Some shows survive because of their plots, while others keep us coming back simply because we miss the people who live inside them. Only Murders in the Building has clearly become part of the second group, which may be why the anticipation for Season 6 has less to do with wondering who killed whom and much more to do with wanting Charles, Oliver and Mabel back.

The season premieres on December 8 and, as we already know, takes the trio to London, leaving behind, at least temporarily, the Arconia, which for five years has functioned almost like a fourth lead character. The real curiosity now is seeing how their dynamic works away from the building that created such an unlikely friendship, because Only Murders has always been much more about the three of them than about the bodies that insist on piling up around them.

The move to England also gives the series the chance to fully embrace an influence that has always been there. Although it began by satirizing true crime podcasts, its structure has always been completely classic, with suspects, red herrings, secrets, grand reveals and that comforting certainty that nobody is quite who they seem. Taking Charles, Oliver and Mabel to the land of Agatha Christie almost feels like returning the formula to the Queen of Mystery.

And they seem ready to have plenty of fun with it. One episode is titled “The Country House” and was filmed at an estate outside London, leaning directly into that quintessentially British mystery setting in which everyone is gathered under one roof, everyone has a motive and somebody inevitably ends up dead.

There will also be a new version of Brazzos, because apparently Only Murders may leave the Building behind, but Charles will never be able to leave Brazzos behind. There is a British adaptation of his old cop show, hugely popular in the UK, and Martin Freeman is expected to play this new Brazzos, putting the two men face to face in a debate over who is actually the better version of the character.

It is a joke that fits perfectly with the show’s longstanding obsession with reboots and adaptations. Charles has already taken part in the American revival of Brazzos, while the previous season pushed the idea even further by turning the trio’s podcast into a movie, with Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis and Eva Longoria playing versions of Charles, Oliver and Mabel. The series seems fascinated by the idea of its characters watching other people reinterpret their own lives.

Jennifer Saunders will also be connected to the British Brazzos universe and will play a fashion-world character inspired by Vivienne Westwood, while Olivia Colman is set to portray a writer and memoirist linked to the tradition of British female mystery writers. It is an especially interesting choice because it pulls the season even closer to the lineage of Agatha Christie and the women who helped establish the rules of what we now call the cozy mystery.

The rest of the cast is almost indecently good. David Tennant, Jodie Whittaker, Peter Capaldi, Nicola Coughlan, Sharon Horgan, Simone Ashley, Richard Ayoade, Kathryn Hunter and several other British names are joining the season, while Tennant, Whittaker and Capaldi add the extra curiosity of placing three former Doctors in the same universe, even if the producers insist the coincidence was not planned. This time, none of these major guest stars will be playing themselves, which at least gives us reason to hope they will all actually matter to the mystery.

There was even an attempt to secure a cameo from Queen Camilla, an idea that was genuinely explored before running into the practical difficulties of production, which gives a rather amusing sense of just how ambitious this London season intends to be.

And that, however, is exactly where my small concern comes in. I love the guest stars on Only Murders, and some of them have become essential to the show’s identity, but for a while now the series has sometimes seemed more interested in announcing who will appear next than in constructing a genuinely surprising murder. The parade of famous faces keeps getting bigger, while the suspense, the twists and that delicious feeling that any tiny detail might hide a clue have gradually lost some of their strength.

Perhaps London is exactly the renewal Only Murders needs, because there is a new setting, a mystery tradition made for the show to play with and guests who, at least this time, seem to have real functions within the story. I am absolutely excited to see Olivia Colman, Martin Freeman, David Tennant and company, but before any of them, what really explains my anticipation for December is much simpler: I miss Charles, Oliver and Mabel.