everyone will know it," says Jack. "Like little nods to Jason Flemyng's character from series one, or little names and references...

"It's quite fun to do that stuff knowing that someone, somewhere, will pick up on it, but you don't have to get all that to enjoy the show – that's the other important thing."

5. Two major scenes were cut from the final episode

BBC/New Pictures

With their original script for episode 2.8 running long, Harry and Jack had to make cuts – losing two big sequences, including the original opening.

The finale was originally planned to open on a funeral scene (later, we'd learn, Sam Webster's) – teasing the death of a major character.

"It was so you'd think, 'Oh God, which one of the characters from this has died?' – obviously Julien's got the brain tumour... but that was one that got lost," Harry explains.

Another sequence had Julien witnessing Sophie leaping to her death from the clifftop, only to discover it was another hallucination caused by his tumour.

"Both moments were fun in the script," says Jack. "But when it came down to it, not only was the script too long, but I think we liked the idea – after all this complexity and twisting and turning – of doing something a bit more sincere, and stopping trying to mess with people."

6. The reaction to series one's climax shaped the end of series two

BBC

With the exception of Julien Bapstiste's fate, series two of The Missing gave us all the answers and resolved what really happened to both Alice and Sophie.

This more definitive ending was, the writers admit, a response to how the end of the first series was received.

"We always intended it in the first series for the audience to know that Oliver Hughes was dead, but that Tony can't deal with that," says Harry. "But what happened in the edit was that it felt like maybe actually that kid [who Tony finds in Russia] could've been Ollie..."

It may have been divisive (and, for some, a little confusing) but Harry and Jack think the grim, ambiguous ending to the first series may've actually helped amp up the tension for series two.

"Even before the last episode of series two went out, my wife turned to me and said, 'Oh, you're not going to kill the little girl are you?'," recalls Jack. "The first series had such a dark ending that people really thought series two could go anywhere.

"But we wanted it to be different and that means not repeating ambiguity like it's some kind of trick. It's just what fits the story best and when we come down to it, we wanted something quite big, quite epic, and a proper fitting conclusion."

The Missing series 2 is released on DVD on December 26. The Series 1 & 2 box set will also be available on the same date.

Want up-to-the-minute entertainment and tech news? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io